Copyright and License Statement: affiliation change

[Markus Neteler]

Hi PSC,

in our COPYING file and other places we still list FBK as primary
headquarter. Martin suggested to change that (although he's still there).
http://trac.osgeo.org/grass/browser/grass/trunk/COPYING

Proposal (although I would prefer an European address ;-) ):

...
The Geographic Resources Analysis and Support System (GRASS)
Geographic Information System (GIS) is Copyright by the
GRASS Development Team headquartered at the
Open Source Geospatial Foundation, USA.
...
Questions regarding GRASS GIS should be directed to the
GRASS Development Team at the following address:

 GRASS Development Team
 c/o M. Neteler (GRASS PSC Chair)
 Fondazione Mach  -  Centre for Alpine Ecology
 38100 Viote del Monte Bondone (Trento)
 Italy
 neteler osgeo.org
 http://grass.osgeo.org/community/team.php
...

What's your opinion?

Markus
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[Paul Kelly]

On Fri, 21 Mar 2008, Markus Neteler wrote:

> Hi PSC,
>
> in our COPYING file and other places we still list FBK as primary
> headquarter. Martin suggested to change that (although he's still there).
> http://trac.osgeo.org/grass/browser/grass/trunk/COPYING
>
> Proposal (although I would prefer an European address ;-) ):
>
> ...
> The Geographic Resources Analysis and Support System (GRASS)
> Geographic Information System (GIS) is Copyright by the
> GRASS Development Team headquartered at the
> Open Source Geospatial Foundation, USA.
> ...
> Questions regarding GRASS GIS should be directed to the
> GRASS Development Team at the following address:
>
> GRASS Development Team
> c/o M. Neteler (GRASS PSC Chair)
> Fondazione Mach  -  Centre for Alpine Ecology
> 38100 Viote del Monte Bondone (Trento)
> Italy
> neteler osgeo.org
> http://grass.osgeo.org/community/team.php
> ...
>
> What's your opinion?

Well the GRASS development team isn't a legal entity anyway. Is it not
true that the copyright of the GRASS code is held by its individual
authors? Changing the definition of the "GRASS development team" from
being associated with a particular physical location to being associated
with an organisation doesn't really improve or clarify anything IMHO.

Another point could be that the reason for that phrase being there was to
associate a physical location/place with the copyright in case that was
important or required. But OSGeo is an organisation rather than a
location so that is lost too with the proposed change.

My inclination would be to not bother changing anything unless we're going
to do a thorough overhaul and make sure it is correct and complies with
whatever relevant laws etc.

Paul
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[Frank Warmerdam]

Paul Kelly wrote:

> On Fri, 21 Mar 2008, Markus Neteler wrote:
>
>> Hi PSC,
>>
>> in our COPYING file and other places we still list FBK as primary
>> headquarter. Martin suggested to change that (although he's still there).
>> http://trac.osgeo.org/grass/browser/grass/trunk/COPYING
>>
>> Proposal (although I would prefer an European address ;-) ):
>>
>> ...
>> The Geographic Resources Analysis and Support System (GRASS)
>> Geographic Information System (GIS) is Copyright by the
>> GRASS Development Team headquartered at the
>> Open Source Geospatial Foundation, USA.
>> ...
>> Questions regarding GRASS GIS should be directed to the
>> GRASS Development Team at the following address:
>>
>> GRASS Development Team
>> c/o M. Neteler (GRASS PSC Chair)
>> Fondazione Mach  -  Centre for Alpine Ecology
>> 38100 Viote del Monte Bondone (Trento)
>> Italy
>> neteler osgeo.org
>> http://grass.osgeo.org/community/team.php
>> ...
>>
>> What's your opinion?
>
> Well the GRASS development team isn't a legal entity anyway. Is it not
> true that the copyright of the GRASS code is held by its individual
> authors? Changing the definition of the "GRASS development team" from
> being associated with a particular physical location to being associated
> with an organisation doesn't really improve or clarify anything IMHO.
>
> Another point could be that the reason for that phrase being there was
> to associate a physical location/place with the copyright in case that
> was important or required. But OSGeo is an organisation rather than a
> location so that is lost too with the proposed change.
>
> My inclination would be to not bother changing anything unless we're
> going to do a thorough overhaul and make sure it is correct and complies
> with whatever relevant laws etc.

