Fwd: [gnu.org #954922] Vague "licensing" for the symbola font.

Fwd: [gnu.org #954922] Vague "licensing" for the symbola font.

[Ian Denhardt]

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Latest word on the Symbola font from the FSF:

Forwarded message from Donald R Robertson III via RT (2015-01-14 11:15:14):
> Hello again,
> 
> Unfortunately the discussion with the author has broken down. They will
> not change the license, as they do not believe in licensing. This
> legally puts us in a bad spot. While it is unlikely that they are
> looking to sue us, the due diligence required here puts a strain our our
> limited legal counsel resources. So the question becomes: how critical
> are these files, and would we be better off simply not distributing them? 
> -- 
> Sincerely,
> 
> Donald R. Robertson, III, J.D.
> Copyright & Licensing Associate
> Free Software Foundation
> 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor
> Boston, MA 02110, USA
> Phone +1-617-542-5942 
> Fax +1-617-542-2652
> 
> ---
> 
> 

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Re: Fwd: [gnu.org #954922] Vague "licensing" for the symbola font.

[Ludovic Courtès]

Ian Denhardt <ian@zenhack.net> skribis:

> Latest word on the Symbola font from the FSF:

Thanks Ian for the update.

I forgot the details, but IIRC Alex Kost was the initial submitter.
What can be done here?

Ludo’.

Re: Fwd: [gnu.org #954922] Vague "licensing" for the symbola font.

[Alex Kost]

Ludovic Courtès (2015-01-16 23:37 +0300) wrote:

> Ian Denhardt <ian@zenhack.net> skribis:
>
>> Latest word on the Symbola font from the FSF:
>
> Thanks Ian for the update.
>
> I forgot the details, but IIRC Alex Kost was the initial submitter.
> What can be done here?

Yes it was me, so if I understand correctly, Symbola font should not
appear in the distribution (because of the license problem), right?

-- 
Alex

Re: Fwd: [gnu.org #954922] Vague "licensing" for the symbola font.

[Ludovic Courtès]

Alex Kost <alezost@gmail.com> skribis:

> Ludovic Courtès (2015-01-16 23:37 +0300) wrote:
>
>> Ian Denhardt <ian@zenhack.net> skribis:
>>
>>> Latest word on the Symbola font from the FSF:
>>
>> Thanks Ian for the update.
>>
>> I forgot the details, but IIRC Alex Kost was the initial submitter.
>> What can be done here?
>
> Yes it was me, so if I understand correctly, Symbola font should not
> appear in the distribution (because of the license problem), right?

Does the license problem applies to all the files or just some?

If it makes sense, we could simply remove the offending files.

Ludo’.

Re: Fwd: [gnu.org #954922] Vague "licensing" for the symbola font.

[Alex Kost]

Ludovic Courtès (2015-01-17 19:28 +0300) wrote:

> Alex Kost <alezost@gmail.com> skribis:
>
>> Ludovic Courtès (2015-01-16 23:37 +0300) wrote:
>>
>>> Ian Denhardt <ian@zenhack.net> skribis:
>>>
>>>> Latest word on the Symbola font from the FSF:
>>>
>>> Thanks Ian for the update.
>>>
>>> I forgot the details, but IIRC Alex Kost was the initial submitter.
>>> What can be done here?
>>
>> Yes it was me, so if I understand correctly, Symbola font should not
>> appear in the distribution (because of the license problem), right?
>
> Does the license problem applies to all the files or just some?
>
> If it makes sense, we could simply remove the offending files.

IIUC it applies to all the files.  Quotation from
<http://users.teilar.gr/~g1951d/>:

--8<---------------cut here---------------start------------->8---
In lieu of a licence

Fonts and documents in this site are not pieces of property or merchandise items; they carry no trademark, copyright, license or other market tags; they are offered free for any use.
--8<---------------cut here---------------end--------------->8---

-- 
Alex

Re: Fwd: [gnu.org #954922] Vague "licensing" for the symbola font.

