[Openstack-docs] Copyright statements in docs source files

Rich Bowen rbowen at redhat.com
Tue Jan 14 19:33:23 UTC 2014


On 01/14/2014 02:13 PM, Nermina Miller wrote:
> Rich, I'd be curious to know what constitutes fair use or the amount 
> of material permitted to be used without an explicit permission 
> request. And, secondly, which entity would be responsible to 
> addressing those requests? Thanks! - Nermina

The answer to the first question is defined by Copyright law, and I 
don't have the answer on the tip of my fingers, and it may vary from 
country to country. Which is why we should sidestep the question 
entirely by having our documentation licensed in such a way to make the 
question moot. Which ... I think we do, right? The docs, like the code, 
are licensed under the Apache license.

The answer to the second question is "The OpenStack Foundation", and the 
answer should those requests should always be yes, up to and including 
someone taking the whole body of documentation and producing a printed 
version for sale. (See http://www.amazon.com/dp/1596821930/ for an 
example of just that - the docs for another Apache-licensed project.) 
This is the spirit of the Apache license, and if we believe that the 
Apache license is the right one, then that's the only conclusion we can 
arrive at.

(Note that I'm an Apache zealot, so take anything I say with that grain 
of salt.)

-- 
Rich Bowen - rbowen at redhat.com
OpenStack Community Liaison
http://openstack.redhat.com/

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