Paul,

I tend to agree.  If the headers are changed, I would suggest the
text "is Copyright by members of the GRASS Development Team..." to
be more clear on the legal reality.  I presume the physical contact
address is only going to appear in the main LICENSE file right?  No
point having to update it in 1000 places each time Markus moves, or
a new GRASS PSC chair is selected.

Generally speaking I don't think a great this issue is terribly
legally important.  Copyright remains with the contributors unless
otherwise altered, and the association of the source code with the
license is well established.

Best regards,
--
---------------------------------------+--------------------------------------
I set the clouds in motion - turn up   | Frank Warmerdam, [hidden email]
light and sound - activate the windows | http://pobox.com/~warmerdam
and watch the world go round - Rush    | President OSGeo, http://osgeo.org

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[Michael Barton]

I like the recognition of the association with OSGEO, but don't feel  
particularly strongly about the wording one way or the other.

Michael
____________________
C. Michael Barton, Professor of Anthropology
Director of Graduate Studies
School of Human Evolution & Social Change
Center for Social Dynamics & Complexity
Arizona State University

Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
www: <www.public.asu.edu/~cmbarton>



On Mar 21, 2008, at 2:08 AM, Markus Neteler wrote:

> Hi PSC,
>
> in our COPYING file and other places we still list FBK as primary
> headquarter. Martin suggested to change that (although he's still  
> there).
> http://trac.osgeo.org/grass/browser/grass/trunk/COPYING
>
> Proposal (although I would prefer an European address ;-) ):
>
> ...
> The Geographic Resources Analysis and Support System (GRASS)
> Geographic Information System (GIS) is Copyright by the
> GRASS Development Team headquartered at the
> Open Source Geospatial Foundation, USA.
> ...
> Questions regarding GRASS GIS should be directed to the
> GRASS Development Team at the following address:
>
>  GRASS Development Team
>  c/o M. Neteler (GRASS PSC Chair)
>  Fondazione Mach  -  Centre for Alpine Ecology
>  38100 Viote del Monte Bondone (Trento)
>  Italy
>  neteler osgeo.org
>  http://grass.osgeo.org/community/team.php
> ...
>
> What's your opinion?
>
> Markus
> _______________________________________________
> grass-psc mailing list
> [hidden email]
> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/grass-psc

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[Paul Kelly]

On Fri, 21 Mar 2008, Markus Neteler wrote:

> ...
> The Geographic Resources Analysis and Support System (GRASS)
> Geographic Information System (GIS) is Copyright by the
> GRASS Development Team headquartered at the
> Open Source Geospatial Foundation, USA.

I was thinking a bit more about this. The original text was:

The Geographic Resources Analysis and Support System (GRASS)
Geographic Information System (GIS) is Copyright by the
GRASS Development Team headquartered at Baylor University,
in Waco, Texas.

which actually made perfect sense: at the time GRASS was first released
under the GPL, the team at Baylor were simply taking the existing public
domain GRASS source, claiming ownership and asserting copyright -
perfectly acceptable as the public domain source was free for anybody to
do anything they wanted with it. I think it's a similar situation to what
Frank did with the original public domain PROJ.4 sources and putting his
name as the copyright holder, purely because he was the one asserting the
copyright when he released them under a new licences.

Since then various people have contributed to GRASS and they own the
copyright over the bits they have contributed, so IMHO the blanket
assertion of copyright by Baylor has not been valid ever since the first
contribution was made by an individual author under the GPL.

I still don't think we should rush into making any changes right now;
there are far more important things we could be spending time on :)

Paul
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[Markus Neteler]

On Fri, Mar 21, 2008 at 10:08 AM, Markus Neteler <[hidden email]> wrote:
> Hi PSC,
>
>  in our COPYING file and other places we still list FBK as primary
>  headquarter. Martin suggested to change that (although he's still there).
>  http://trac.osgeo.org/grass/browser/grass/trunk/COPYING
>
>  Proposal (although I would prefer an European address ;-) ):


According to the responses, we can split this into two
parts:

A)
>  ...
>  The Geographic Resources Analysis and Support System (GRASS)
>  Geographic Information System (GIS) is Copyright by the
>  GRASS Development Team headquartered at the
>  Open Source Geospatial Foundation, USA.
>  ...

