Re: Looking for an open source license..

[David Kastrup]

John Hasler <john@dhh.gt.org> writes:

> I wrote:
>> The derivative work created by combining BSD and GPL code may only be
>> distributed under the GPL, but you can pull out the BSD stuff (assuming
>> you can't find the original BSD code elsewhere) and redistribute it under
>> the BSD.
>
> David Kastrup writes:
>> Says who?
>
> Copyright law.
>
>> If I don't have a license to distribute a received copy under the BSD
>> (and the BSD license allows to pass on code without passing on the same
>> distribution rights), then I can't just magically wish to have been
>> granted the same rights as somebody else had been someplace else.
>
> Only the copyright owner has standing to sue for copyright
> infringement.  If I pull a chunk of BSD-licensed code owned by UC
> out of your GPLd work (being careful not to copy anything you wrote)
> and distribute it under the BSD what are you going to sue me for?
> I've copied nothing of yours.

The original copyright owner is still able to sue if his software is
used without license.  The license he granted to the person using it
in the GPLed software (which might have been bought at a high price)
does not magically extend to third recipients unless the redistributor
chooses to sublicense under BSD.

-- 
David Kastrup, Kriemhildstr. 15, 44793 Bochum