From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Path: main.gmane.org!not-for-mail From: Richard Stallman Newsgroups: gmane.emacs.devel Subject: Re: Incorporating patches into GNU Emacs Date: Sat, 19 Apr 2003 00:14:49 -0400 Sender: emacs-devel-bounces+emacs-devel=quimby.gnus.org@gnu.org Message-ID: References: <200304180640.h3I6euwV028582@gbr.newt.com> Reply-To: rms@gnu.org NNTP-Posting-Host: main.gmane.org X-Trace: main.gmane.org 1050725851 28606 80.91.224.249 (19 Apr 2003 04:17:31 GMT) X-Complaints-To: usenet@main.gmane.org NNTP-Posting-Date: Sat, 19 Apr 2003 04:17:31 +0000 (UTC) Cc: emacs-devel@gnu.org Original-X-From: emacs-devel-bounces+emacs-devel=quimby.gnus.org@gnu.org Sat Apr 19 06:17:30 2003 Return-path: Original-Received: from quimby.gnus.org ([80.91.224.244]) by main.gmane.org with esmtp (Exim 3.35 #1 (Debian)) id 196jn8-0007RF-00 for ; Sat, 19 Apr 2003 06:17:30 +0200 Original-Received: from monty-python.gnu.org ([199.232.76.173]) by quimby.gnus.org with esmtp (Exim 3.12 #1 (Debian)) id 196jql-0005iK-00 for ; Sat, 19 Apr 2003 06:21:15 +0200 Original-Received: from localhost ([127.0.0.1] helo=monty-python.gnu.org) by monty-python.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.10.13) id 196jmX-0000Xq-0E for emacs-devel@quimby.gnus.org; Sat, 19 Apr 2003 00:16:53 -0400 Original-Received: from list by monty-python.gnu.org with tmda-scanned (Exim 4.10.13) id 196jkq-0007jS-00 for emacs-devel@gnu.org; Sat, 19 Apr 2003 00:15:08 -0400 Original-Received: from mail by monty-python.gnu.org with spam-scanned (Exim 4.10.13) id 196jki-0007eg-00 for emacs-devel@gnu.org; Sat, 19 Apr 2003 00:15:01 -0400 Original-Received: from fencepost.gnu.org ([199.232.76.164]) by monty-python.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.10.13) id 196jke-0007Ye-00 for emacs-devel@gnu.org; Sat, 19 Apr 2003 00:14:56 -0400 Original-Received: from rms by fencepost.gnu.org with local (Exim 4.10) id 196jkX-0005fv-00; Sat, 19 Apr 2003 00:14:49 -0400 Original-To: Steve Youngs In-reply-to: (message from Steve Youngs on Fri, 18 Apr 2003 18:27:44 +1000) X-BeenThere: emacs-devel@gnu.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1b5 Precedence: list List-Id: Emacs development discussions. List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Archive: List-Unsubscribe: , Errors-To: emacs-devel-bounces+emacs-devel=quimby.gnus.org@gnu.org Xref: main.gmane.org gmane.emacs.devel:13294 X-Report-Spam: http://spam.gmane.org/gmane.emacs.devel:13294 The author of the original code needs to assign the copyright to the FSF. For various reasons, the FSF _must_ hold the copyright on every single line of code it distributes. You can't assign a copyright that you have no legal right to. Only the guy with the cool patch, or possibly his employer can do that. And just because you incorporate his code into your own doesn't alter the fact that you don't hold the copyright to that code. That is correct. Only the person who wrote the code can assign or disclaim the copyright on it. The FSF, at its discretion, can waive the requirement of an assignment. What the FSF takes into account when making such a decision, I couldn't say. Our lawyer says we should do this rarely, only when it is very important. And we want to get some other sort of contract with the author in lieu of the normal assignment.