[OSM-legal-talk] Q&A with a lawyer

[Frederik Ramm]

Hi,

Ulf Möller wrote:
>> I have no idea if this concept of fixing the licensor to always be OSMF 
>> is workable at all. Is it used elsewhere, or is it an entirely new idea? 
> 
> A number of high-profile open source projects including GNU and Apache 
> operate that way.

No, I didn't mean that. What you are talking about is not inherent in 
the license, it is just in (what would be their equivalent of) the 
contribution agreement. But none of these licenses (Apache or GPL, or 
any other free license I have read) actually say that anything ever 
licensed under such a license will always remain with the original licensor.

As you rightly say,
> (Of course the license allows you to modify 
> the software and distribute it on your own.)

If you take a GPL program and modify it (or not) you can distribute it 
and you are then the licensor. ODbL doesn't allow that.

Bye
Frederik

-- 
Frederik Ramm  ##  eMail frederik at remote.org  ##  N49°00'09" E008°23'33"