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by BinaryIdiot 3747 days ago
Licensing doesn't really have anything to do with copyright / trademark / IP in general. It just grants you the ability to use something in the way specified.

I'm not aware of case law where a license has been able to move the original IP from one party to another; I've only heard of that happening through standard legal documents.

But I also pointed out that I wasn't sure how it would shake out anyway and was seeking feedback.
1 comments
icebraining 3747 days ago
But why are you saying the copyright was transferred? I don't see anything that implies that. Someone got a copy of the code under an irrevocable license that grants them to right to re-publish it, and that's what they are doing.
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BinaryIdiot 3747 days ago
> But why are you saying the copyright was transferred?

I don't think I did?

> I don't see anything that implies that. Someone got a copy of the code under an irrevocable license that grants them to right to re-publish it, and that's what they are doing.

Yeah mostly curious if the original author could, say, use the DCMA or something similar to force npm to take it down if he really wanted to.

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icebraining 3747 days ago
I mean, you mentioned "take over the IP" and "move the original IP from one party to another", but I don't see why you're asking that, as NPM hasn't taken over any IP (nor has the new user), they simply redistributed the code.
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BinaryIdiot 3747 days ago
npm didn't take it over, another user did and npm helped re-publish the unpublished version. I already answered the why I asked that..."mostly curious if the original author could, say, use the DCMA or something similar to force npm to take it down if he really wanted to."
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icebraining 3747 days ago
But the user didn't take over the IP, it only took over the name on NPM's registry.

As for the DMCA, usually not since most FOSS licenses are explicitly irrevocable, but with the WTFPL, who knows.

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BinaryIdiot 3747 days ago
> But the user didn't take over the IP, it only took over the name on NPM's registry.

That's almost the same thing. Like if someone dropped their domain name and you grabbed it up. The customer / user isn't going to notice a difference but it's now being represented by someone else.

I don't think anyone cares enough to really do anything about this though. Mostly curious if it was possible to do something about it but I'm guessing the waters are pretty untested.

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