Re: IBM doesn't like the GPL

[Hyman Rosen]

Alexander Terekhov wrote:
> Go tell it to Larry Rosen.
> ...
> As long as the individual licenses for A and B allow the aggregation
> and distribution of verbatim copies (and all FOSS licenses do!), then
> it matters little whether the aggregation is via Java mechanisms or
> old-style linking in C.

I disagree with him. I think it matters very much.

Not least, the copies of the libraries contained in a linked executable
are not verbatim copies.

Also, 17 USC § 106 (1) gives rights holders the exclusive right to do
and authorize reproducing copyrighted works in copies, and part of that
exclusive right is determining the form of such copies. The simplest
example is a book author selling hardcover rights to one publisher and
paperback rights to another. In the same way, a GPL licensor authorizes
verbatim source copying differently from incorporation into combined
works. Just as a paperback publisher cannot use his acquisition of
paperback rights to publish hardcovers, someone building a statically
linked program cannot use his verbatim copying permissions to make
copies of the library as part of a combined work.