[gst-devel] The copyright field in plugin descriptors and GST_COPYRIGHT

[Andy Wingo]

Hey folks,

I'm not sure what the copyright field in the plugin descriptor is there
for. If you want the copyright on the source code, you look in the
source code. If you want the copyright on the entire library you link
to, you'll have to dig around and get that information for each library
you link against. License certainly makes sense, and the origin and
package, but I don't see what copyright is there for. If there's no
reason, I suggest that we remove it (a change that would have been
easier if we discussed the interface on the mailing list before it was
implemented).

Furthermore, what is GST_COPYRIGHT? config.h defines it as "(c)
1999-2003 The GStreamer Team", but who is the GStreamer team? Everyone
was not involved in every bit of code. Different people for different
parts. Unless we start assigning copyright to some kind of organization,
I don't think you can change copyrights on a plugin to GST_COPYRIGHT, if
previously it was copyrighted by a few individuals, unless they all
agree.

A more serious point is here, as well: If my copyright attribution will
be changed on code that *I wrote*, I want to be involved on that
discussion. That doesn't mean I won't go along with the change, but I
think it's reasonable (and certainly within my rights) to demand this.
Other people probably feel the same.

This sort of discussion could have been avoided with a little bit of
discussion on the mailing list beforehand. In the case of the plugin
changes, it doesn't matter too much, and probably shouldn't be there
anyway. But I consider changes in copyright to be serious, not just an
afterthought ("Oh, we'll just put GST_COPYRIGHT here...").

Regards,

wingo.