Re: Is the GPL all encompassing?

[Hyman Rosen]

amicus_curious wrote:
> Generally speaking the purpose of copyrights as well as patents is to 
> protect the author's right to derive revenue from the intellectual 
> property.

Your statement demonstrates why the JMRI appeal is so important.
That court found that the ability of authors to control their work
is not simply tied to revenue. It's no surprise, really, since the
U.S. Constitution grants authors exclusive rights to their work.
Exclusive rights means the author gets to decide, not someone else
who comes along and thinks he can grab stuff for free just because
the author wants something besides money.