Re: [gentoo-dev] Copyright issues (Was: udev-ng?)

[Rich Freeman]

On Sun, Nov 18, 2012 at 9:58 PM, Greg KH <gregkh@g.o> wrote:
>
> True, but removing a copyright line doesn't change the real copyright of
> a file, although it is generally considered something that you really
> should not do at all (see your local copyright laws/rules for details.)

Agreed that removing the line does not change the actual copyright of
the file, well, aside from anything new you stick on that line.

I'm not convinced that it is something you can't do if you're
explicitly given permission to do so by the copyright holder.

> Again, no, this is flat out not right.  Please discuss with counsel if
> you disagree and they can go into the details.

Well, certainly something worth doing in any case.

I think any answer given by anybody is going to be speculative, as
doubt that any court has ruled on whether removing names from a
copyright line licensed under the GPL is illegal.  There are fairly
few rulings of any kind concerning the GPL.  Copyright just wasn't
really written with copyleft in mind.

I suspect, as a result, that most lawyers would basically listen to my
argument and say "well, sure, you can argue that, and a judge might or
might not buy it, but do you really want to be sued over this to find
out?"  That's the issue with the law in most jurisdictions - the only
way you can truly find out if something is illegal is for somebody to
try it and go to court.  After all, who would have thought that you
could patent round corners?

Suppose I send you a program that I've copyrighted.  It has a line on
it saying "Copyright 2012 - Richard Freeman - see accompanying license
file." on it.  I tell you that I don't mind if you remove the
copyright line.  Can you remove it?  Now, suppose instead I tell you
that you can make any change you want in the file - can you remove it
now?  Now suppose I tell you that you can make any change in the file
that you want, as long as the copyright line says "see accompanying
license file" and that file is intact.  Can you remove the name?

That's the issue here - the copyright owner has given me a license to
do various things, including modify the file, and the file contains
the copyright line.  So, what normally would be illegal may in fact be
legal after all.  But, the only way to really be sure is to try it and
get sued.  And if you want to know how the law works in every country,
you'd need to be sued in every country.

Certainly interested in arguments to the contrary.

Rich