[TOS] Textbook, upstream, ownership of marks

[Greg DeKoenigsberg]

Hi folks.  Now that the first version of the textbook is officially out 
the door, it's time to have a frank discussion about the IP questions 
around the textbook.  Here's my take:

This book is like a Linux distro.  Disparate pieces, all available under 
their own copyrights, brought together into one (or potentially more) 
collective derivative works, under another brand and copyright.  Which 
means:

1. Individual chapters are owned by their respective authors.

2. The collective textbook -- most importantly, the title and its 
trademark, and the right to decide what gets published under that mark -- 
are owned by an entity that can protect and sustain that brand.  I propose 
that this will be Red Hat, since Red Hat paid for the time of the majority 
of the authors to write the first version of the textbook.

3. Because all of the chapters are individual works, they could all be 
taken and remixed into another textbook without any permission.  Which 
means that anybody would have the full right to fork the text -- i.e. 
create a new text called "Fidelio College's Open Source Textbook", so long 
as the original authors receive the appropriate attribution in the new 
textbook.

4. How we work "Teaching Open Source" as an organization into the 
"ownership" of the text is a difficult problem, because TOS is not a 
formalized legal organization, but a group of folks working together. 
For that reason, I don't think it makes sense to have TOS as a copyright 
holder, but it is important to give this group some recognition.  Is 
hosting the textbook at TOS sufficient for that purpose?

Red Hat paid for a large chunk of the writing of this book, so this is our 
attempt to ensure that we receive some brand recognition for it, while 
still ensuring the freedom to fork that is required to make for a truly 
open project.

Does anyone -- most specifically, authors -- disagree with this position? 
Because I'm going to be talking to Red Hat lawyers in the not-too-distant 
future, and I want to make sure that we have consensus.  And if we don't 
have consensus, I want to work through it before I commit to sitting down 
in front of lawyers, who don't like wasting time on people who don't have 
their stuff together.  :)

--g

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