Re: How to contribute

[Michał Kruszewski]

I do not believe it works this way.
It would be extremely stupid.

I can image this applies when you copy large amount of code, but single 25 
lines function?

No one would contribute to GNU projects if it worked like this.

Best regards,
Michał Kruszewski


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------- Original Message -------
On Saturday, June 3rd, 2023 at 3:37 PM, Ralph Corderoy <ralph@inputplus.co.uk> 
wrote:


> 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.