Intellectual Property and Open Source: A Practical Guide to Protecting Code (Paperback)

~ Van Lindberg (Author)
Key Phrases: contract law principles, wolf spider, simple blog, United States, Flaming Moe, Artistic License (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

"Clear, correct, and deep, this is a welcome addition to discussions of law and computing for anyone -- even lawyers!" -- Lawrence Lessig, Professor of Law at Stanford Law School and founder of the Stanford Center for Internet and Society

If you work in information technology, intellectual property is central to your job -- but dealing with the complexities of the legal system can be mind-boggling. This book is for anyone who wants to understand how the legal system deals with intellectual property rights for code and other content. You'll get a clear look at intellectual property issues from a developer's point of view, including practical advice about situations you're likely to encounter.

Written by an intellectual property attorney who is also a programmer, Intellectual Property and Open Source helps you understand patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, and licenses, with special focus on the issues surrounding open source development and the GPL. This book answers questions such as:

How do open source and intellectual property work together? What are the most important intellectual property-related issues when starting a business or open source project? How should you handle copyright, licensing and other issues when accepting a patch from another developer? How can you pursue your own ideas while working for someone else? What parts of a patent should be reviewed to see if it applies to your work? When is your idea a trade secret? How can you reverse engineer a product without getting into trouble? What should you think about when choosing an open source license for your project?

Most legal sources are too scattered, too arcane, and too hard to read.Intellectual Property and Open Source is a friendly, easy-to-follow overview of the law that programmers, system administrators, graphic designers, and many others will find essential.

About the Author

Van Lindberg is a software engineer and practicing attorney. What he does most, though, is translate - from "lawyer" to "engineer" and back. He likes working with both computer code and legal code to get things done. Van's current work touches both traditional intellectual property and the emerging field of open source law, where he advises businesses and open source groups on intellectual property issues.

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Product Details Paperback: 390 pages Publisher: O'Reilly Media (July 1, 2008) Language: English ISBN-10: 0596517963 ISBN-13: 978-0596517960 Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7 x 1.1 inches Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies) Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews) Amazon.com Sales Rank: #141,995 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books) Popular in these categories: (What's this?) #18 in  Books > Computers & Internet > Business & Culture > Digital Law #28 in  Books > Computers & Internet > Computer Science > Information Theory #46 in  Books > Professional & Technical > Law > Intellectual Property

Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!

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Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
contract law principles, wolf spider, simple blog, distributed locking system, box reverse engineering, actio servi corrupti, reverse engineering procedure, decompilation process, proprietary information agreements, copyright assignment forms, commit privileges, proprietary software companies, reciprocal licenses, earliest filing date, copyrightable expression, licensed code, specification team, claim chart, open source licensing, academic licenses, open source licenses, intellectual property contracts, inevitable disclosure, patent document

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
United States, Flaming Moe, Artistic License, Red Hat, Copyright Act, Apache License, Evan Brown, Moe's Tavern, Board of Directors, Internet Explorer, Microsoft Windows, Conception of the Invention, World Wide Web, The Terms of Copyright, Modern Trademark Law, Programmer's Dilemma, General Public License, Sample Reverse Engineering Procedure, The Body of the Patent, Software Freedom Law Center, David Barstow, Supreme Court, America Online, Patent Office, Universal Turing Machine

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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!

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	81% buy the item featured on this page: Intellectual Property and Open Source: A Practical Guide to Protecting Code 4.6 out of 5 stars (14) $29.94
	6% buy Understanding Open Source and Free Software Licensing 4.2 out of 5 stars (12) $21.89
	5% buy Producing Open Source Software: How to Run a Successful Free Software Project 4.7 out of 5 stars (15) $16.47
	5% buy Open Source Licensing: Software Freedom and Intellectual Property Law 4.6 out of 5 stars (8) $34.19