I suggest to accept the suggestion from Frank:

"is Copyright by members of the GRASS Development Team..."


B)

>  Questions regarding GRASS GIS should be directed to the
>  GRASS Development Team at the following address:
>
>   GRASS Development Team
>   c/o M. Neteler (GRASS PSC Chair)
>   Fondazione Mach  -  Centre for Alpine Ecology
>   38100 Viote del Monte Bondone (Trento)
>   Italy
>   neteler osgeo.org
>   http://grass.osgeo.org/community/team.php
>  ...

I have taken liberty to change my affiliation. It doesn't make
sense to keep an outdated address here. Note that this affected
3 files or so.

Summary: We can concentrate on part A) above. No need to change
thousands of files but just COPYING and likewise.

Markus
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[Helena Mitasova]

I agree with suggestions from Markus.
Other PSC members - please respond so that Markus can finalize this  
for the release,

Helena

On Mar 25, 2008, at 6:27 AM, Markus Neteler wrote:

> On Fri, Mar 21, 2008 at 10:08 AM, Markus Neteler  
> <[hidden email]> wrote:
>> Hi PSC,
>>
>>  in our COPYING file and other places we still list FBK as primary
>>  headquarter. Martin suggested to change that (although he's still  
>> there).
>>  http://trac.osgeo.org/grass/browser/grass/trunk/COPYING
>>
>>  Proposal (although I would prefer an European address ;-) ):
>
>
> According to the responses, we can split this into two
> parts:
>
> A)
>>  ...
>>  The Geographic Resources Analysis and Support System (GRASS)
>>  Geographic Information System (GIS) is Copyright by the
>>  GRASS Development Team headquartered at the
>>  Open Source Geospatial Foundation, USA.
>>  ...
>
> I suggest to accept the suggestion from Frank:
>
> "is Copyright by members of the GRASS Development Team..."
>
>
> B)
>>  Questions regarding GRASS GIS should be directed to the
>>  GRASS Development Team at the following address:
>>
>>   GRASS Development Team
>>   c/o M. Neteler (GRASS PSC Chair)
>>   Fondazione Mach  -  Centre for Alpine Ecology
>>   38100 Viote del Monte Bondone (Trento)
>>   Italy
>>   neteler osgeo.org
>>   http://grass.osgeo.org/community/team.php
>>  ...
>
> I have taken liberty to change my affiliation. It doesn't make
> sense to keep an outdated address here. Note that this affected
> 3 files or so.
>
> Summary: We can concentrate on part A) above. No need to change
> thousands of files but just COPYING and likewise.
>
> Markus
> _______________________________________________
> grass-psc mailing list
> [hidden email]
> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/grass-psc

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[Massimiliano Cannata]

Hi,
I agree, no sense in keeping an outdated address. And ok also for the
suggestion from Frank.
+1

Maxi



Markus Neteler wrote:

> On Fri, Mar 21, 2008 at 10:08 AM, Markus Neteler <[hidden email]> wrote:
>  
>> Hi PSC,
>>
>>  in our COPYING file and other places we still list FBK as primary
>>  headquarter. Martin suggested to change that (although he's still there).
>>  http://trac.osgeo.org/grass/browser/grass/trunk/COPYING
>>
>>  Proposal (although I would prefer an European address ;-) ):
>>    
>
>
> According to the responses, we can split this into two
> parts:
>
> A)
>  
>>  ...
>>  The Geographic Resources Analysis and Support System (GRASS)
>>  Geographic Information System (GIS) is Copyright by the
>>  GRASS Development Team headquartered at the
>>  Open Source Geospatial Foundation, USA.
>>  ...
>>    
>
> I suggest to accept the suggestion from Frank:
>
> "is Copyright by members of the GRASS Development Team..."
>
>
> B)
>  
>>  Questions regarding GRASS GIS should be directed to the
>>  GRASS Development Team at the following address:
>>
>>   GRASS Development Team
>>   c/o M. Neteler (GRASS PSC Chair)
>>   Fondazione Mach  -  Centre for Alpine Ecology
>>   38100 Viote del Monte Bondone (Trento)
>>   Italy
>>   neteler osgeo.org
>>   http://grass.osgeo.org/community/team.php
>>  ...
>>    
>
> I have taken liberty to change my affiliation. It doesn't make
> sense to keep an outdated address here. Note that this affected
> 3 files or so.
>
> Summary: We can concentrate on part A) above. No need to change
> thousands of files but just COPYING and likewise.
>
> Markus
> _______________________________________________
> grass-psc mailing list
> [hidden email]
> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/grass-psc
>
>  

