I would note in the U.S. (at least) however the following:
� 204. Execution of transfers of copyright ownership
(a)A transfer of copyright ownership, other than by operation of law, is not
valid unless an instrument of conveyance, or a note or memorandum of the
transfer, is in writing and signed by the owner of the rights conveyed or
such owner�s duly authorized agent.
Although with the new U.S. E-sign (electronic signature legislation), the
meaning of "signed" and "writing" could have a different scope than
traditionally understood. I haven't studied the new enacted legislation to
determine the impact.
This is not legal advice, a client-attorney relationship is not hereby
established, etc. etc.
>From: Henning Makholm <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>To: Tomasz Wegrzanowski <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>CC: Henning Makholm <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, Juhapekka Tolvanen
><[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, [EMAIL PROTECTED],
>[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>Subject: Re: Licence of SteelBlue
>Date: 26 Jul 2000 22:02:06 +0200
>
>Scripsit Tomasz Wegrzanowski <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>
> > Nothing in copyright law allow you to make such claims in a license.
>
>A "license" means two things:
>
>1. The permission from the owner of an intellectual property right
> for someone to do whatever the IPR protects.
>
>2. The contract in which the owner of an intellectual property right
> agrees to give someone a license (sense 1) in exchange for certain
> goods or promises, to be specified in the contract.
>
>The document we're talking about is clearly a license in sense 2. You
>can either not accept it - in which case you will be bound by nothing
>- or you can accept it - in which case you will get a license (sense
>1) *and* become liable to do *whatever* the contract says you agree
>to do in return.
>
>What these return liabilities may consist of is not governed by
>copyright law, but by normal contract law. It would make a
>perfectly legal contract to say:
>
>| Party A allows party B to copy his computer program X.
>| In return, party B will
>| 1) pet a cat, and
>| 2) assign to party A the copyright to any future novels he
>| writes featuring a protagonist with the name of John.
>
>Even though the novels may not be connected with program X by
>copyright law, the contract nevertheless *creates* a connection.
>
>What is *not* possible is for party A to unilaterally *offer* to
>party B this contract, then - without any evidence that B has
>accepted the contract - claim ownership of books that B write
>about guys named John.
>
>That is, however, not the point of the license we're discussing
>presently. It says that *if* I want to copy the program *and* I
>create patches *then* I must give these them these patches.
>If, somehow, I create patches *without* copying the program,
>then their copyright statement simply does not apply to me, and
>I do not have to do the things they require.
>
>--
>Henning Makholm "Slip den panserraket og
>l�g
> dig p� jorden med ansigtet
>nedad!"
>
>
>--
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