Re: [boost] Copyright-less licence references

Subject: Re: [boost] Copyright-less licence references
From: Peter Dimov (lists_at_[hidden])
Date: 2015-09-15 18:35:00

Andrey Semashev wrote:

> I think Peter made a very good point that these "Boost.Test contributors" 
> has to be a legal entity, ...

No, I'm not saying that. It's reasonable to interpret "Boost.Test 
contributors" as a shorthand for a list of specific names who don't need to 
constitute a legal entity. It's basically a 'pointer' to the actual list of 
contributors that is presumably available on demand.

> This reminds me. Recently I updated README.md in a few libraries I work on 
> to include a notice that patch contributors implicitly agree to release 
> their modifications under BSL [1][2][3]. Should these notes be added to 
> all libraries or even on the main website or am I being paranoid?

I tend towards "paranoid", but this is the sort of question which lawyers 
find "fascinating" in the "I'd be very interested to see that tested in 
court" way. :-) That's because this notice protects against the hypothetical 
situation in which someone contributes a patch and then later sues us for 
illegal distribution, pretending not to have known that his changes would 
have been distributed under the terms of the BSL. I consider this position 
somewhat unlikely to prevail. But again, I'm no lawyer. Lawyers like 
disclaimers.