[help-3dldf] Re: Testing for ellipsoidality

[Laurence Finston]

I certainly _don't_ want to try to persuade you to do anything you don't want
to do.  That would be very ungrateful of me.  I can use your explanations in
the way you suggest, i.e., to learn the material and put it in my own words. 
I'll have to ask Ted Teah about anything else.  I do know that extensive
quotes would make the manual unfree.  According to my understanding of it,
your work is automatically protected by copyright law, whether you choose
assert your rights or not.  In Germany, there is no formal registration
process, as there is in the US.  I don't know what the law is in Sweden.

> Also, the copyright is essentially a
> commercial law protecting commercial interests. 

>From a legal point of view, copyright law is what makes the GPL and other free
licenses, and thus Free Software, possible.  In other words, the GPL is only
valid because of copyright law.  Recently, the validity of the GPL was
confirmed by a German court.  The magazine _c't_ reported that this was the
first time a judge anywhere in the world had upheld its validity.  In other
places, it hasn't really been tested.  This is the sword of Damocles hanging
over the heads of all developers of Free Software.

> If you do not violate my
> potential commercial interests, or if you do not suspect I will sue you, you
> can of course use the materail. 

I'm sorry to say that this isn't true, and I'm not allowed to use any material
from any source in this way.
In addition, I'm no longer the copyright holder of GNU 3DLDF, the FSF is, 
so it's the FSF that would be liable for damages to you and/or your employer,
and I would be liable for damages to the FSF according to the agreement I
signed with them.  

> It might be controversial if you copyright
> my comments. I do not know what happens there in journalism. It would be
> strange indeed if an interview victim cannot furtherer her comments
> elsewhere because a journalist has copyrighted them.
> 
> 

I don't think this would be possible, either.  

Laurence