Looking for someone albe to grant copyrights for a screenshot with Vim

[Maciek Godek]

Hi,

I created an essay for the Onward! conference. The essay has a visual (i.e. comic) form, and one of the pages features a monitor with a running Vim splash screen. It's going to be published in open access under a Creative Commons license.

The publisher, ACM, told me that I need to get permission from the authors of all software that I screenshot. And while there might be a possibility to use a screenshot on a "fair use" basis, I wonder if now, after Bram Moolenar is no longer with us, there is any party (like a foundation) that would be able to grant me the right to use it?

I can send the page containing the screenshot if needed.

Best regards,

Panicz

[Christian Brabandt]

I don't think it is the Vim community that should grant you the rights
to use a random screenshot of Vim. The Vim license itself does not
restrict the use of Vim and from our side, there is no reason you
shouldn't be allowed to use it.

Having said that, isn't the real issue here the copyright of the
screenshot itself, rather than of Vim? If you took the screenshot
yourself you already hold the copyright on it, but if this is someone
else's copyright, you should reach out to the creator of the screenshot
and ask about permission.

Best,
Christian
--
Disclaimer: "These opinions are my own, though for a small fee they be
yours too."
-- Dave Haynie

[Maciek Godek]

Thanks for the response.

I initially also thought that I if I take a screenshot myself, 

then I am the author of the screenshot, but the publisher

said that it's an incorrect interpretation, and that I need

permission from the authors of software that I screenshot

in order to be able to publish it.

I mean, I understand their point of view - they just want to

stay away from any legal trouble, although I do think it leads

to somewhat absurd situations, especially in case of free software

I had one screenshot with tmux running bash running cat,

so I wrote to the authors of tmux and bash and cat, and I got

their permissions (with exception of cat, where I got an indication

that I don't need any permissions). Frankly, I don't think it was

strictly necessary, and it would probably be justifiable to depict

this software without any permissions, by simply invoking their

licenses, but it also gave me an opportunity to reach out to

some people I otherwise probably wouldn't reach out to.

As for now, I invoked the "fair-use" clause for my vim screenshot,

and I think it is well justified here. I already sent it to the publisher,

and I am waiting for their response.

There's only one week left until the conference starts, so I guess

they might be busy processing the submissions (I think the essays

should be available some time before the conference, but I don't

know of any exact rules here)

Best regards,

Panicz

[Eric Marceau]

Maybe this is a tangent but maybe this is the leverage you need.

Get an official statement from Linux Foundation regarding the interpretation and application of OSS Licenses in regard to the snapshots you took.

As Christian said, it's already implied by the Licences themselves, but Linux Foundation maybe their experience in contesting/defending OSS rights could offer a reference to legal decisions on record.

Just a thought.

Eric Marceau, 70
Canada

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[Maciek Godek]

I wrote to the Free Software Foundation (because the essay also features Emacs),

and they responded that the license (GNU GPL in that case) does not require obtaining

permission. I think it might be similar in the case of the Vim license.

All the screenshots contain attribution, so I don't think there are any legal controversies

at this point. That being said, I'm still waiting to hear from the publisher, so I don't

consider this case to be closed yet.

Thanks,

Panicz