Copyrighting the GPL

--- "Deven T. Corzine" <[email protected]> wrote:
> If you're talking about the text of the GPL itself, I'm not sure how much 
> copyright protection it actually has. [...]the point was mentioned that while
a 
> judge may write a very expressive judicial opinion, it is NOT protected by 
> copyright because the public interest in knowing the laws and precedents 
> that bind them overrides the interest in protecting that expression.

I've read of similar decisions regarding court transcripts.  As far as I know,
all such cases have involved documents created by government employees in the
course of their duties.  I agree, one could make the argument that all legal
documents, including contracts, should be treated the same.  But I remember
when I purchased some boilerplate rental agreements from an office supply store
that the agreement had a copyright notice on it.  So the FSF would not be alone
in asserting copyright on a contract.


=====
Sincerely,
Matt Seitz

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