On Wed, 2002-03-20 at 13:46, Claus Färber wrote:
MJ Ray markj@cloaked.freeserve.co.uk schrieb/wrote:
=?ISO-8859-1?Q?Claus_F=E4rber?= list-fsf-eu-discussion@faerber.muc.de wrote:
Even an include() statement does not make the plug-in in the form it is _distributed_ in a dereived work.
Hrm. The program cannot function independently and modifies the original at run-time.
Does it? Or does it just _use_ it?
There is no difference. It can modify the behaviour because it is linking with it.
What matters is wheter you are doing something that requires the permission of the author. In EU member states, this is making any copy, even temporary copies.
With GPL'ed software you have the permission of the author if you respect the conditions the software is released under.
I do suggest changing that web software's license from GPL to OAGPL.
AFFERO GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE http://www.affero.org/oagpl.html
This license is an attempt at solving issues with web apps.
Although you might be distributing code that cannot function independently, you are not copying the original code, so you don't need the permission of its author.
Please also note that the EU Copyright Directive for Computer Programmes also includes a statement that even allows reverse- engineering to make other software interoperable. So a licence clause that disallows (proprietary) interoperable software should be void in most member states.
This is not interoperability. Communicating with a remote machine (C2S ou P2P) involves interoperability. Linking with some software is including at runtime that code in the program, so it is a derived work.
Hugs, rui