lcamtuf   Mar 6
If you ask AI to rewrite the entirety of an open-source program, do you still need to abide by the original license? In philosophy, this problem is known as the Slop of Theseus
Show threadKevin RiggleMar 6
@lcamtuf actual answer: of course you do, it’s prima facie a derivative work, same as if you had rewritten the program by hand.
Show threadBen GalehouseMar 6

@kevinr @lcamtuf And if you ask it to write a detailed spec based on its implementation, and then separately to write an implementation of that spec?

https://www.allaboutcircuits.com/news/how-compaqs-clone-computers-skirted-ibms-patents-and-gave-rise-to-eisa/

Tales from 80s Tech: How Compaq’s Clone Computers Skirted IBM’s IP and Gave Rise to EISA

In the 1980s, Compaq was the first company to produce a portable IBM-compatible machine legally, but they flirted with breaking copyright law in the process.

All About Circuits
Show threadTom BortelsMar 6

@bgalehouse @lcamtuf @kevinr

Assuming you used the original source code to derive the detailed spec, then yes, that too is a derivative work.

The "viral" nature of that sort of license has bothered me for a long time. It's always been simultaneously overly far reaching and impossible to realistically enforce.

Show threadFrancesco P Lovergine Mar 6
@tbortels @bgalehouse @lcamtuf @kevinr Well, yes but no. The point about spec is the level of detailing taken from the original work. If you write an original novel about a wild, big monkey found in a jungle, brought to New York, who escapes and so on, the King Kong author cannot claim any rights to that, sorry. If it were different, many narratives and movies would not exist today. That is inspiration, not derivation. Of course it is fair declaring inspiration, but call it with the right name.
Show threadTom Bortels

@lcamtuf @gisgeek @kevinr @bgalehouse

Heh. You might even say that's "fair use"... 🤔

Mar 6 at 9:43amWeb
Show threadFrancesco P Lovergine Mar 6
@tbortels @lcamtuf @kevinr @bgalehouse
Where is the edge between inspiration and infringement? Are today's office suites infringing MS rights? Copyright says no, patents (a totally different beast) may say yes in some countries and no in others. So pay attention to what you desire for FOSS, because it could happen in many ways, including some very destructive ones.