Posted: 16.12.2003, 05:24
One of the things that got me thinking about the need for a Celestia Community License is that add-on developers are making their work available without specifying the terms under which downloads are permissible. Some add-on sites have prominent copyright notices, but no indication of what license they intend to grant to allow people to download. IANAL, but it seemed to me that this would mean either no rights are granted, or all rights are granted (no restrictions). I suspect the latter, since there would seem to be an implied permission for people to download, and no restrictions are cited. I'm not sure if that means the add-ons effectively become publc domain, but it might. Alternately, if specific permissions must be explicitly granted, it seems likely that we are all using many add-ons illegally.
I don't really expect to see any litigation by add-on developers (although I suppose it's possible). But lack of clear license terms could inhibit the use of add-ons by schools, or sponsorship of distribution sites, etc. So I think the future success of Celestia would be enhanced if we could clear these issues up.
- Hank
I don't really expect to see any litigation by add-on developers (although I suppose it's possible). But lack of clear license terms could inhibit the use of add-ons by schools, or sponsorship of distribution sites, etc. So I think the future success of Celestia would be enhanced if we could clear these issues up.
- Hank