Debian plans to release its newest version,
Etch, in December, and wants Mozilla's Firefox Web browser to be part of the distribution. Mozilla, however, told Debian it couldn't release the software without its accompanying artwork. Now a legal expert says that the existing distinctions between copyright and trademark laws should have prevented this from becoming an issue in the first place.
Larry Rosen, an attorney specializing in intellectual property protection and former general counsel for the Open Source Initiative, told NewsForge, "An open source copyright license can permit you to make any changes you want to certain software, or to make no changes at all. But a trademark license may also be needed before you can apply the original author's trademarks to those changed or original works.
"I don't think that this should be a debate. We merely have to understand that copyright and trademark involve entirely different rights. A license to one of those isn't necessarily a license to the other."
Earlier this year, Mike Connor, a developer with Mozilla, submitted a bug report to Debian that stated that if Debian intend to call its browser Firefox, it would be required to include Firefox graphics as well, or should plan to find a new name for the browser.
Mozilla says its guidelines are clear: the use of the Firefox name is permitted only if accompanied by its logo, icons, and other artwork.
Debian developer and project maintainer Eric Dorland contends, however, that Mozilla's graphics set cannot be released with Etch because "they have a non-free license." He says to do so would be a violation of the Debian Free Software Guidelines (DFSG), which determine the criteria for which software can be used in Debian distributions.
While Debian developers are willing to use the Firefox name in compliance with trademark laws, they feel that any artwork contained in Etch must allow users the freedom to make changes to it, as they can with other free artwork.
Connor says, however, that while he appreciates Debian's point of view, Mozilla's logos and icons provide a visual identity as well as an assurance of quality to the user. He says that Mozilla's stance on protecting its branding elements is no different than that of any other company that wants to ensure a high-quality user experience.
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Behind the Debian & Mozilla dispute over the use of FireFox!!
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