linux-kernel - RE: GPL only modules

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Date:	Mon, 18 Dec 2006 17:39:19 -0800
From:	"David Schwartz" <davids@...master.com>
To:	"Linux-Kernel@...r. Kernel. Org" <linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org>
Subject: RE: GPL only modules

Combined responses:

> So therefore I don't think you can reasonably claim that static
> vs. dynamic linking is only a technical difference.  There are clearly
> other differences when it comes to distribution of the resulting
> binaries.

We're only talking about the special case of GPL'd works. You can download a
million copies of a GPL'd work from a server run by a family member across
the room. You can then delete one copy for each copy you distribute in the
form of a statically linked work.

Issues of copying don't apply to GPL'd works unless you have no access to
the source code. Otherwise, someone else can copy you as many works as you
want with the source code, and you can use first sale to transfer every one
of them.

> I personally would think that a mechanical process of modification
> *does* create a derived work, but it would take a court of law or a
> legislature to make an authoritative decision, I guess.

Under at least United States law, copyright protected creative expression
and only creative expression. In other jurisdictions, there are other types
of rights similar to copyright that one can obtain by means of hard work,
for example database compilation rights. They are usually legally distinct
from copyright and grant different rights with different rules.

DS

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