[Foundation-l] An argument for strong copyleft

[Andrew Whitworth]

On Mon, Apr 7, 2008 at 9:40 PM, Robert Rohde <rarohde at gmail.com> wrote:
>  Point 3 should read: "GFDL document + 'separate and independent documents or
>  works, in or on a volume of a storage or distribution medium' " = Non-GFDL
>  document (aggregate).
>
>  Those other two clauses are significant.  Aggregates, as I understand them,
>  are resticted to combinations of documents that are functionally independent
>  and connected merely by proximity in a distribution medium, etc.

That may be, although I have doubts that "volume" implies
"functionally independent" here. However, it's a word that's
ill-defined here and so I have no evidence to cite one way or the
other.

>  4) GFDL document augmented by non-GFDL text or images = GFDL document
>  (derivative).
>
>  They way I understand it is basically: If you can remove either work without
>  materially affecting the reader's understanding of the remaining work then
>  it can be an aggregate.  If, on the other hand, the understanding and
>  appreciation of one work depends on the presense of the other, then the
>  collective work fails the "separate and independent" test must be treated as
>  a derivative and not as an aggregate.

No, this cannot possibly be true. For example, let's say you have a
document, A, that is GFDL. I have a picture, B, over which I maintain
a non-free copyright. You cannot make document C = A + B, and say that
C is GFDL, because that violates my copyright on B. You either need to
invoke fair use, or else C must be an aggregate that does not affect
the licenses on either A or B. Comparing sizes, just because A > B
doesn't mean that the copyright for A is more important then the
copyright on B, or that A's copyright license "wins" because it's more
substantial.

Including my image B in a large composite work C that is mostly
comprised of GFDL text A does not make C a GFDL document. From the
GFDL itself: "A 'Modified Version' of the Document means any work
containing the Document or a portion of it". If C = A + B, and C is
GFDL, then B is a portion of C, and therefore B is GFDL too. However,
this is impossible, because I hold exclusive non-free copyright over B
and never released it under the GFDL. C, therefore, cannot be a GFDL
document because all it's parts are not GFDL documents (unless, again,
we invoke fair use).

--Andrew Whitworth