--
-----------------------------------------------------
Dr. Massimiliano Cannata
Environmental & Geomatic Engineer

Institute of Earth Scences - SUPSI
Trevano, C.P. 72, CH-6952 Canobbio, SWITZERLAND

Tel:    +41 (0)58 / 666 62 14  
Fax:    +41 (0)58 / 666 62 09
E-mail: [hidden email]

Web:
http://www.ist.supsi.ch
http://istgis.ist.supsi.ch:8001/geomatica/
-------------------------------------------------------


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[Dylan Beaudette]

> I agree with suggestions from Markus.
> Other PSC members - please respond so that Markus can finalize this  
> for the release,
>
> Helena

Sounds reasonable to me- although I have no experience with issues related to copyright.

Cheers,

Dylan

> On Mar 25, 2008, at 6:27 AM, Markus Neteler wrote:
>
> > On Fri, Mar 21, 2008 at 10:08 AM, Markus Neteler  
> > <[hidden email]> wrote:
> >> Hi PSC,
> >>
> >>  in our COPYING file and other places we still list FBK as primary
> >>  headquarter. Martin suggested to change that (although he's still  
> >> there).
> >>  http://trac.osgeo.org/grass/browser/grass/trunk/COPYING
> >>
> >>  Proposal (although I would prefer an European address ;-) ):
> >
> >
> > According to the responses, we can split this into two
> > parts:
> >
> > A)
> >>  ...
> >>  The Geographic Resources Analysis and Support System (GRASS)
> >>  Geographic Information System (GIS) is Copyright by the
> >>  GRASS Development Team headquartered at the
> >>  Open Source Geospatial Foundation, USA.
> >>  ...
> >
> > I suggest to accept the suggestion from Frank:
> >
> > "is Copyright by members of the GRASS Development Team..."
> >
> >
> > B)
> >>  Questions regarding GRASS GIS should be directed to the
> >>  GRASS Development Team at the following address:
> >>
> >>   GRASS Development Team
> >>   c/o M. Neteler (GRASS PSC Chair)
> >>   Fondazione Mach  -  Centre for Alpine Ecology
> >>   38100 Viote del Monte Bondone (Trento)
> >>   Italy
> >>   neteler osgeo.org
> >>   http://grass.osgeo.org/community/team.php
> >>  ...
> >
> > I have taken liberty to change my affiliation. It doesn't make
> > sense to keep an outdated address here. Note that this affected
> > 3 files or so.
> >
> > Summary: We can concentrate on part A) above. No need to change
> > thousands of files but just COPYING and likewise.
> >
> > Markus
> > _______________________________________________
> > grass-psc mailing list
> > [hidden email]
> > http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/grass-psc
>
> _______________________________________________
> grass-psc mailing list
> [hidden email]
> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/grass-psc
>

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[Maciej Sieczka - old]

Helena Mitasova pisze:
> I agree with suggestions from Markus.
> Other PSC members - please respond so that Markus can finalize this for
> the release,

"Copyright by members of the GRASS Development Team" alone, instead of a
physical address, *sounds* OK to me. At least it won't ever get oudated.

