Re: US court says software is owned, not licensed

[Rjack]

Hyman Rosen wrote:
> Rjack wrote:
> > The *only* relevant license permission is the right to make a copy.
>
> And that permission is granted without restriction by the
> GPL for copies which are not to be conveyed.


GPLv3:
********************************************************************
"To "convey" a work means any kind of propagation that enables other
parties to make or receive copies.  Mere interaction with a user 
through a computer network, with no transfer of a copy, is not 
conveying...

4. Conveying Verbatim Copies.

  You may convey verbatim copies of the Program's source code as you
receive it, in any medium, provided that you conspicuously and
appropriately publish on each copy an appropriate copyright notice;
keep intact all notices stating that this License and any
non-permissive terms added in accord with section 7 apply to the code;
keep intact all notices of the absence of any warranty; and give all
recipients a copy of this License along with the Program..."

*********************************************************************

It's bad enough that you make up your own copyright law.
Now you're making up your own GPL.

> You cannot use
> this permission to make such a copy and then say that first
> sale gives you the right to convey it anyway.

Oh yes you can. A breach of contract term does not determine
whether a copy is "lawfully made" under the Copyright Act.

                         HOUSE REPORT NO. 94-1476
"... Thus, for example, the outright sale of an authorized copy of a
book frees it from any copyright control over its resale price or
other conditions of its future disposition. A library that has
acquired ownership of a copy is entitled to lend it under any
conditions it chooses to impose. This does not mean that conditions
on future disposition of copies or phonorecords, imposed by a
contract between their buyer and seller, would be unenforceable
between the parties as a breach of contract, but it does mean that
they could not be enforced by an action for infringement of
copyright..."

Sincerely,
Rjack