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cc-licenses - Re: public domain question

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Subject: Development of Creative Commons licenses

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  • From: Gottfried Hofmann <toddd AT mypse.goracer.de>
  • To: Discussion on the Creative Commons license drafts <cc-licenses AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: public domain question
  • Date: Wed, 02 Feb 2005 23:31:39 +0100


Copyleft won't allow it.

But copyright WILL allow it.
You can create a proprietary fork of someone's BSD code.
Which means copyright is a superset of copyleft.
And which means copyright allows individuals do more
than copyleft allows.

Copyleft is about granting individuals certain rights. When you obtain GPLed code you have any rights to do things with the code as long as you pass those rights along to the next individual whom you might give that code.
It's just as freedom: You're free as long as you don't harm the freedom of other individuals.

Copyright doesn't even bother to give you as an individual certain rights (unless the owner grants you some of them).
For Example: You must not sell or modify the leaked Windows 2000 sources. But you, as an individual, can do so with the Linux Kernel sources. Copyleft granted you all those rights and it protects other individuals' rights by not allowing you to make the code proprietary as you pass it along.




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