| Re: Mr. Theme = P.O.d |
| by tom on 2007/9/22 17:52:17 Quote: Considering that the first GPL Lawsuit was filed September 20th of this year, there really isn't a legal precedent set in the law books, afaik. Most disputes have been handled directly by the Free Software Foundation. Do you mean first American GPL lawsuit? http://www.out-law.com/page-5620 - Software firm settles GPL violation lawsuit - 28/04/2005 http://www.out-law.com/page-4486 - German court upholds open source licence - 26/04/2004 Quote: In the MySQL v NuSphere lawsuit the GPL came close to be examined in court, but the case was ultimately settled out of court in 2002. In the infamous SCO Group v IBM Inc. lawsuit the GPL might in the end be subject of a court ruling, but, as the case is still ongoing and will be so for a while yet, interested parties will have to wait and see on the issue. I came across more the other day, but couldn't find the urls again. |
| Re: Mr. Theme = P.O.d |
| by JMorris on 2007/9/22 15:32:41 Considering that the first GPL Lawsuit was filed September 20th of this year, there really isn't a legal precedent set in the law books, afaik. Most disputes have been handled directly by the Free Software Foundation. To be entirely honest here, I don't see where the debate is. According to the quote Quote: As a special exception to GPL, any HTML file which merely makes function calls to this code, and for that purpose includes it by reference shall be deemed a separate work for copyright law purposes. it seems to me to be pretty cut and dry. SMARTY variables are function calls. They reference predefined functions in the XOOPS Core. If you only remove the SMARTY variables, a large portion of themes would still operate perfectly. You can still drop content down inside the HTML elements and it will render in a browser. |
| Re: Mr. Theme = P.O.d |
| by Alan-A on 2007/9/22 15:11:53 This is a really useful thread. I'm no expert but I think that legally one can take a wider point of view than has been discussed here. Lets look at themes from another standpoint - a theme is a way of creating a GUI for a CMS using HTML, JS, etc. It is not just code plus images - it is also a designed "object" on its own providing information flow, visual structure, etc.. When I make a average theme then I can port it to Nuke and other Xoops-similar CMS without too much effort. IMO, the interface a theme has to the CMS is (generally) a secondary component of the theme (OK we can discuss this, but I mean in general). The principle of weight or importance - i.e. what is the predominant part of a design / idea / product is IMO what is behind the text which Will quoted: Quote: As a special exception to GPL, any HTML file which merely makes function calls to this code, and for that purpose includes it by reference shall be deemed a separate work for copyright law purposes. This principle has been a part of patent and design registration law for a long time and must also play a role here. (However this could also be turned on its head - where a theme is relatively simple from the design side but uses many unique features from the CMS, then maybe it could be argued that the theme came under the CMS license.) However in end effect what is just as important in court as what is written in the law books is how other similar (precedent) cases have been judged. Does anyone have any information about such cases? Alan |
| Re: Mr. Theme = P.O.d |
| by Will_H on 2007/9/22 2:20:19 Anyone from the foundation wanna input on what XOOPS position is on all this? |
| Re: Mr. Theme = P.O.d |
| by script_fu on 2007/9/21 19:43:48 If you build your own html theme thats stands on it own and name it index.html. You have 100% copyright over the code and graphics. Now you include this theme with the ported version to XOOPS and your covered. Plain and simple you ported your copyrighted work to XOOPS for others to use but not under the gpl. This will hold water... |
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