[Ludovic Courtès]

Alex Kost <alezost@gmail.com> skribis:

> Ludovic Courtès (2015-01-17 19:28 +0300) wrote:
>
>> Alex Kost <alezost@gmail.com> skribis:
>>
>>> Ludovic Courtès (2015-01-16 23:37 +0300) wrote:
>>>
>>>> Ian Denhardt <ian@zenhack.net> skribis:
>>>>
>>>>> Latest word on the Symbola font from the FSF:
>>>>
>>>> Thanks Ian for the update.
>>>>
>>>> I forgot the details, but IIRC Alex Kost was the initial submitter.
>>>> What can be done here?
>>>
>>> Yes it was me, so if I understand correctly, Symbola font should not
>>> appear in the distribution (because of the license problem), right?
>>
>> Does the license problem applies to all the files or just some?
>>
>> If it makes sense, we could simply remove the offending files.
>
> IIUC it applies to all the files.  Quotation from
> <http://users.teilar.gr/~g1951d/>:
>
> In lieu of a licence
>
> Fonts and documents in this site are not pieces of property or merchandise items; they carry no trademark, copyright, license or other market tags; they are offered free for any use.

OK, so despite the authors intent, we can’t really use them.

Thanks,
Ludo’.

Re: [gnu.org #954922] Vague "licensing" for the symbola font.

[Jason Self]

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Alex Kost <alezost@gmail.com> wrote:

> IIUC it applies to all the files.  Quotation from
> <http://users.teilar.gr/~g1951d/>:
>
> --8<---------------cut here---------------start------------->8---
> In lieu of a licence
>
> Fonts and documents in this site are not pieces of property or 
> merchandise items; they carry no trademark, copyright, license or 
> other market tags; they are offered free for any use.
> --8<---------------cut here---------------end--------------->8---

Couldn't this be used as a statement that they're abandoning their
copyright [0]? It's been saved away on the Wayback Machine [1] for
future documentation, just in case.

[0]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abandonment_%28legal%29#Abandonment_of_copyright
[1]
https://web.archive.org/web/20150113144655/http://users.teilar.gr/~g1951d/

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Re: [gnu.org #954922] Vague "licensing" for the symbola font.

[John Darrington]

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On Sun, Jan 18, 2015 at 07:15:01AM -0800, Jason Self wrote:
     Alex Kost <alezost@gmail.com> wrote:
     
     > IIUC it applies to all the files.  Quotation from
     > <http://users.teilar.gr/~g1951d/>:
     >
     > --8<---------------cut here---------------start------------->8---
     > In lieu of a licence
     >
     > Fonts and documents in this site are not pieces of property or 
     > merchandise items; they carry no trademark, copyright, license or 
     > other market tags; they are offered free for any use.
     > --8<---------------cut here---------------end--------------->8---
     
     Couldn't this be used as a statement that they're abandoning their
     copyright [0]? It's been saved away on the Wayback Machine [1] for
     future documentation, just in case.
     
     [0]
     http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abandonment_%28legal%29#Abandonment_of_copyright
     [1]
     https://web.archive.org/web/20150113144655/http://users.teilar.gr/~g1951d/


Like the wikipedia article says, in many countries jurists argue if it is 
possible to "place" copyright in the public domain.   In the UK it is utterly
impossible.  In Australia, it is explicitly provided in the Copyright Act.  In
the USA, nobody is sure.

In the case, that it is not possible, then the statement 
that "[the fonts] carry no copyright", would simply not be true.

It could become a real issue, if, say, the author dies, his hiers then decide to
 make it into a proprietary software.

I think Guix is right to take the cautious approach.  

(What actually depends on these fonts?  There are oodles of fonts today.  Can it
be substituted by something else?)


J'


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Re: [gnu.org #954922] Vague "licensing" for the symbola font.

[Alex Kost]

John Darrington (2015-01-18 18:58 +0300) wrote:

[...]
> It could become a real issue, if, say, the author dies, his hiers then decide to
>  make it into a proprietary software.
>
> I think Guix is right to take the cautious approach.  
>
> (What actually depends on these fonts?  There are oodles of fonts today.  Can it
> be substituted by something else?)

Nothing depends on Symbola font, so it may be safely ignored.  I just
use it all the time, so I proposed this package several months ago.

-- 
Alex