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TikTok streaming software is an illegal fork of OBS

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Re: TikTok streaming software is an illegal fork of OBS

#171

Post by minimaxir »

throwhauser wrote: post #145
oliwarner wrote: post #70

It's concerning how many self-labelled software engineers on Twitter are chipping in with comments like "it's open source so it's fair game" or "they just need to add attribution".

It's reminiscent of people adding "no copyright intended" (sic) when posting other people's music online. It seems like intuitions about copyright have been shifting, even if the law hasn't.

At the least, the internet eventually realized that "you must delete your video game ROMs within 24 hours of obtaining them" is not a valid legal stance.

Re: TikTok streaming software is an illegal fork of OBS

#172

Post by criddell »

pphysch wrote: post #165
criddell wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, I honestly think Washington doesn't exercise similar influence over Google or other American companies. CNN likes to pop up a PIP view of what's being broadcast in China when they talk about things that embarrass the Chinese government. When they start talking about Peng Shuai it takes about two seconds before the Chinese broadcast becomes a test pattern. When's the last time you saw a test pattern when watching…

If you want to uncritically believe everything US establishment media says about enemies of the US establishment, that is your problem.

Where did I say that? Keep in mind that I'm not saying the US government has no influence, but it isn't anywhere close to what the situation in China is.

Re: TikTok streaming software is an illegal fork of OBS

#173

Post by kaslai »

12ian34 wrote: post #106

Could someone please help explain to me and (others who might not know) what is the concrete problem caused by this forking that doesn't comply with the license?

The GPL requires that any derivative work of GPL licensed code must also be licensed under the same (or compatible) license as the original GPL'd code. This is the "viral" aspect of the license. It applies even if the only interface between your code and the GPL code is dynamic linking, and not a single line of the GPL'd code is in your application.

There are acceptable ways to bundle GPL code with closed source software in a single distributable, however it must be made clear which parts of the distribution are licensed under the GPL and the GPL license must be clearly present. Even in the most charitable reading of the situation, TikTok violated this basic requirement.

Re: TikTok streaming software is an illegal fork of OBS

#174

Post by thebean11 »

lucasyvas wrote: post #34

In almost all cases, TikTok's offering would be considered a derived work because you cannot swap out the OBS part for another and still have it work. So they are likely in full violation unless they agree to open source all their code. Seems like a pretty open and shut case to be honest - that is, if they intend to pursue legal action and the powers that be rule appropriately.

I'm out of my depth here, but what makes you say they can't swap out the OBS part for something else? Do you mean they can't swap it without modifying the rest of the code, or can't swap it at all?

Re: TikTok streaming software is an illegal fork of OBS

#175

Post by minimaxir »

andrew_ wrote: post #38

I'd like to see HN shy away from posting twitter threads as news. There's almost always a hard link to the source material, and twitter threads are filled with emotional, truncated, nuance-lacking, trite clips that more often than not do little to promote healthy discussion of a topic. The goal of quality here really is noble.

Hacker News has a "post the original source" rule. In this case, Twitter is the original source.

One of my most recent grievances is with HN is the ranking penalty of Twitter submissions as that has been the primary source of news lately, for better or for worse.

Re: TikTok streaming software is an illegal fork of OBS

#176

Post by yumraj »

oliwarner wrote: post #70

It's concerning how many self-labelled software engineers on Twitter are chipping in with comments like "it's open source so it's fair game" or "they just need to add attribution".

Probably they are employed at companies who are themselves violating GPL and have seen this being done there.

Re: TikTok streaming software is an illegal fork of OBS

#177

Post by [deleted] »

criddell wrote: post #172
pphysch wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you want to uncritically believe everything US establishment media says about enemies of the US establishment, that is your problem.

Where did I say that? Keep in mind that I'm not saying the US government has no influence, but it isn't anywhere close to what the situation in China is.

[deleted]

Re: TikTok streaming software is an illegal fork of OBS

#178

Post by telesilla »

azeirah wrote: post #136
dodgepong wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Paying for a license would be nearly impossible, as the OBS team would need every contributor to sign a CLA to give the OBS team the rights to relicense/dual-license the OBS code base.

Would be nice if the contributors could get some money for it

The result would be hundreds of OBS closed source clones that do not contribute back to the project. It would be a disaster.

Re: TikTok streaming software is an illegal fork of OBS

#179

Post by ipaddr »

BuildTheRobots wrote: post #157
ollien wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What makes Twitter any different in reliability than someone's blog? HN is filled with random blog links

The obvious difference is that it's impossible to explain any complex or in depth information using 280 characters or less. Trying to follow a thread of tweets (without using a 3rd party site) is painful. Heck, this throwaway response barely fits.

Many times there are a series of tweets. It's as easy to view it is as easy as scrolling down no third party tools required
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