Open Stack

On Tue, May 21, 2013 at 02:29:18PM +0200, Thierry Carrez wrote:
> To clarify, the question is: can we remove the copyright lines from the
> file headers and move them to a NOTICE file without the formal approval
> of the entity mentioned in the copyright line (i.e. as long as they
> don't object by $DATE, we consider that they consent).
> 
> So it's not exactly removing the notices, and we would not do it if the
> affected entity formally objected to it. The reason I'm asking is that
> it seems to be the only practical way to operate, since some entities
> already declared that they agree with it only if *all* copyright notices
> are moved.

Oh, that was what I originally thought you meant. So getting back to
what Van said to me:

  I would like to hear your reasoning here, as this strikes me as a
  bad idea.  By my reading, there are strict restrictions on removing
  anyone's copyright or attribution notices (cf Section 4.2 of the
  Apache license).

Section 4 says:

  You may reproduce and distribute copies of the Work or Derivative
  Works thereof in any medium, with or without modifications, and in
  Source or Object form, provided that You meet the following
  conditions:
  [...]

   c. You must retain, in the Source form of any Derivative Works that
      You distribute, all copyright, patent, trademark, and
      attribution notices from the Source form of the Work, excluding
      those notices that do not pertain to any part of the Derivative
      Works

Leaving aside the question of who "You" is (as I think one must
conclude 'You' is at some point the OpenStack Foundation, which as
noted is unique in getting a more permissive license via the CLA), the
issue is whether relocating a copyright notice from an individual
source file to something like a NOTICE file is a failure to "retain,
in the Source form of any Derivative Works that you distribute, all
copyright ... notices from the Source form of the Work".

I agree that it's not completely clear, but what I'd conclude is that
you can nonproblematically relocate such copyright notices except
possibly for two cases:

1) Copyright notices from Apache-licensed code taken from a project
external to OpenStack (presumably not currently relevant)

2) Copyright notices where the named copyright holder is no longer
actively involved in development (i.e., can't be expected to know
what's going on)

That isn't even necessarily based on an interpretation of the quoted
language in the Apache License, since I think mere relocation from
per-file to a global location is consistent with that clause in the
Apache License, but independently whether it seems like a "bad idea"
to use Van's phrase.

If developers associated with the named copyright holder are actively
involved in development at the time of the change from per-file to
global copyright notices, I don't see a problem. Those developers are
aware of what is going on and they have an opportunity to object. They
similarly had an opportunity to voice an opinion on the issue when the
earlier practice was put in place, or when they initially got involved
in the project and found that it was in place and that they were
expected to follow that earlier rule.

- RF