Draft of LUG letter

[Arthur Ogawa]

Sebastian Rahtz wrote:

> Arthur Ogawa writes:

>  > ...Details of the licensing
>  > restrictions are contained in a file in the root directory of the
>  > CD, called COPYING.
> what?????????????? who do you think is going to write this????

Peter Deutsch asked for this (details separately), and I volunteer to write
it. Also, below I mention a flyer. I propose to write this as well.

>  > 1. LUGs to pay manufacturing costs plus shipping. No contribution to TUG's
>  > overhead will be asked. Estimated cost is about $1 per CD.
> that little? seems unlikely, to be honest, if it includes shipping

No, shipping would be *extra*. Patricia thinks she can get ca 0.70USD per CD,
but other expenses have to be factored in, shipping is extra, etc.

> i took the line last year that I overcharged "rich" people like the
> Germans, Dutch, and French, and sent at a loss to "poor" people
> (Indians, Russians etc)

Would you mind telling me exactly what you charged to the various entities
that "purchased" TL3, and what the quantities were? Like I said, I would like
to be guided by past practice here. I want to cut the best deal for everybody,
TUG included.

If we are going to sell the CD on a sliding scale, we have to change the lug
letter to give ourselves a bit of wiggle room.

>  > 2. LUG to distribute the CD only to its members. Other people should 
>  > contact TUG for their copies.

> fair enough

Good.

>  > 3. The CD is freely copyable by the recipient; recipients of those
>  > copies are not restricted from further copying.

> i think its premature to talk about copying. better to say that they
> cannot copy disk, and permit exceptions on special request

I'd like to do it your way, but Peter Deutsch's terms are GNU-like, and
require no prohibition on further copying, except that the copies

1. must allow no less ability to further copy, and

2. must not be used as an inducement for commercial (i.e., non-copyable) offerings.

Condition (1) is echoed on the inside front cover of TUGboat. So we have a
precedent. TUGboat's copying conditions probably satisfy Peter entirely.

Condition (2) may never apply in actual practice, and Peter would allow it to
happen, but then he would want to negotiate a fee with the person involved.
Because TUG is not doing this (inducement), we are "in the clear", to quote
Peter. People wishing to pursue this course should contact TUG directly before proceeding.

This means that we can't distribute his stuff under terms like "you can copy
this only if you get our permission".

> my blood is running cold about all this. your letter simply *begs*
> people to start "discussing", and that of course means endless delay

I sympathize. My contribution will be to invite the firestorm upon myself and
come out the other end with consensus. Singed or not. Maybe I'm being overly optimistic.

How about this? In the letter to the lugs, replace the entire portion of the
letter from "TUG's intention in the terms for further redistribution..."
through the paragraph beginning "TUG expects that you will have no problem
with these terms..." with the following:

________________________________________________________________________
TUG's intention in the terms for further redistribution of the TeX Live CD-ROM
is to give the donors of the software contained therein the assurance that the
licensing requirements they have made are properly observed.

Because these requirements vary so much between different portions of the
software on the CD, TUG would prefer that you simply pass the CD on to your
members and allow TUG to bear the burden of handling unusual requests for
distribution of the CD.

The recipient of the CD itself can only copy and redistribute the software
thereon by complying with the conditions placed on the relevant packages
involved. To facilitate this, TUG will prepare a one-sheet flyer announcing
the TeX Live CD and mentioning the copying conditions (TUG will, e.g., publish
this flyer in the relevant issue of TUGboat). It will refer to a file in the
root directory, /COPYING, that explains things in greater detail.

Some of the software requires that, if it is packaged with other publications,
like books or journals, those things be freely copyable. A model for such is
TUGboat; please see the notice on the inside front cover of TUGboat <copied
below>. This is relevant if you plan on distributing the CD with your
newsletter or journal.

Anyone interested in distributing the CD with a commercial (non-copyable)
offering af any kind, or in distributing the CD to another type of user group,
should contact TUG directly.

If you have particular concerns in distributing the TeX Live CD to your
members, please contact us right away at the email address below. We fully
expect to be able to resolve any difficulties, but your timely reply is needed.
________________________________________________________________________

On the flyer (which is addressd to the end recipient):

DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT 
________________________________________________________________________
Copying

You may copy and distribute software from this CD only if you comply with the
requirements placed thereon by the owners of the respective software packages.
The file /COPYING gives further details on the matter, and each package itself
contains restrictions relevant to that package.

If you plan on distributing the entire CD, you probably are best advised to
coordinate with TUG or the user group from which you obtained the CD. If you
plan on distributing packages from the CD, please read /COPYING, and observe
the requirements of the particular packages involved.

The creators of these packages variously require that the copies fulfill one
or more of the following:

* Be copyable under the GNU Public License or variations thereof. In general
terms, you must place no further copying restrictions on the recipient.

* Be copyable under the <LaTeXCopyLeft>. This applies to the LaTeX kernel and
other portions of LaTeX proper. Other software on the CD may as well employ
the <LaTeXCopyLeft>.

* Continue to be attributed to the author.

* Entire package to be distributed intact.

* If altered, not to be distributed under the same name as the original.

* Not be distributed for profit.

* Not be distributed as a draw for commercial (non-copyable) offerings.

* Not be used for commercial purposes without license directly from the author.

In general, the licensors of the software simply wish to ensure that their
work continue to benefit people like you. Please respect their intentions. 
________________________________________________________________________

-- 
Art