Xref: utzoo comp.sources.d:5945 trial.misc.legal.software:77 gnu.misc.discuss:1949 Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!shelby!bu.edu!dimacs.rutgers.edu!rutgers!cmcl2!kramden.acf.nyu.edu!brnstnd From: brnstnd@kramden.acf.nyu.edu (Dan Bernstein) Newsgroups: comp.sources.d,trial.misc.legal.software,gnu.misc.discuss Subject: Re: Reve: Invalid restrictions on usage. Message-ID: <7939:Nov600:20:3490@kramden.acf.nyu.edu> Date: 6 Nov 90 00:20:34 GMT References: <16309@s.ms.uky.edu> <21712:Nov412:17:2190@kramden.acf.nyu.edu> Organization: IR Lines: 41 In article sean@ms.uky.edu (Sean Casey) writes: > I am crossposting this to gnu.misc.discuss because the LPF people might > be interested in some of the misunderstandings people seem to have about > the limitations of copyright law. Sean, the only incorrect statement has been your assertion that the Reve restrictions are unenforceable. As Peter says, though, we're both right in what we're trying to say. You're right that it is impossible to restrict *use* without a contract; I'm right that it you can place arbitrary limitations on *copying*. The question is whether Reve's restrictions on copying apply to the use of a program in a tournament. I was under the impression that at least one major computer Othello tournament requires participants to submit programs via e-mail. This is not covered by fair use, so the Reve restrictions apply. > Conditional > redistribution, such as the GPL or Dan's copyright, To paraphrase Michael Berch: The GPL says it's a license, so it's a license. Shrink-wrap licenses such as the GPL are generally unenforceable. This is contract law, not copyright law. Please don't draw any analogy between my copyright limitations and the GNU Public License. > |You may copy and distribute this article for profit if you are not named Sean. > Small excerpts are permitted under Fair Use :-P. Small excerpts? You quoted a huge chunk of the article. The fair use guideline you want to apply here is the one about the nature of the copying. You're not making any money off the copying, and you're certainly not taking away from my profits from the original, so a judge would almost certainly rule it fair use. Try selling it, though, and I'll sue your pants off. :-) ---Dan