Derivative Works Under the GNU General Public License

Abstract

This article discusses the treatment of derivative works under the GNU General Public License. It argues that the functioning of the GPL depends upon a definition of derivative work that is significantly broader than that employed by the Copyright Act or the courts. This over-broad definition ultimately leads to nonsensical results in the face of many modern program development and distribution methodologies. This article visits a number of fact-patterns to help illuminate possible weaknesses and inconsistencies in the GPL definition of derivative work.

Keywords: open source license, GPL, derivative works, software copyright