Re: [tdf-discuss] Copyright Assignments & the Document Foundation

[BRM <bm_witness@yahoo.com>]

----- Original Message ----

> From: Michael Meeks <michael.meeks@novell.com>
> On Tue, 2010-11-02 at 17:28 +0100, Roberto Resoli wrote:
> > Copyright  Assignment is nor bad nor good, it's a compromise
> 
>     I do  not see assignment in -any- way as a compromise; but as an
> un-necessary  extreme.

Well, let's get back to the real issue in this thread...(more below)

> > i am still waiting to see any reply also to Andrea's  proposals
> > in another thread [1] 
> 
>     Oh - I guess  I should reply there.
> 
> > I agree with Andrea, and I think that all this  JCA stuff need a more
> > pragmatic approach
> 
>      Honestly; the amount of doom mongering in this thread is staggering.
> Suddenly  we somehow 'discovered' that all FLOSS licenses are
> un-enforceable,  jurisdictionless, that no-one has really contributed
> anything, in any binding  way to any eclectically owned FLOSS project[1],
> and that only mad people  would ship that software :-)

I quite agree - that's a rather foundation-less claim that it is unenforceable,
especially given all the big guns behind existing projects using such a model.
Given how much the FSF/FSFII/etc and consults the community when
developing the licenses an issue with unenforceability from such a nature
would have arisen already; but it simply has not.

So let's get back to the real issue - the _only_ reason for copyright
assignment is to help the organizers of LibreOffice (TDF) with keeping the 
license
current - e.g. moving from LGPLv3 to LGPLv4, etc.

If the TDF SC and LibreOffice developers are not concerned about that issue 
(and from what I have seen in this thread the guidance is already to license as
LGPLv3+ for new contributions and there is nothing we, TDF/etc, can do about
Sun/Oracle owned code), then there is no reason for copyright assignment,
pure and simple.

Any kind of other fear mongering to get copyright assignment put in place is
unjustified.

However, all that doesn't mean it might not be good for TDF to offer developers
the choice of copyright assignment without requiring it; something that would
also be good to offer the estates of deceased developers when those situations
arrive. But that is all - an option should the developer with to exercise it.

Ben


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