MIT copyrights in X.org source base...

[Jim Gettys]

Boy, either this is a winner, or its DOA.  I've gotten a couple of
private mails and an IRC thumbs up, but not enough to make me feel
comfortable "just doing it".

So the next step, unless people start complaining, will be to presume
the suggested wording is ratified, say, in one week....

So please comment, yea or nay.
                                      - Jim


On Mon, 2006-10-09 at 16:16 -0400, Jim Gettys wrote:
> All over our source base, we have N different variants of the MIT
> license, and often N variants that differ solely by the name of the
> person or company named as the copyright holder.  For example, attached
> for you amusement and revulsion, is the 109 lines of copyrights found in
> xserver/dix/events.c.  On this file, we have 1 TOG notice, 2 Digital
> Equipment Corporation notices (!), along with a Sun Microsystems notice.
> 
> Due to the Digital/Compaq/HP merger, and X.org's successor-in-interest
> to TOG, I think we have a chance to clean this up greatly. Scott
> Peterson, who is HP's lawyer on Free software and Open Source law has
> agreed in principle to letting us merge the Digital/Compaq/HP
> copyrights, and I propose we do so with X.org owned copyrights as well.
> If we can come up with exact language (nearly) everyone can agree with,
> maybe we can also get other companies and many individuals to change to
> a standard form as well, allowing us to go down to 1 line/copyright
> holder.
> 
> Sometimes something like the following is also in the license:
>         "Except as contained in this notice, the copyright holders and
>         authors names shall not be used in advertising or otherwise to
>         promote the sale, use or other dealings in this Software without
>         prior written authorization."
> Scott doesn't think this is necessary (other laws prevent using your
> name in vain without your permission), but he's also happy to see it
> included if people will be more comfortable with its inclusion.
> 
> I'd like people's opinions on whether inclusion of that boiler plate is
> really necessary.
> 
> I'm also troubled by the "both that copyright notice and this permission
> notice appear in supporting documentation" clause, though changing this
> may be more controversial.  I call this the "tree killer" clause.  At
> the time we drafted the MIT license, no one anticipated aggregate Linux
> distributions with thousands or tens of thousands of contributors.
> Technically, if you followed this to the letter, and distribute a
> printed document, you end up with much paper pulp covered with copyright
> statements; it doesn't matter in electronic form nearly so much: storage
> is cheap. I'm wondering if we should make the clause "both that
> copyright notice and this permission notice appear in supporting
> electronic documentation" to help save the planet.
> 
>                                   - Jim Gettys
> 
> 
> Here's an example result of what I propose:
> 
> ----------------
> Copyright 1987, 1998, The X.Org Foundation.
> Copyright 1987, 1991, 1997 Hewlett-Packard Company.
> Copyright 2003-2005 Sun Microsystems, Inc.
> 
> Permission to use, copy, modify, distribute, and sell this software and
> its documentation for any purpose is hereby granted without fee,
> provided that the above copyright notice appear in all copies and that
> both that this copyright notice and this permission notice appear in
> supporting electronic documentation.
> 
> The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included
> in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
> 
> THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS
> OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF
> MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT.
> IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS OR AUTHORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY
> CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT,
> TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE
> SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
> 
> ---------------
> 
> 
> Example existing 109 line mess from a file (specifically,
> xserver/dix/events.c):
> 
> /************************************************************
> 
> Copyright 1987, 1998  The Open Group
> 
> Permission to use, copy, modify, distribute, and sell this software and
> its
> documentation for any purpose is hereby granted without fee, provided
> that
> the above copyright notice appear in all copies and that both that
> copyright notice and this permission notice appear in supporting
> documentation.
> 
> The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included
> in
> all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
> 
> THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS
> OR
> IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
> FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT.  IN NO EVENT SHALL
> THE
> OPEN GROUP BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER
> IN
> AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN
> CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
> SOFTWARE.
> 
> Except as contained in this notice, the name of The Open Group shall not
> be
> used in advertising or otherwise to promote the sale, use or other
> dealings
> in this Software without prior written authorization from The Open
> Group.
> 
> 
> Copyright 1987 by Digital Equipment Corporation, Maynard, Massachusetts.
> 
>                         All Rights Reserved
> 
> Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software and its 
> documentation for any purpose and without fee is hereby granted, 
> provided that the above copyright notice appear in all copies and that
> both that copyright notice and this permission notice appear in 
> supporting documentation, and that the name of Digital not be
> used in advertising or publicity pertaining to distribution of the
> software without specific, written prior permission.  
> 
> DIGITAL DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES WITH REGARD TO THIS SOFTWARE, INCLUDING
> ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS, IN NO EVENT SHALL
> DIGITAL BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, INDIRECT OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR
> ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS,
> WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION,
> ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS
> SOFTWARE.
> 
> ********************************************************/
> 
> /* The panoramix components contained the following notice */
> /*****************************************************************
> 
> Copyright (c) 1991, 1997 Digital Equipment Corporation, Maynard,
> Massachusetts.
> 
> Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a
> copy
> of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to
> deal
> in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the
> rights
> to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or
> sell
> copies of the Software.
> 
> The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included
> in
> all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
> 
> THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS
> OR
> IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
> FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT.  IN NO EVENT SHALL
> DIGITAL EQUIPMENT CORPORATION BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES,
> INCLUDING,
> BUT NOT LIMITED TO CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, OR OTHER
> LIABILITY,
> WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT
> OF OR
> IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
> SOFTWARE.
> 
> Except as contained in this notice, the name of Digital Equipment
> Corporation
> shall not be used in advertising or otherwise to promote the sale, use
> or other
> dealings in this Software without prior written authorization from
> Digital
> Equipment Corporation.
> 
> ******************************************************************/
> 
> /*****************************************************************
> 
> Copyright 2003-2005 Sun Microsystems, Inc.
> 
> All rights reserved.
> 
> Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a
> copy of this software and associated documentation files (the
> "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including
> without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish,
> distribute, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons
> to whom the Software is furnished to do so, provided that the above
> copyright notice(s) and this permission notice appear in all copies of
> the Software and that both the above copyright notice(s) and this
> permission notice appear in supporting documentation.
> 
> THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS
> OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF
> MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT
> OF THIRD PARTY RIGHTS. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER OR
> HOLDERS INCLUDED IN THIS NOTICE BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, OR ANY SPECIAL
> INDIRECT OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, OR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER RESULTING
> FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT,
> NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION
> WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.
> 
> Except as contained in this notice, the name of a copyright holder
> shall not be used in advertising or otherwise to promote the sale, use
> or other dealings in this Software without prior written authorization
> of the copyright holder.
> 
> ******************************************************************/
> 
> 
> 
-- 
Jim Gettys
One Laptop Per Child