On 19/09/06, Stephen Streater sbstreater@mac.com wrote:
Would the original poster be liable in the UK for each copy made though? I don't have a clear answer on this yet. By releasing something under a free licence, am I saying: "you have the right to copy this" or am I saying "you have the right to copy this subject to applicable laws"?
My interpretation is that you're saying "I have the right to copy this, and I'm giving you these rights subject to the following conditions..."
If you don't have the right to make commercial copies (or whatever), you can't license the rights to do so. If you've attempted to license it under something like the GFDL without first possessing all the rights you're licensing, at the very least the license is invalid - and there's a nontrivial possibility you're liable for breach of contract. Even though you yourself haven't made commercial use of it, you've knowingly permitted people to do so...
(It becomes more complex if you distribute it legally and then *I* steal it and redistribute it under a free license - the license is still invalid, but you're probably no longer liable)