Intellectual Property and Open Source

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Author: Van Lindberg
Format: Paperback, 390 pages
Publisher: O'Reilly Media, Inc. ( July 1, 2008 )
ISBN-10: 0596517963
ISBN-13: 978-0596517960

Review by James Pyles
August 20, 2008

A book on (gulp) law? Why would I want to read this? Well, if you're a developer (open source or not) and you are at all interested in protecting the fruits of your labors, you will want to know this the same way you want to know about locking your house when you leave for work each morning. The next question is, "Will I understand anything the author is saying?". Depends. If you're an attorney, the answer is "yes". If you're a software engineer, the answer is..."yes". What? How can that be? Turns out the author is both a software engineer and a practicing attorney (at least, according to the blurb on the back cover of the book). Is it possible he can speak to both audiences? Let's find out.

Actually, having no background at all in law, I can't say that Lindberg is specifically speaking to attorneys in any portion of this book, but it seems that with chapters called "The Patent System", "Copyright", and "Trademarks", there'd be something for a lawyer in these pages. How about the software developer? What's in it for the coders in the audience? Plenty. In the Preface, the author says that, "Part of my job each day is to work as a translator---translating from 'lawyer' to 'engineer' and back". The goal of this book then, could be to act like a language book for people who know "lawyer-speak" and "developer-speak" so they can understand each other. To continue, "This book is meant to be a developer's documentation for the legal system". That seems to indicate that what Lindberg writes about is biased towards the programmer audience. If that's you and you have an interest in the concept of Intellectual Property (IP), read on.

Caveat time. The Preface says that the book is not meant to be legal advice. For that, you'll have to hire an attorney (I know...bummer). In that sense, the book is a better narrative than a resource (though it's written to be both). The author suggests first reading the book all the way through, like a novel, then going back and focusing on those sections of particular interest, relative to your work. For the "Free Software Foundation (FSF)" people out there, just having the phrase "intellectual property" in the book's title may be enough to raise a snarl on your otherwise pleasant features. My personal opinion is that if you're a Richard Stallman wannabe, "deal with it" (no, the author didn't say that...the reviewer did). The author said that the concept is unavoidable if you're on the "front lines" of software development. Like it or not, you exist in a legal realm as well as a development realm. Chapter 8 specifically deals with the differences between the entities of "free software" vs. "open source". I didn't say this would be easy.

What is easy (well, relatively easy) is reading this book. I know what you're thinking, "How can a book on law be easy to read?". To start off with, all of the Latin and "legalese" has been removed and replaced with the concepts and rules that govern the overall legal/intellectual property system. If this were a programming book, it wouldn't really teach someone to be a cracker jack programmer so as a legal book, it won't teach you to be a cracker jack lawyer. It will help you, the programmer, understand the legal nature of your work and demystify the whole "when-do-I-need-a-license-and-what-kind?" question. In fact, it might surprise you to know that if you don't license your work, it can't be used legally (and if you don't believe me, see Chapter 10).

Lindberg leverages his software development background to describe legal concepts to the programmer in the programmer's own language. It would be like an attorney describing the law to my Dad by using fishing metaphors. My Dad might not know a lot about being an attorney, but he does know a lot about fishing. If you know programming but not the law, the language in the book will speak to you...so well in fact, that this could be a book you'll feel comfortable reading on the beach or by the pool during these last dog days of summer.

If you're a developer or a company that employs developers and you need to know how to protect and legally share your work, Van Lindberg has written a book for you that you'll find both very understandable and highly useful. It's not the end all and be all for all of your legal questions and issues in business, but it does take the "whodunit" out of the mystery of intellectual property rights and open source software. If your main focus is having a political axe and wanting to grind it, you probably have already decided this book isn't for you. If your main focus is understanding the wider world in which open source software exists; the world that doesn't end when you power down your computer for the weekend, then Intellectual Property and Open Source is a book you'll want to have in your library.