[H-GEN] GPL question

[David Starkoff]

On 07/01/2004, at 6:35 PM, Anthony Towns wrote:

> Right, but you can sell someone a copy of something without bothering 
> to
> write up a license, and 47B means they can do lots of stuff with it.

A licence doesn't need to be written--it can be oral or it can be 
implied from the circumstances.  A licence doesn't have to be in a 
specific form: it can be as informal as a paragraph or two in an email 
to which you attach the computer program.  Section 47B(1), by its 
terms, only applies if the copy of the computer program that is being 
executed is done "by, or on behalf of, the ... licensee of the copy".

If you don't have a licence for the copy, s 47B(1) doesn't apply, which 
is likely to mean that it would be an infringement of copyright to run 
the program.

Section 47B(2)(b) gives the licence teeth, saying that if the running 
of the copy "is contrary to [a] ... licence given by, or on behalf of, 
the owner of the copyright in the computer program", then s 47B(1) 
doesn't apply.  So if the licence says you can't run the code on 
Mondays, s 47B(1) doesn't allow you run the program on Mondays (but 
other statutory provisions may apply).

> Stupid copyright law.

A man's gotta earn a living somehow...

David.