Re: IBM doesn't like the GPL

[Hyman Rosen]

Rjack wrote:
> Hyman Rosen wrote:
> > No, it's copyright holders exercising their right to control how their 
> > works may be copied and distributed.
>
> cite to the statutes

17 USC 106
    § 106. Exclusive rights in copyrighted works
    Subject to sections 107 through 122, the owner of copyright under
    this title has the exclusive rights to do and to authorize any of
    the following:
        (1) to reproduce the copyrighted work in copies or phonorecords;
        (2) to prepare derivative works based upon the copyrighted work;
        ...

When someone creates a program which includes another's copyrighted work,
they are forbidden to make and distribute copies by 17 USC 106 (1), and
so must obtain authorization from the rights holder to do so. It does not
matter whether the new work is a derivative of the old; if copies of the
copyrighted code are incorporated into the new work, as they are when
programs are statically linked, making and distributing these copies must
be authorized. The GPL grants such permission, provided that the new work
in its entirety is licensed under the GPL.