No.gonzochess75 wrote: ↑Fri Feb 26, 2021 10:44 pmHey Dann, did you see my answer to your hypothetical? I wrote http://talkchess.com/forum3/viewtopic.p ... QL#p884839Dann Corbit wrote: ↑Fri Feb 26, 2021 10:32 pm IF it is true that a program's data is also covered by the GPL, then the GPL will be abandoned instantly by each and every commercial user.
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If your HL7 medical data is held in a MySQL database, can I demand it be given to me?
If not, why not?
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What matters for the sake of the GPL is whether the data is a mere aggregate as defined by the GPL or if it is a combined work. In the case of MySQL and the data it carries the answer is clear: it is merely aggregated. In the case of a GPL'd chess engine and the neural net weights I believe the answer is also clear: it is a combined work.
To see this we can ask: what is the purpose of MySQL? Does the data it is carrying fundamentally change the operation of MySQL? Is it an extension of MySQL? Is it combined with MySQL to form a larger program? No.
How about for a GPL'd chess engine and the neural network weights file? Does the data in the weights file fundamentally change the operation of the chess engine? Is it an extension of the chess engine? Is it combined with the chess engine to form a larger program? Yes.
Here is the language from the GPL that talks about this:
"...which are not by their nature extensions of the covered work, and which are not combined with it such as to form a larger program..."
The weights file - if it is copyrightable - does not meet this definition of a mere aggregate. Rather, it meets the definition of a combined work.
In the first place, the weights are not necessary to make SF run. Only to make it run in NNUE mode.
Second, you can make your own weights the same as Albert did.
There are sites all over where people are doing it right now for SF.
You have the SF code as modified by ChessBase if you like, and you can make your own set of weights.
And if the data were necessary for the program to run at all, it is still data.
If you have the program's code, you can figure out how to make your own, even if it is necessary, even if it is not provided.
Data is not code.
Data is data.
The data is not covered by the GPL, the code is covered.