[Foundation-l] GFDL and relicensing

[Ray Saintonge]

Thomas Dalton wrote:
>> Remember that it's expensive to the plaintiff as well as to the
>> defendant.
>>     
> Ok, it only takes one *rich person*. Point stands.
>   
They don't get rich by taking stupid cases to their extreme through the 
court systems.
>> What is the basis of this guess?  Most people who've reviewed CC-BY-SA
>> and compared it to GFDL see lots of similarities.
>>     
> It's a guess, it doesn't really have much of a basis, just gut
> feeling. I would have called it an estimate otherwise.
>   
Does Judge Judy accept copyright cases?
> Why would I care about the plaintiff's costs? There are plenty of
>   
> people in this world with more money than sense.
>   
Of course.  Let them be the ones to beat their heads against a stone wall.
> As for registering
> copyright, isn't that US law? We're not talking about the US here. Do
> France and Germany have similar requirements?
>   
Even in the US registration is not a prerequisite for owning 
copyrights.  Getting rid of that was a requirement on the US before 
becoming a part of some international treaties.  Registration is only 
required for sustaining certain cases in court. 
>> It helps in analysis of this question to be familiar with how
>> copyright litigation actual works, and what it actually costs
>> plaintiffs to bring one.
>>     
> It costs the plaintiffs money. Something lots of people have and the
> WMF doesn't.
That all strikes me as planning for failure.  At least the kids who 
visited the confessional with hypothetically impossible schemes in the 
George Carlin skit had the good sense to know that their schemes weren't 
real.  Not acting because someone has speculated about the most 
improbable of lawsuits is a good way of getting nothing done.  One still 
needs to keep in mind the maxim that it is easier to get forgiveness 
than to get permission.

Ec