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commit: 60aede6f2c1a0270c341a23047591885569f0923 |
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Author: Robin H. Johnson <robbat2 <AT> gentoo <DOT> org> |
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AuthorDate: Sat Apr 21 20:21:40 2018 +0000 |
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Commit: Ulrich Müller <ulm <AT> gentoo <DOT> org> |
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CommitDate: Sun Jun 10 18:42:07 2018 +0000 |
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URL: https://gitweb.gentoo.org/data/glep.git/commit/?id=60aede6f |
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|
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glep-0076: Write a history of Gentoo's copyright practices. |
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|
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Signed-off-by: Robin H. Johnson <robbat2 <AT> gentoo.org> |
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|
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glep-0076.rst | 123 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++-------- |
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1 file changed, 106 insertions(+), 17 deletions(-) |
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|
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diff --git a/glep-0076.rst b/glep-0076.rst |
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index 7bb4893..e2c7ae5 100644 |
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--- a/glep-0076.rst |
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+++ b/glep-0076.rst |
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@@ -3,12 +3,13 @@ GLEP: 76 |
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Title: Copyright Policy |
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Author: Richard Freeman <rich0@g.o>, |
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Alice Ferrazzi <alicef@g.o>, |
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- Ulrich Müller <ulm@g.o> |
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+ Ulrich Müller <ulm@g.o>, |
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+ Robin H. Johnson <robbat2@g.o> |
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Type: Informational |
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Status: Draft |
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Version: 1 |
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Created: 2013-04-23 |
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-Last-Modified: 2018-02-10 |
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+Last-Modified: 2018-04-26 |
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Post-History: |
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Content-Type: text/x-rst |
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--- |
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@@ -28,21 +29,40 @@ Abstract |
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Motivation |
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========== |
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|
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-In the past Gentoo developers signed contributor licensing agreements |
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-formally assigning copyright to the Gentoo Foundation, and copyright |
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-headers in individual files reflected this. Then at some point in |
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-time these formal agreements no longer were being signed, but the |
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-headers remained, and were enshrined in policy. This led to a |
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-situation where copyright ownership might be ambiguous. |
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- |
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-Also, the policy to have copyright notices ascribing copyright |
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-ownership to the Gentoo Foundation caused an issue when Gentoo |
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-developers forked another project and hosted the fork on Gentoo |
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-infrastructure. To comply with the previous policy the copyright |
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-notices were modified, which caused concerns with the project the |
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-files were forked from. Our previous policy completely neglected |
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-the possibility that Gentoo might want to host files that were not |
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-created internally. |
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+The copyright ownership of Gentoo materials is ambigious due to |
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+historical factors, and this GLEP attempts to improve the process |
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+going forward. |
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+ |
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+In the beginning (2000 or earlier), the copyright header stated that |
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+*Gentoo Technologies, Inc.* was the copyright holder, without any |
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+formal paperwork. The formal assignment document was however only |
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+introduced in early 2004. The assignment had many objectors (mostly |
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+on the ``gentoo-core`` mailing list). The developer recruiting |
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+procedures attempted to require signing of the document as a condition |
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+for becoming a developer, but it was not applied to pre-existing |
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+developers, or those that objected. |
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+ |
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+Later, the *Gentoo Foundation* was established, and copyrights were |
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+formally transfered (including nullifying original developer |
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+assignments to *Gentoo Technologies, Inc.*), and the copyright header |
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+was updated. The formal assignment document text was updated in 2006, |
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+but the formal assignment process had already been abandoned in |
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+mid-2004. |
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+ |
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+Throughout this, the presence of copyright headers existed as a |
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+policy, and continues to exist to this day. Some files also still |
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+contain or have in the past contained additional copyright headers, |
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+attributing ownership to other parties. |
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+ |
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+A detailed historical timeline is provided below [TODO: link] |
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+ |
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+The policy to have copyright notices ascribing copyright ownership to |
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+the Gentoo Foundation caused an issue when Gentoo developers forked |
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+another project and hosted the fork on Gentoo infrastructure. To |
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+comply with the previous policy the copyright notices were modified, |
