“Many users of open-source software are frightened by the term
‘derivative works’. They worry they might accidentally create
derivative works and put their own proprietary software under an
open-source license. This is a complex topic that courts and
lawyers disagree on, but I think we find definitions to ease
people’s concerns.“First, a brief reminder of why the term derivative work is so
important. Here’s what a typical license might say: ‘Licensor
hereby grants you a license…to prepare derivative works based
upon the original work and to distribute those derivative works
with the proviso that copies of those derivative works that you
distribute shall be licensed under this License.’ See, for example,
the GNU General Public License at www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html or
the new Open Software License at
www.opensource.org/licenses/osl.php.“How can you tell when you’ve created a derivative work? The
Copyright Act, at 17 U.S.C. §101, is a little vague and
doesn’t say anything at all about software…”
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