> If a 3rd party offers those files (for free) then the legal
> issues are solved? I would have no problem putting the files in my Google
> cloud account as publicly shared. I have no connection with Writelog other
> than being a user. Would that help?
Anyone doing so would not be a problem for me (nor WriteLog Contesting
Software, LLC). That would be completely within the terms of the GPL
under which we published DigiRite.
However, DigiRite is derived from WSJTX, whose copyright holders have
said that DigiRite fails to conform to THEIR license. The one publishing
the derivative (i.e. using google cloud as above) might risk hearing
from those copyright holders. I cannot speak for them. Here, for an
example, is a sentence from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_General_Public_License
> if one distributes copies of the work without abiding by the terms of
> the GPL (for instance,...), they can be sued
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawsuit> by the original author under
> copyright law.
The complaint from the WSJTX copyright holders is that WriteLog and
DigiRite comprise a "single program" (under the terms of the GPL) and
that WriteLog sources are secret. That is, in order to assert a GPL
violation, they have to take a couple more lawyerly words from the GPL
(which I am not even going to link--go read the thing yourself if you
care) and apply those legal terms to the software architecture of the
WriteLog/DigiRIte software combination, which in turn, require a more
detailed examination to even understand what the issues are.
I am not a lawyer. And I am not going to get into a ____ contest over
how many programs there are dancing on the head of pin.
On a related note, but completely independent of the legal questions
above, I must add that the WSJT-X copyright holders have valid
complaints my behavior during the development of DigiRite (which they
have sent me in PRIVATE emails but I share the gist here.) I failed to
tell them what I was working on, I failed to thank them for all their
good work, and I put in features they call "bad". To those three
charges, I plead guilty.
For all that, I apologize to DigiRite users for not coming to a better
resolution. The end result is a lot of inconvenience for YOU (and not
really for me--at least until/unless a lawyer letter shows up.)
Wayne
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