[LAD] students and copyright

[Ralf Mardorf]

Arnout Engelen wrote:
> I'm not quite sure whether I understand you correctly, but it seems you're
> not entirely right here.
>
> If you don't have the copyright to a piece of code you wrote, for example
> because you wrote it for your employer, then this means you are *not allowed*
> to distribute this code. Not under the GPL, and not under whatever other 
> license either.
>
> To distribute the code, you must either get the copyright on the work back,
> or get permission from the actual copyright holder (employer, institution) to
> do so.

You misunderstood my broken English. GPL only allows a copyleft, that's 
why no institute or professor can use GPL licensed code and take on the 
copyright.

> Of course, it's quite possible that the students in Prof.
> Keller's case were actually paid or otherwise compensated
> for this work.
>   

As I have written before, less college tuitions are similar to being 
paid. In Germany unfortunately only the privileged population is able to 
study. I'm highly gifted and on Germany there's a special regulation for 
financial aid by the law, but even this only can be used if you are some 
kind of privileged person. To make it available for even less privileged 
people there are cooperation with companies, that make college tuitions 
less expensive. This still is a ethical problem, but the world isn't a 
fair place, there is no god who ordered that things should be ethical. 
The only thing we can do to make the world a better place for this issue 
is to keep knowledge open, that's the spirit of FLOSS and that's why 
there is the GPL. I don't think any institute is allowed to take on a 
copyright by using GPL licensed code.

Ralf