Re: [O] ox-html.el removal

[Jonathan Leech-Pepin]

Hello,

T.F. Torrey writes:

> Jambunathan K <address@hidden> writes:
>
>> Meanwhile, someone should fix up the FSF assignment notice on those
>> files.  As far as I am concerned, it is a routine housekeeping thing and
>> hasn't taken effect.  I am not assigning any copyright to FSF.
>
> Section 1a of the copyright assignment agreement is very specific:
>
> #+BEGIN_QUOTE:
>   1.(a) Developer hereby agrees to assign and does hereby assign to FSF
> Developer's copyright in changes and/or enhancements to the suite of
> programs known as EMACS (herein called the Program), including any
> accompanying documentation files and supporting files as well as the
> actual program code. These changes and/or enhancements are herein called
> the Works.
> #+END_QUOTE:
>
> As a signed contributor, you have already assigned copyright of your
> "changes and/or enhancements" to Emacs to the FSF (and therefore to this
> community).  The agreement does not limit the assignment to those that
> land in an Emacs release, or those you don't change your mind about, or
> anything like that.  Any changes and/or enhancements to Emacs became
> property of the FSF from the moment you wrote them.
>
> Because you are not the copyright holder, it isn't even your prerogative
> to decide which license the code is released under.  It happens to be
> GPL, but the code is licensed by the copyright holder, which is the FSF,
> not you.
>
> Even listing you as an author in the file is a courtesy, not an
> obligation.
>
> Furthermore, any future code you might write concerning Org is also
> automatically property of the FSF, and by extension this community.  You
> have no rights to it, moral or otherwise.
>
> #+BEGIN_QUOTE:
> (b) The assignment of par. 1(a) above applies to all past and future
> works of Developer that constitute changes and enhancements to the
> Program.
> #+END_QUOTE:

Arguably there is no requirement that any code Jambunathan or any other
FSF contributor writes needs to be provided to Emacs/FSF.  If I write a
library expanding on existing content but wish to retain copyright for
myself rather than assign it to the FSF they cannot require me to do
otherwise as far as I know.  Only if I wish it to become part of Emacs
is that required.

However in this case, if you look at the earliest commits of the two
files in question (EXPERIMENTAL/org-e-html.el and
EXPERIMENTAL/org-e-odt.el) they were both added to Org with the lines:

;; Copyright (C) 2011-2013  Free Software Foundation, Inc.

Therefore I see that as meaning that they are copyright by FSF and the
copyright assignment cannot be revoked except by the holder, in this
case FSF.
[...snip]
>
> All the best,
> Terry

Regards,
Jon