[SciPy-dev] Machine learning datasets (was Presentation of pymachine, a python package for machine learning)

[David Cournapeau]

Anne Archibald wrote:
> On 30/05/07, David Cournapeau <david at ar.media.kyoto-u.ac.jp> wrote:
>>
>> This is why I feel a bit uneasy about this: when you distribute
>> something under alicense, said GPL, you can only apply it to the parts
>> you own the copyright. But R obviously does not own the datasets they
>> distribute. This goes well beyond my knowledge of copyright, and I don't
>> know what I should do about "fair use" (this concept is pretty much
>> specific to the americain copyright system anyway, no ?). Eg if the
>> package is included in scipy, and tomorrow someone sells super visual
>> scipy, can't they be in trouble because they use (distribute) datasets
>> which they do not own ?
>>
>> For GPL, at least, nobody can "close back" the sources, but with BSD,
>> this is not that clear, and I don't want to add code which I am not 100
>> % sure they can distributed under scipy license.
>
> It is good that you're concerned. I'm no expert on copyright - it's a
> staggeringly complicated subject - but I would say that what R is
> doing is probably illegal.
That's why I thought too: distributing under the GPL (or any license for 
that matter) something you do not own seemed strange to me.
> (*)For example, the arrangement of lights on the Eiffel tower is
> copyright somebody or other, so filmmakers must pay them money to
> include a scene of the Eiffel tower at night, and it is technically
> illegal to include it in your holiday snaps. Brilliant, eh? -A
Good to know that we (French) are not last for doing stupid things 
related to copyright :)