Re: How to contribute

[Ralph Corderoy]

Hi Michał,

>     Alas, groff's requirement for copyright assignment to the FSF ruled
>     out contributions from me many years ago after the FSF's legal
>     counsel confirmed they'd hold partial copyright on a non-groff work
>     which contained code of copyrightable expression if I later used it
>     in groff; the order in time doesn't matter.  The FSF want 100%
>     ownership to enforce copyright but deny 100% ownership of that
>     earlier work in doing so.
>
> I do not get this.
> Can you elaborate or provide an example?

Say I write a 25-line function in a program which is all my own work.
A year later, I'm adding a feature to GNU groff and realise that function
can be re-used.  GNU groff's maintainer rightly requires a copyright
assignment before accepting the contribution which includes that function.
If I provide the assignment, I am granting the FSF partial copyright over
the program written a year earlier which is all my own work because of
that sole re-used function.

Amongst other problems, signing copyright assignments can cause a lot of
hassle when lawyers do due diligence.  What did you sign away?  What did
you think it covered?  What did it actually cover?  Are you the sole
owner of what you're selling to our client?

-- 
Cheers, Ralph.