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Having never read (or signed) the copyright form[1], I was directed to it |
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based on a conversation in -dev today. Taking a brief read through it, |
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it's likely the entire thing is unenforceable given the way we currently |
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develop. |
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|
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The assignment states that anything which is "committed by Assignor to an |
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official Gentoo source code repository using a version control system such |
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as cvs, subversion or similar software;" has to have the copyright assigned |
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to Gentoo. It further states that "Assignor warrants that Assignor's |
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rights in the Work have not been previously assigned, mortgaged or |
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otherwise encumbered, and Assignor has full right, power and authority to |
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assign all such rights to Gentoo." |
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|
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It makes no provisions for things like patches, which are committed to CVS |
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all the time, but for which the committer has no claim on the copyright. |
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There are also a number of images committed to the gentoo repository which |
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are used on the web site and which we have no copyright ownership of. |
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|
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The best part is this phrase: |
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|
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--------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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("Assignor") hereby releases and assigns to Gentoo all Assignor's copyrights, |
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ownership, and claims for the following items: |
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|
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source code, object code, screen displays, icons, |
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documentation, user and developers manuals, authoring, |
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editing, sound, photography, graphics, animation, musical |
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composition or arrangement, design, artwork, or layout, |
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including any advertising, brochures, video, photographs, |
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films, or computer media relating to the Work. |
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--------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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|
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The last phrase is the kicker; "or computer media relating to the work". |
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As written, we're asserting ownership over all our developer's hard drives. |
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|
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The problem with all this is, where parts of contracts are found to be |
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unenforceable and/or overly broad, the courts often throw the entire thing |
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out. My IANAL opinion is that this copyright assignment form is |
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next-to-useless for us. |
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|
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Additionally, given the way it's currently worded, there's no way I'm |
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agreeing to sign it and I certainly encourage everyone else to avoid |
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signing it as well. |
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|
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Corey -- have you made any progress with the IU lawyers in getting them to |
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help us with our copyright/IP issues? We need to see about getting |
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alternate counsel to review this document and shore up its weaknesses. |
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|
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--kurt |
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|
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[1] http://www.gentoo.org/proj/en/devrel/copyright/assignment.txt |
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