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Customer Reviews

14 Reviews 5 star:  (10) 4 star:  (2) 3 star:  (2) 2 star:    (0) 1 star:    (0)           Average Customer Review 4.6 out of 5 stars (14 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews 12 of 12 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars The best legal book on open source I've read (and I've read them all), July 15, 2008 By  Matthew Asay (Salt Lake City, Utah) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)    I've been involved in open source and the software world for over 10 years now, and have read every book on open source and legal issues that has been written. This is by far the best. Why? Because it lays out in clear, easy-to-understand language what open source means for the developer. You don't have to be a legal expert to grasp the principles laid out in the book. In fact, Lindberg walks the reader through commonly obtuse principles by analogizing to software principles that the reader will easily understand. In addition, it's very well-written. Lindberg has an outstanding style that makes this readable. I won't say it's like reading Charles Dickens, but at times it really is that enjoyable. 7 of 7 people found the following review helpful: 4.0 out of 5 stars Good Organization and Great Writing, July 17, 2008 By  James Grimmelmann (New York) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)    I was lucky enough to see this book in draft form, and even before the final spit-and-polish touches, it was a pleasure to read. The author has a real gift for metaphor; almost every chapter is organized around a vivid, memorable concept. He compares the format of a patent document to the ELF file format; he uses the secret recipe for the Flaming Moe to talk about trade secrets. The result is an introduction to IP law that's unusually fun to read. But the clarity and verve of the writing doesn't detract from the book's main goal: showing the reader how the IP system works and affects open source software. The author has exercised very good judgment in paring down an immensely complicated body of law into an approachable set of important principles. The reader gets the big picture overview, a clear understanding of the truly important details, and a good sense of what else is out there and how to find out more. This book doesn't try to be a definitive reference or a dumbed-down sketch. Instead, it hits the sweet spot in between: informative and readable. 5 of 5 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Targeted well for the technology professional..., September 6, 2008 By  Thomas Duff "Duffbert" (Portland, OR United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)       As a software developer, it's almost a certainty that you either participate in or use open source software somewhere in your computing environment. But even though you may have the source code sitting in front of you, it doesn't mean you can anything you darn well please with it. Van Lindberg's book Intellectual Property and Open Source: A Practical Guide to Protecting Code does a very good job in presenting the intricacies of open source licensing in a way that won't automatically put a developer to sleep. Granted, there's still a lot of legal concepts to wade through, but in my opinion he hit the right mix between legalities and practicalities. Contents: The Economic and Legal Foundations of Intellectual Property; The Patent Document; The Patent System; Copyright; Trademarks; Trade Secrets; Contracts and Licenses; The Economic and Legal Foundations of Open Source Software; So I Have An Idea...; Choosing A License; Accepting Patches and Contributions; Working With The GPL; Reverse Engineering; Incorporating As A Non-Profit Appendices: Sample Proprietary Information Agreement (PIA); Open Source License List; Free Software License List; Fedora License List and GPL Compatibility; Public Domain Declaration; The Simplified BSD License; The Apache License, Version 2.0; The Mozilla Public License, Version 1.1; The GNU Lesser General Public License, Version 2.1; The GNU Lesser General Public License, Version 3; The GNU General Public License, Version 2, June 1991; The GNU General Public License, Version 3, June 2007; The Open Software License, Version 3.0 Index Lindberg accomplishes a couple of purposes in this book. The first few chapters trace the history and general concepts of intellectual property law, such as patents and trade secrets. This is necessary, in that it lays the groundwork to be able to understand what part of your work may or