Re: The copyright issue

[Richard Stallman]

    Exactly.  So the FSF (more precisely, the project) ends up bearing the
    cost in any case.

Not necessarily in all possible cass.  If we were actually sued, and
it turned out the contributor was at fault, we might insist he should
pay the costs.

But it is unlikely things would go that far.  Normally, if we got a
complaint, we would recheck the facts.  If at that point the
contributor proved to be at fault, we would remove his code.  Most
likely the complainant would be satisfied and would not sue.

Anyway, the main reason for the assignments is not that.
It is to keep the copyright status simple.

    I think what really causes people to think about it is when they hand
    the disclaimer to their boss and the boss says "I'll have to run this
    past corporate legal."

Indeed, the fact that this makes people think about the question
is very useful in avoiding misunderstandings.