A few comments - how does a plugin become derivative under the law?

[Sean Egan]

On 10/25/07, dave1g <dave1g at satx.rr.com> wrote:
> I have to disagree that a free floating text file that only references the
> libpurple api is a derivative work. I base this claim on the size of the
> text being used, which is small, and the fact that APIs are not
> copyrightable, at least that has been the decision of court cases in the US.
> and so simply using the text of your api does not make his plugin a
> derivative work under copyright law. which is the only thing that would
> cause the gpl to be applicable to his plugin. He could in fact release that
> plugin under any license he wants.

This is the "loophole" that people like Linspire try to get around to
link non-free codecs and such against free software. They distribute
them "separately" and require the user to install from two different
places.

Since they apparently intend to do something similar to us
(http://www.linspire.com/lindows_news_pressreleases_archives.php?id=219),
I've spoken with actual real-life lawyers (I'm guessing you're not
one), who have assured me that this does constitute a GPL violation.
The FSF unambiguously agrees
(http://www.fsf.org/licensing/licenses/gpl-faq.html#GPLAndPlugins).

The Skype plugin is more interesting because it doesn't directly link
to any Skype code, so it may theoretically be possible to have a
GPL'ed plugin that uses Skype. I don't think it is possible, and if it
were, I'd find it distasteful.

I have asked the lawyers about this exact issue specifically, but they
haven't gotten back yet; I told them not to worry about it too much,
because they have, you know, important things to do.

It's not like any of us are going to go crazy and sue over a plugin.
The important thing is that anyone who's actively trying to find legal
loopholes in the GPL doesn't respect Free software the way most Pidgin
developers (or the people who wrote the GPL) do. Using software
written against the wishes of its authors, while potentially legal via
licensing loophole, is still kinda rude.