diff --git a/gpl-lgpl.tex b/gpl-lgpl.tex index 619423a..21e2e73 100644 --- a/gpl-lgpl.tex +++ b/gpl-lgpl.tex @@ -304,48 +304,60 @@ to serve that sub-community. \section{How Does Software Become Free?} -The last section set forth the freedoms and rights respected by Free -Software. It presupposed, however, that such software exists. This -section discusses how Free Software comes into existence. But first, it -addresses how software can be non-Free in the first place. +The previous section set forth key freedoms and rights that are referred to +as ``software freedom''. This section discusses the licensing mechanisms +used to enable software freedom. These licensing mechanism were ultimately +created as a community-oriented ``answer'' to the existing proprietary +software licensing mechanisms. Thus, first, consider carefully why +proprietary software exists in the first place. -Software can be made proprietary only because it is governed by copyright -law.\footnote{This statement is a bit of an oversimplification. Patents - and trade secrets can cover software and make it effectively non-Free, - one can contract away their rights and freedoms regarding software, or - source code can be practically obscured in binary-only distribution - without reliance on any legal system. However, the primary control - mechanism for software is copyright.} Copyright law, with respect to -software, governs copying, modifying, and redistributing that -software.\footnote{Copyright law in general also governs ``public - performance'' of copyrighted works. There is no generally agreed - definition for public performance of software and both GPLv2 and GPLv3 - do not govern public performance.} By law, the copyright holder (a.k.a. -the author) of the work controls how others may copy, modify and/or -distribute the work. For proprietary software, these controls are used to -prohibit these activities. In addition, proprietary software distributors -further impede modification in a practical sense by distributing only -binary code and keeping the source code of the software secret. +Proprietary software exists at all only because it is governed by copyright +law.\footnote{This statement is admittedly an oversimplification. Patents and + trade secrets can cover software and make it effectively non-Free, and one + can contract away their rights and freedoms regarding software, or source + code can be practically obscured in binary-only distribution without + reliance on any legal system. However, the primary control mechanism for + software is copyright, and therefore this section focuses on how copyright + restrictions make software proprietary.} Copyright law, with respect to +software, typically governs copying, modifying, and redistributing that +software (For details of this in the USA, see +\href{http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html#106}{\S 106} and +\href{http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html#117}{\S 117} found in in +\href{http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17}{Title 17} of the +\textit{United States Code}).\footnote{Copyright law in general also governs + ``public performance'' of copyrighted works. There is no generally agreed + definition for public performance of software and both GPLv2 and GPLv3 do + not govern public performance.} By law (in the USA and in most other +jurisdictions), the copyright holder (most typically, the author) of the work controls +how others may copy, modify and/or distribute the work. For proprietary +software, these controls are used to prohibit these activities. In addition, +proprietary software distributors further impede modification in a practical +sense by distributing only binary code and keeping the source code of the +software secret. -Copyright law is a construction. In the USA, the Constitution permits, -but does not require, the creation of copyright law as federal -legislation. Software, since it is an idea fixed in a tangible medium, is -thus covered by the statues, and is copyrighted by default. +Copyright is not a natural state, it is a legal construction. In the USA, the +Constitution permits, but does not require, the creation of copyright law as +federal legislation. Software, since it is ``an original works of authorship +fixed in any tangible medium of expression ... from which they can be +perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated, either directly or with the +aid of a machine or device'' (as stated in +\href{http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/102}{USC 17 \S 102}), is thus +covered by the statues, and is copyrighted by default. -However, this legal construction is not necessarily natural. Software, in -its natural state without copyright, is Free Software. In an imaginary -world with no copyright, the rules would be different. In this -world, when you received a copy of a program's source code, there would be -no default legal system to restrict you from sharing it with others, -making modifications, or redistributing those modified +However, software, in its natural state without copyright, is Free +Software. In an imaginary world with no copyright, the rules would be +different. In this world, when you received a copy of a program's source +code, there would be no default legal system to restrict you from sharing it +with others, making modifications, or redistributing those modified versions.\footnote{There could still exist legal systems, like our modern - patent system, which could restrict the software in other ways.} + patent system, which could restrict the software in other ways, as well as + technical measures, such as binary-only distribution, that impeded such activity.} Software in the real world is copyrighted by default and is -automatically covered by that legal system. However, it is possible -to move software out of the domain of the copyright system. A -copyright holder is always permitted to \defn{disclaim} their -copyright. If copyright is disclaimed, the software is not governed +automatically covered by that legal system. However, it is possible +to move software out of the domain of the copyright system. A +copyright holder can often \defn{disclaim} their +copyright. If copyright is disclaimed, the software is not governed by copyright law. Software not governed by copyright is in the ``public domain.''