t***@web.de
2013-06-13 16:35:34 UTC
Hi,
first of all please forgive me in case I'm putting this on the wrong list, my question is not about a specific case, but whether a specific case exists (a specific german case).
I have a concern regarding plugins, to be exact I'm wondering whether a plugin that interacts with the APIs supplied by the host, but doesn't incorporate or distribute the host software is consindered to be a derivative work, ie just the bare plugin that makes calls to functions that might, or might not exist, may or may not be compatible to only one specific host software.
It seems that this has been discussed millions of times, but even after weeks of research I couldn't find anything judicial relevant (especially nothing that would be relevant over here in germany), some people say yes, this forms a dertivative work, some people say no, some say they don't know but they belive this and that, basically it's mostly only FUD on either side of the fence, nobody seems to know anything at all, but everybody claims that the opponent is wrong. Unfortunately even the GPL FAQ only says that they _believe_ such dynamic linking would form a derivative work.
So, now to my actual question :) Since you guys seem to have some experience, especially because you're working with JBB, I'm wondering if you can point me to actual law-cases that settled this exact question (ie whether the bare dynamically "linked" API usage is considered to form a derivate work at all, and if so, under wich circumstances)?
Kind Regards
Timo Fiersen
first of all please forgive me in case I'm putting this on the wrong list, my question is not about a specific case, but whether a specific case exists (a specific german case).
I have a concern regarding plugins, to be exact I'm wondering whether a plugin that interacts with the APIs supplied by the host, but doesn't incorporate or distribute the host software is consindered to be a derivative work, ie just the bare plugin that makes calls to functions that might, or might not exist, may or may not be compatible to only one specific host software.
It seems that this has been discussed millions of times, but even after weeks of research I couldn't find anything judicial relevant (especially nothing that would be relevant over here in germany), some people say yes, this forms a dertivative work, some people say no, some say they don't know but they belive this and that, basically it's mostly only FUD on either side of the fence, nobody seems to know anything at all, but everybody claims that the opponent is wrong. Unfortunately even the GPL FAQ only says that they _believe_ such dynamic linking would form a derivative work.
So, now to my actual question :) Since you guys seem to have some experience, especially because you're working with JBB, I'm wondering if you can point me to actual law-cases that settled this exact question (ie whether the bare dynamically "linked" API usage is considered to form a derivate work at all, and if so, under wich circumstances)?
Kind Regards
Timo Fiersen