:LinuxPlanet: Stallman/Stanco: A Dialogue on Copyright Law and Free/Open Source Software (Part 1)
LinuxPlanet: Stallman/Stanco: A Dialogue on Copyright Law and Free/Open Source Software (Part 1) Jul 13, 2000, 18 :14 UTC (3 Talkback[s]) (4527 reads) (Other stories by Tony Stanco)
"This is the first day of an email dialogue with Richard Stallman on the philosophy
of copyright that will be published over nine days on LinuxPlanet. This dialogue
arose from comments that RMS was kind enough to give me on a two-part
article on software licensing that appeared on LinuxProgramming recently."
"[last section of the licensing article, Part I]:
> According to Richard Stallman the traditional rules discussed
> above have the rights backwards, because they assume that the
> natural rights belong to the author of a work instead of to the
> public. So in his opinion, copyright law does not give rights, but
> rather takes them away, in that the public no longer has the right
> to copy, modify or distribute a work of another.
[Stallman]:
This is not my opinion--this is the fact. This is how the US legal
system considers the issue. Take a look at the Supreme Court decision
in the Bonito Boats case.
To present this as merely my opinion is to misrepresent the history of
copyright. If you want to help, please don't score an "own goal."
