Re: [RFC net-next 2/3] net: marvell: prestera: Add PCI interface support

From: Jakub Kicinski
Date: Sat Feb 29 2020 - 21:12:21 EST


On Sat, 29 Feb 2020 08:58:02 +0100 Jiri Pirko wrote:
> Fri, Feb 28, 2020 at 05:54:32PM CET, vadym.kochan@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
> >> >+
> >> >+module_init(mvsw_pr_pci_init);
> >> >+module_exit(mvsw_pr_pci_exit);
> >> >+
> >> >+MODULE_AUTHOR("Marvell Semi.");
> >>
> >> Again, wrong author.
> >
> >PLVision developing the driver for Marvell and upstreaming it on behalf
> >of Marvell. This is a long term cooperation that aim to expose Marvell
> >devices to the Linux community.
>
> Okay. If you grep the code, most of the time, the MODULE_AUTHOR is a
> person. That was my point:
> /*
> * Author(s), use "Name <email>" or just "Name", for multiple
> * authors use multiple MODULE_AUTHOR() statements/lines.
> */
> #define MODULE_AUTHOR(_author) MODULE_INFO(author, _author)

+1

> But I see that for example "Intel" uses the company name too. So I guess
> it is fine.

FWIW I agree with Jiri's original comment. Copyright != authorship.
I'm not a lawyer, but at least in the European law I was exposed to -
company can _own_ code, but it can never _author_ it.

I think authorship as a moral right is inalienable, unlike material/
economic rights (copyright).

So to me company being an author makes no sense at all, Copyrights are
on all your files, that's sufficient, put human names in MODULE_AUTHOR,
or just skip using the macro..