may not be covered by intellectual property laws. While there are plenty of legal concepts and examples cited, he doesn't get so far down into the weeds as to make the material irrelevant to the target audience... technology professionals. The last half of the book then uses that foundation to talk specifically about open source software, licenses, and legal issues being faced today. And really, it's more complex than you'd think (but isn't *anything* legal overly complex?) Each of the licenses he covers has certain advantages and disadvantages that can make a significant impact on how you and others can use your software going forward. For instance, one license may allow the user to use it in any way they see fit, including using it in their own non-open source software. Other licenses actually force any software project using the open source code to also be bound by the same license, meaning that your work has to be made available in open source form to others. Based on what you plan on building and how you want to market it, this could make the difference between a thriving business or a ruinous lawsuit. And again, the writing is appropriate for the technology professional, not four year law students looking to become a partner and retire by the age of 40. For anyone involved in creating an open-source project (or what they *think* an open source project should be), this should be essential reading. And if you've ever downloaded something from Sourceforge to include in one of your own projects, you also need to read this to clearly understand your rights and obligations. I know we techies would prefer to let other people figure out the legal stuff, but it's not worth it to have your next killer application idea bankrupt you in court...		Ad feedback   Most Recent Customer Reviews 5.0 out of 5 stars How current IP's laws affect the whole software business I've read quite a few books on this topic; so far this has been the best. First of all, the author doesn't only cover open source license (like previous books from O'Reilly did),... Read more Published 8 months ago by Foti Massimo 5.0 out of 5 stars I'm so glad I read this book I took a trip this last week, one that involved several hours of airplane travel each way. I took this book along and couldn't put it down. Read more Published 8 months ago by M. Helmke 3.0 out of 5 stars So-so While informative, this book was not the interesting read I was hoping to find. It was dry and boring. If all you need is information, it will work, but don't expect entertainment. Published 9 months ago by A. Lomneck 5.0 out of 5 stars 5 Cheers for Intellectual Property ad Open Source This is a fantastic book! If you are an open source developer/contributor, this is a must-read. I've just written a full review here: [... Read more Published 10 months ago by Duncan McGreggor 5.0 out of 5 stars Intellectual Property and Open Source This is the most insightful explanation of patents, copyright, trade secrets, contracts and licenses I have come across so far. Read more Published 11 months ago by Eric Jain 5.0 out of 5 stars Both computer and legal libraries strong in technology need this Any outside the field of IT who want to understand how to handle the legal system will find Intellectual Property and Open Source is perfect for understanding how law views... Read more Published 12 months ago by Midwest Book Review 4.0 out of 5 stars An author who knows how to relate to programmer I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The initial chapters were a bit dry due to their subject matter: patents, copyright, trade secrets, etc. Read more Published 13 months ago by Sam J. Keen 5.0 out of 5 stars A must for anyone in the business of techology This book is an excellent resource for anyone involved in technology products. It is a first class primer on intellectual property and uses examples familiar to technical people... Read more Published 14 months ago by Thomas D. Petrocelli 5.0 out of 5 stars Clear and complete The author is both a programmer and a lawyer. That combination means that this is the ideal book for programmers as he regularly uses programming concepts to illustrate legal... Read more Published 14 months ago by Anthony Lawrence 5.0 out of 5 stars Must read for developers, open source or not. The first 8 chapters of the book, covering some history and the current state of intellectual property law in the US - should be read by anyone writing code in the United States -... Read more Published 15 months ago by E. Peck Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews

