No subject

distribution of their own works rests with them exclusively by default,
and a licence allows them to share (rather than give away) those rights.

> > No you're not: the GPL restricts the licensing of your code (if you wish
> > to distribute your derivative or library-dependent works, that is).
> 
> But without the GPL you coulnt do anything derivative.

By which I presume you had instead meant to say "without permission from
the owner of copyright, you couldn't distribute your derivative works".
My point is that the GPL restricts what authors can do with their own
works, e.g.: the GPL imposes that authors of derivative works are not
free to distribute binaries without also being willing to supply source
code. I'm not sure why this would be a cause of any argument amongst us,
as it is simply a statement of what the GPL does. The GPL imposes that
distribution of the source code of derivative work must use the GPL.
This extends to modules, use of GPL-licensed libraries, etc. So, authors
have lost a degree of control over the exclusivity of their own rights:
the author's ability to avoid non-exclusive licences, or to use
exclusive licenses, has been limited when the GPL is in use, even if the
author hasn't been involved in the writing of the original work on which
the new work depends.

> Whats the alternative?

Either ask the author of the original work, or use a work that is under
another public licence?

> Ask for free rights, but be allowed to make money from their work?

Well, the GPL doesn't prevent you from asking, or from making money
without asking.

> The GPL is not exclusive. You can always seek additional rights from
> the copyright ownewrs

I originally was writing about what the GPL imposes, rather than writing
about how people can circumvent the GPL.

> I'm not quite sure what your point is James.

My point was that the GPL removes an author's ability to distribute
their derivative/combined/module/library-dependent works unless they can
guarantee that dealings with their own work will satisfy the facilities
demanded by the GPL. Fair enough that you can ask the author of the
original work for a different licence, but that licence would not be the
GPL, and the simultaneous presence of GPL may limit the freedoms that
would otherwise be provided by the other licence.


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