[OSGeo-Discuss] role of foundation with regard to licensing

[Tyler Mitchell (OSGeo)]

On Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:16:13 -0500
Frank Warmerdam <warmerdam at pobox.com> wrote:

> >> I know that in practice, this is probably the way things already
> >> are. Why rock the boat?  Why assign copyright to OSGeo in the
> >> first place [2]?  
> 
> The primary reason to assign copyright to OSGeo is to make it easier
> to relicense in the future.  It is very hard to relicense a project
> with copyright held by many contributors.
> 
> There are also reasons not to assign license, foremost being the
> paperwork overhead involved in contributions agreements for all
> contributors.  Some contributors are also hesitant to surrender their
> control over their contribution.

A few questions about copyright have come across my desk or
face-to-face at events this year.  Frank, for the sake of
others on the list, could you give us an overview of what does it mean
to be an "OSGeo project" if OSGeo itself does not hold the copyright?  

I think the question was geared toward whether or not OSGeo could
guarantee future appropriate licensing of a product that
it has arms-length influence over - or would a non-complying project
then be rejected somehow?

Just trying to remember some of the other questions I've heard.  Are
any of the above realistic concerns?

Thanks,
Tyler