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Date:      22 Dec 2001 17:15:32 -0800
From:      swear@blarg.net (Gary W. Swearingen)
To:        Nicolas Rachinsky <list@rachinsky.de>
Cc:        chat@FreeBSD.ORG
Subject:   Re: GPL nonsense: time to stop
Message-ID:  <4azo4au47f.o4a@localhost.localdomain>
In-Reply-To: <20011221212606.GB17204@pc5.abc>
References:  <local.mail.freebsd-chat/20011218110645.A2061@tisys.org> <200112182010.fBIKA9739621@prism.flugsvamp.com> <4.3.2.7.2.20011218180720.00d6e520@localhost> <20011219091631.Q377@prism.flugsvamp.com> <0en10ey5jo.10e@localhost.localdomain> <20011219215548.D76354@prism.flugsvamp.com> <lpellpwlhe.llp@localhost.localdomain> <20011220171739.J26326@prism.flugsvamp.com> <4.3.2.7.2.20011221131016.00d3dcc0@localhost> <20011221150930.A78601@prism.flugsvamp.com> <20011221212606.GB17204@pc5.abc>

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Nicolas Rachinsky <list@rachinsky.de> writes:

> Just a question, there is an version of the BSD license which is
> incompatible with the GPL, which means I can't distribute a work with
> has both licenses. In the following I call this (incompatible) BSD
> license BSDL.
> 
> If I have an program licensed with the BSDL, I'm not the
> author/copyright owner of. I have a source file which is GPL'd. If
> I combine this two for example by linking them together, I create
> a derivated work of both the source files. The GPL requires me to
> license the whole work under the GPL, which I can't do, so every
> distribution of the whole work in binary (and perhaps in source) is
> illegal.
> 
> Is this correct?

What is the nature of the linking?  Do you own the GPL'd work?  Are
the parts dependent on each other causing a "technical interpenetration"?
Does the combination satisfy the GPL's "mere aggregation" escape clause?
Lots of debatable stuff some of which you might never answer surely.
But it is probably correct in most cases.

And only a lawyer may give you legal advice, so don't consider my
opinion as anything but a lay comment on an hypothetical scenario.

> Are all the linux distributers violating copyright law?

Why do you ask?  Care to share some evidence of it?

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