+0

Maciek

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[Michael Barton]

Seems OK to me. +0

Michael
______________________________
Michael Barton, Professor
Professor of Anthropology
Director of Graduate Studies
School of Human Diversity & Social Change
Center for Social Dynamics & Complexity
Arizona State University
Tempe, AZ  85287-2402
USA

voice: 480-965-6262; fax: [phone]
www: http://www.public.asu.edu/~cmbarton

On Mar 25, 2008, at 3:27 AM, Markus Neteler wrote:

> On Fri, Mar 21, 2008 at 10:08 AM, Markus Neteler <[hidden email]>  
> wrote:
>> Hi PSC,
>>
>> in our COPYING file and other places we still list FBK as primary
>> headquarter. Martin suggested to change that (although he's still  
>> there).
>> http://trac.osgeo.org/grass/browser/grass/trunk/COPYING
>>
>> Proposal (although I would prefer an European address ;-) ):
>
>
> According to the responses, we can split this into two
> parts:
>
> A)
>> ...
>> The Geographic Resources Analysis and Support System (GRASS)
>> Geographic Information System (GIS) is Copyright by the
>> GRASS Development Team headquartered at the
>> Open Source Geospatial Foundation, USA.
>> ...
>
> I suggest to accept the suggestion from Frank:
>
> "is Copyright by members of the GRASS Development Team..."
>
>
> B)
>> Questions regarding GRASS GIS should be directed to the
>> GRASS Development Team at the following address:
>>
>>  GRASS Development Team
>>  c/o M. Neteler (GRASS PSC Chair)
>>  Fondazione Mach  -  Centre for Alpine Ecology
>>  38100 Viote del Monte Bondone (Trento)
>>  Italy
>>  neteler osgeo.org
>>  http://grass.osgeo.org/community/team.php
>> ...
>
> I have taken liberty to change my affiliation. It doesn't make
> sense to keep an outdated address here. Note that this affected
> 3 files or so.
>
> Summary: We can concentrate on part A) above. No need to change
> thousands of files but just COPYING and likewise.
>
> Markus
> _______________________________________________
> grass-psc mailing list
> [hidden email]
> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/grass-psc

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[Paul Kelly]

On Tue, 25 Mar 2008, Maciej Sieczka wrote:

> Helena Mitasova pisze:
>> I agree with suggestions from Markus.
>> Other PSC members - please respond so that Markus can finalize this for the
>> release,
>
> "Copyright by members of the GRASS Development Team" alone, instead of a
> physical address, *sounds* OK to me. At least it won't ever get oudated.

That sounds fine to me too, even slightly better than my original
suggestion of doing nothing :)

Paul
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[Scott Mitchell-3]

On Mar 26, 2008, at 08:10 , Paul Kelly wrote:

> On Tue, 25 Mar 2008, Maciej Sieczka wrote:
>
>> Helena Mitasova pisze:
>>> I agree with suggestions from Markus.
>>> Other PSC members - please respond so that Markus can finalize  
>>> this for the release,
>>
>> "Copyright by members of the GRASS Development Team" alone,  
>> instead of a physical address, *sounds* OK to me. At least it  
>> won't ever get oudated.
>
> That sounds fine to me too, even slightly better than my original  
> suggestion of doing nothing :)
>

Ditto here, if you're still polling.

Scott
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[Markus Neteler]

On Sun, Mar 30, 2008 at 3:05 PM, Scott Mitchell <[hidden email]> wrote:

>  On Mar 26, 2008, at 08:10 , Paul Kelly wrote:
>  > On Tue, 25 Mar 2008, Maciej Sieczka wrote:
>  >> Helena Mitasova pisze:
>  >>> I agree with suggestions from Markus.
>  >>> Other PSC members - please respond so that Markus can finalize
>  >>> this for the release,
>  >>
>  >> "Copyright by members of the GRASS Development Team" alone,
>  >> instead of a physical address, *sounds* OK to me. At least it
>  >> won't ever get oudated.
>  >
>  > That sounds fine to me too, even slightly better than my original
>  > suggestion of doing nothing :)
>  >
>  Ditto here, if you're still polling.

OK, all have been +0 or in favor, so I have now changed the COPYFILE to

"Copyright and License Statement

The Geographic Resources Analysis and Support System (GRASS)
Geographic Information System (GIS) is Copyright by members
of the GRASS Development Team.
...
"

Markus
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