Re: The worst that can happen to GPLed code

[David Kastrup]

Alexander Terekhov <terekhov@web.de> writes:

> Stefaan A Eeckels wrote:
> [...]
> > Thus, the idea of using first sale to justify
> > extracting code from a tarball, and combining
> > it with other code into an "aggregation" without
> > accepting the GPL is a non-starter. Right?
> 
> Read
> 
> http://www.law.cornell.edu/copyright/cases/125_F3d_580.htm
> 
> And try to apply the same logic ("palpability" aside for a moment).
> 
> <quote author=Rosen>
> 
> Free software advocates say that software should be "Free as in speech, 
> not as in beer", but as a practical matter, when using the GPL, they 
> really mean free as in beer too. That is because software that is 
> licensed under such licenses will inevitably be distributed, because 
> of market pressure, at zero price.
> 
> </quote>
> 
> That's your "problem", not mine. First sale, fair use, etc. still 
> apply.

First sale applies if there is a sale.  It doesn't if there isn't.
Copyright defines the minimum set of rights that can be _sold_ to you.
It does not apply to items to which you have no right in the first
place, but to which you are unilaterally granted a conditional license
to use and redistribute, without any exchange of consideration from
your side.

-- 
David Kastrup, Kriemhildstr. 15, 44793 Bochum