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+which caused concerns with the project the files were forked from. |
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+Our previous policy completely neglected the possibility that Gentoo |
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+might want to host files that were not created internally. |
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|
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Finally, since the early days of Gentoo new ideas around copyright |
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licensing have become more popular, such as the FSFE's Fiduciary |
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@@ -194,6 +214,75 @@ Rationale |
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========= |
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|
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|
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+Key dates in Gentoo copyright history |
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+===================================== |
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+ |
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+* 2000-01-03: *Gentoo Technologies, Inc.* established in New Mexico. |
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+ |
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+* 2000-07-28: `Earliest known CVS commit |
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+ <https://sources.gentoo.org/cgi-bin/viewvc.cgi/gentoo-x86/header.txt?revision=1.1&view=markup>`_ |
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+ in the Gentoo CVS repositories. Made by Daniel Robbins to |
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+ ``gentoo-x86/header.txt`` |
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+ :: |
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+ |
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+ # Copyright 1999-2000 Gentoo Technologies, Inc. |
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+ # Distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License, v2 or later |
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+ # $header$ |
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+ |
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+ |
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+* 2000-10-09: `Earliest known version of the ebuild skeleton |
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+ <https://sources.gentoo.org/cgi-bin/viewvc.cgi/gentoo-x86/skel.ebuild?revision=1.1&view=markup>`_. |
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+ (``skel.ebuild``) in CVS |
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+ |
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+* 2004-01-20: Copyright assignment document added to CVS, with an |
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+ assignee of *Gentoo Technologies, Inc.*, in both `text |
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+ <https://sources.gentoo.org/cgi-bin/viewvc.cgi/gentoo/xml/htdocs/proj/en/devrel/copyright/assignment.txt?hideattic=0&view=log>`_ |
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+ and `PDF |
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+ <https://sources.gentoo.org/cgi-bin/viewvc.cgi/gentoo/xml/htdocs/proj/en/devrel/copyright/assignment.pdf?hideattic=0&view=log>`_ |
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+ formats. A related GuideXML page is `included |
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+ <https://sources.gentoo.org/cgi-bin/viewvc.cgi/gentoo/xml/htdocs/proj/en/devrel/copyright-assignment/index.xml?hideattic=0&view=log>`_. |
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+ |
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+* 2004-05-28: *Gentoo Foundation, Inc.* established in New Mexico. |
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+ |
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+* 2004-07-12 or earlier: The recruiters stopped requiring the |
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+ assignment document. **TODO: document when/who/where recruiters were |
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+ told to stop using the document.** |
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+ |
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+* 2005-05-19: Gentoo Technologies, Inc. files an **Assignment of |
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+ Copyright** document, signed by Daniel Robbins, which transfers any |
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+ copyrights held by *Gentoo Technologies, Inc.* over `All files to |
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+ which Gentoo Technologies, Inc. may hold the copyright that existed |
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+ in the Gentoo Concurrent Versions System (CVS) Repositories as of 25 |
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+ June 2004`. |
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+ |
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+* 2005-06-13: *Gentoo Technologies, Inc.* files a **recordation of |
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+ copyright** with the United States Copyright Office, signed by |
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+ Daniel Robbins, President. The copyright is asserted over `Gentoo |
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+ Concurrent Versions System (CVS) Repositories as of 25 June 2004`. |
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+ |
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+* 2005-06-13: *Gentoo Technologies, Inc.* provides a **Release from |
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+ Contract Requirements** document, signed by Daniel Robbins. The |
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+ complete body of the document is as follows: |
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+ |
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+ Gentoo Technologies, Inc. does hereby release all individuals who |
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+ have signed the contract known as the "Gentoo Technologies, Inc. |
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+ Copyright Assignment Form" from any future duties and obligations |
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+ of these individuals associated with that contract. As of this |
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+ date any provision of that contract requiring any future duties is |
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+ hereby nullified. |
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+ |
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+* 2005-06-25: First CVS commit `changing |
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+ <https://sources.gentoo.org/cgi-bin/viewvc.cgi/gentoo-x86/header.txt?revision=1.10&view=markup>`_ |
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+ copyright header to *Gentoo Foundation*. |
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+ |
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+* 2006-08-23: Copyright assignment document assignee `updated |
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+ <https://sources.gentoo.org/cgi-bin/viewvc.cgi/gentoo/xml/htdocs/proj/en/devrel/copyright/assignment.txt?hideattic=0&r1=1.1&r2=1.2>`_ |
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+ to *Gentoo Foundation, Inc.* |
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+ |
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+* 2007-01-27: Copyright assignment document `removed |
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+ <https://sources.gentoo.org/cgi-bin/viewvc.cgi/gentoo/xml/htdocs/proj/en/devrel/copyright/assignment.txt?view=log&hideattic=0>`_. |
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+ |
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+ |
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References |
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========== |