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Distribution in Open SourceMartin von Haller Groenbaek
partner, Bender von Haller Dragsted
ITECHLAW ASIA 2010Bangalore, 5 February 2010
1torsdag den 4. februar 2010
– Attorney-at-law, Bender von Haller Dragsted– Co-founder, Open Source Vendors Ass. (OSL)– Editorial board IFOSSLR– Co-founder, Creative Commons DK– Co-founder, Danish Internet Society Chapter
– http://www.bvhd.dk– http://www.openlife.dk– http://www.vonhaller.dk– http://www.linkedin.com/in/vonhaller– http://www.23hq.com/mhg– http://www.slideshare.net/vonhaller– http://www.facebook.com/vonhaller
– mhg@bvhd.dk– martin@groenbaek.net– groenbaek@gmail.com
2torsdag den 4. februar 2010
Questions
-What is Distribution?
-Why does distribution matter?
-Is there a business model?
3torsdag den 4. februar 2010
Intro
- Open source gives you four rights or freedoms
- Run the object code
- Access source code
- Modify it
- Make and transfer copies
4torsdag den 4. februar 2010
Intro
- Whether you distribute or not, you will enjoy these four freedmos
- You can do whatever you want with the code, as long as you don’t distribute it
- (if within the granted user rights)
- But many of the normal restrictions will not be applicable
5torsdag den 4. februar 2010
Intro- If you don’t distribute none of the
normal restrictions apply
- No Copyleft
- No preservation of copyright notices
- No preservation of license terms
- Your patents are unaffected
6torsdag den 4. februar 2010
Modification?
•Droit moral?
7torsdag den 4. februar 2010
-Distribution triggers copyleft
-Distribution is presumed in most OSS license violation cases
Intro
8torsdag den 4. februar 2010
Kudos to
9torsdag den 4. februar 2010
US Copyright law
- Distribution means...
- "distribute copies...of the copyrighted work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending" (7 USC section 106(3))
10torsdag den 4. februar 2010
Any differences?- US:
- Distribution is publication
- Publication is any transfer (also private)
- Nordics:
- Distribution is publication
- But publication is not private transfers
11torsdag den 4. februar 2010
The difference
- US: Whenever a copy changes hand, you have distribution and you need permission
- Nordic: You don’t need permission, if you distribute privately (Consumption rules apply)
12torsdag den 4. februar 2010
OSS licenses
•“Traditional” OSS licenses are US-centric
•Notable exceptions are EUPL and GPLv3
13torsdag den 4. februar 2010
GPL v2- Different terms
- “distribute”
- “redistribute” (sec 6)
- “physical act of transferring a copy” (sec 1, 3rd paragraph)
- “distribute or publish” (sec 2,litra b. )
14torsdag den 4. februar 2010
GPL v2
- Transferring af copy regardless of the medium
- Transfer from one person to another
- To goal is to preserve the freedoms
- The US concept of “distribution”
15torsdag den 4. februar 2010
Other OSS licenses
-BSD license
-“Redistribution”
-MIT License
-“Publish, distribute”
16torsdag den 4. februar 2010
Other OSS Licenses- Apache License, Version 2.0
- “publicly display, publicly perform, sublicense, and distribute the Work” (sec 2)
- “reproduce and distribute copies” (sec 4)
- Eclipse Public License - v 1.0
- “publicly display, publicly perform, distribute” (Sec 2, litra a)
- Open Software License ("OSL") v. 3.0
- “distribute or communicate copies” (sec 1, litra c)
17torsdag den 4. februar 2010
GPL v3- To “propagate” a work means to do
anything with it that, without permission, would make you directly or secondarily liable for infringement under applicable copyright law, except executing it on a computer or modifying a private copy. Propagation includes copying, distribution (with or without modification), making available to the public, and in some countries other activities as well
18torsdag den 4. februar 2010
GPL v3
- To “convey” a work means any kind of propagation that enables other parties to make or receive copies. Mere interaction with a user through a computer network, with no transfer of a copy, is not conveying.
19torsdag den 4. februar 2010
EUPL v1.1
- “Distribution and/or Communication: any act of selling, giving, lending, renting, distributing, communicating, transmitting, or otherwise making available, on-line or off-line, copies of the Work or providing access to its essential functionalities at the disposal of any other natural or legal person.” (sec 1)
20torsdag den 4. februar 2010
Creative Commons
- "Distribute" means to make available to the public the original and copies of the Work or Adaptation, as appropriate, through sale or other transfer of ownership
21torsdag den 4. februar 2010
Rules of thumb- Not distinctions between commercial
or non-commercial
- Physical copies must be transferred
- The transferee must be a third party
- All “public” transfers are distribution
- Some “private” transfers may not be distribution
22torsdag den 4. februar 2010
Employees
-Not distribution
-A third party but an agent
-A “private” distribution
23torsdag den 4. februar 2010
Subsidiaries
•100% owned subsidiaries
•Legally a third party
•US: Probably not distribution due to unity of ownership doctrine
•Nordic: Probably not distribution as the transaction is not marketbased (“private”)
24torsdag den 4. februar 2010
Contractors- The contractor is a third party
- A physical copy is transferred (as opposed to work on internal servers)
- US: Distribution
- Nordic: Probably a “private” transfer, thus not a distribution
- Pay the contractor to develop your modification on your own servers
- You cannot impose an NDA on the contractor
25torsdag den 4. februar 2010
Outsourcing
- The contractor is a third party
- A physical copy is transferred (as opposed to work on internal servers)
- US: Distribution
- Nordic: Probably a “private” transfer, thus not a distribution
26torsdag den 4. februar 2010
M&A
- Only assets, not share, sales
- The acquiror is a third party
- A physical copy is transferred
- US: Distribution
- Nordic: Distribution
- But both parties share interests!
27torsdag den 4. februar 2010
ASP loophole
• Does Google release its modifications?
• Making functionality available via the Internet is not distribution
• A physical copy of the code is not transferred
• Copyleft is not triggered
• Network exception in GPLv3
28torsdag den 4. februar 2010
The Business model-Dual licensing
-The copyright holder can license under different licenses
-Licensees that need to avoid copyleft provisions can buy a different license
29torsdag den 4. februar 2010
Case study
30torsdag den 4. februar 2010
Thank you for your attention
Presentation also available at
http://www.slideshare.net/vonhaller
31torsdag den 4. februar 2010