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Product Details

• Paperback: 390 pages
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media (July 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0596517963
• ISBN-13: 978-0596517960
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #141,995 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #18 in	Books > Computers & Internet > Business & Culture > Digital Law
  #28 in	Books > Computers & Internet > Computer Science > Information Theory
  #46 in	Books > Professional & Technical > Law > Intellectual Property

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best legal book on open source I've read (and I've read them all), July 15, 2008

By	Matthew Asay (Salt Lake City, Utah) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I've been involved in open source and the software world for over 10 years now, and have read every book on open source and legal issues that has been written. This is by far the best.

Why? Because it lays out in clear, easy-to-understand language what open source means for the developer. You don't have to be a legal expert to grasp the principles laid out in the book. In fact, Lindberg walks the reader through commonly obtuse principles by analogizing to software principles that the reader will easily understand.

In addition, it's very well-written. Lindberg has an outstanding style that makes this readable. I won't say it's like reading Charles Dickens, but at times it really is that enjoyable.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Organization and Great Writing, July 17, 2008

By	James Grimmelmann (New York) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I was lucky enough to see this book in draft form, and even before the final spit-and-polish touches, it was a pleasure to read. The author has a real gift for metaphor; almost every chapter is organized around a vivid, memorable concept. He compares the format of a patent document to the ELF file format; he uses the secret recipe for the Flaming Moe to talk about trade secrets. The result is an introduction to IP law that's unusually fun to read.

But the clarity and verve of the writing doesn't detract from the book's main goal: showing the reader how the IP system works and affects open source software. The author has exercised very good judgment in paring down an immensely complicated body of law into an approachable set of important principles. The reader gets the big picture overview, a clear understanding of the truly important details, and a good sense of what else is out there and how to find out more. This book doesn't try to be a definitive reference or a dumbed-down sketch. Instead, it hits the sweet spot in between: informative and readable.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Targeted well for the technology professional..., September 6, 2008

By	Thomas Duff "Duffbert" (Portland, OR United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

As a software developer, it's almost a certainty that you either participate in or use open source software somewhere in your computing environment. But even though you may have the source code sitting in front of you, it doesn't mean you can anything you darn well please with it. Van Lindberg's book Intellectual Property and Open Source: A Practical Guide to Protecting Code does a very good job in presenting the intricacies of open source licensing in a way that won't automatically put a developer to sleep. Granted, there's still a lot of legal concepts to wade through, but in my opinion he hit the right mix between legalities and practicalities.

Contents: The Economic and Legal Foundations of Intellectual Property; The Patent Document; The Patent System; Copyright; Trademarks; Trade Secrets; Contracts and Licenses; The Economic and Legal Foundations of Open Source Software; So I Have An Idea...; Choosing A License; Accepting Patches and Contributions; Working With The GPL; Reverse Engineering; Incorporating As A Non-Profit
Appendices: Sample Proprietary Information Agreement (PIA); Open Source License List; Free Software License List; Fedora License List and GPL Compatibility; Public Domain Declaration; The Simplified BSD License; The Apache License, Version 2.0; The Mozilla Public License, Version 1.1; The GNU Lesser General Public License, Version 2.1; The GNU Lesser General Public License, Version 3; The GNU General Public License, Version 2, June 1991; The GNU General Public License, Version 3, June 2007; The Open Software License, Version 3.0
Index

Lindberg accomplishes a couple of purposes in this book. The first few chapters trace the history and general concepts of intellectual property law, such as patents and trade secrets. This is necessary, in that it lays the groundwork to be able to understand what part of your work may or may not be covered by intellectual property laws. While there are plenty of legal concepts and examples cited, he doesn't get so far down into the weeds as to make the material irrelevant to the target audience... technology professionals. The last half of the book then uses that foundation to talk specifically about open source software, licenses, and legal issues being faced today. And really, it's more complex than you'd think (but isn't *anything* legal overly complex?) Each of the licenses he covers has certain advantages and disadvantages that can make a significant impact on how you and others can use your software going forward. For instance, one license may allow the user to use it in any way they see fit, including using it in their own non-open source software. Other licenses actually force any software project using the open source code to also be bound by the same license, meaning that your work has to be made available in open source form to others. Based on what you plan on building and how you want to market it, this could make the difference between a thriving business or a ruinous lawsuit. And again, the writing is appropriate for the technology professional, not four year law students looking to become a partner and retire by the age of 40.

For anyone involved in creating an open-source project (or what they *think* an open source project should be), this should be essential reading. And if you've ever downloaded something from Sourceforge to include in one of your own projects, you also need to read this to clearly understand your rights and obligations. I know we techies would prefer to let other people figure out the legal stuff, but it's not worth it to have your next killer application idea bankrupt you in court...