Bad faith: Debian Trademark Policy never ratified


Debian co-authors have never been asked to individually ratify the Debian Trademark Policy or any similar regulations.

A trademark policy published unilaterally by the trademark owner can give people authorizations above and beyond fair use and legitimate interest. On the other hand, such a policy can not unilaterally erode the default rights to fair use and legitimate interest.

Hypothetically, the complainant could ask co-authors to sign some agreement waiving our fair use rights. This may happen in the context of employment, where those who receive a salary agree to forego other rights.

Debianists do not pay us a salary and they did not ask us to individually ratify any agreement waiving our fair use rights.

They have never tried to do this. The only agreement they ever asked each and every one of us to individually ratify is our adherence to the Debian Machine Usage Policy and to the Debian Social Contract.

Therefore, in my role as a co-author, I am not bound by any restrictions unilaterally imposed upon us by the Debian Trademark Policy and only the normal rules of fair use and legitimate interest can be considered in this dispute.

Moreover, it is bad faith by the complainant to simultaneously insist that they can expel somebody, which is really a nonsense concept in terms of joint authorship rights, as such rights can't be extinguished and then insist that the people supposedly expelled will still remain bound by rules from above that only apply in the context of being a member of their clique.