Re: Bye - Bye , open source derivative works litigation

[Hyman Rosen]

On 2/10/2010 4:39 PM, RJack wrote:
> "17 USC Sec. 101 -- A “joint work” is a work prepared by two or more
> authors with the intention that their contributions be merged into
> inseparable or interdependent parts of a unitary whole."

Precisely. In order for a many-authored GPLed work to be a joint work,
you would need to demonstrate that each author has so intended, and has
intended to give all the co-authors equal rights to the work. You would
fail, since each author has dictated the terms under which others may
make derivative works or copy and distribute the work, namely the GPL.