Copyright issues

[Bruce Perens]

Jimmy Kaplowitz wrote:
> The issue with the Debian website copyright is rather different and is
> much more complicated, because contacting all past contributors to that
> website, getting some sort of legal document signed with them, and
> convincing all current and future contributors to do the same would be a
> huge task.
Jimmy,

There is another way to go about it. Where copyrights are not explicitly 
stated, the Debian project can decide to uniformly make clear its own 
copyright upon its own web site, and make a  /public notice /of its 
intention to do so, along with a call for past contributors to oppose 
and ask for their contribution to be removed before this takes place.

This can be done in finite time. This is only a clarification of a 
copyright that always existed. Anyone, past, present, or future, who 
asserts that a never-formally-stated copyright of a portion of the 
project's web site exists that is not owned by the project is just 
trying to obstruct the project.

There are individual documents such as the Debian Policy Manual that are 
copyrighted by their developers, but it's a really short list of people.

    Thanks

    Bruce


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