> Again, distribution has to do with a transfer of ownership
You're mixing sub-threads here, but you're still confused. Distribution is a transfer of ownership of a copy, it does not grant copyrights or ownership of the work. You can buy a book that was distributed, and that does not give you the right to make copies of the book.
> Github can show your code to others but it cannot give (as in ownership) your code to them.
In the digital world, showing is "distributing", and copyright law is clear about this.
You should perhaps read the definitions that are in the copyright law itself, and try to understand them:
"“Publication” is the distribution of copies or phonorecords of a work to the
public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending. The
offering to distribute copies or phonorecords to a group of persons for purposes
of further distribution, public performance, or public display, constitutes publication. A public performance or display of a work does not of itself constitute
publication.
To perform or display a work “publicly” means—
(1) to perform or display it at a place open to the public or at any place
where a substantial number of persons outside of a normal circle of a family
and its social acquaintances is gathered; or
(2) to transmit or otherwise communicate a performance or display of the
work to a place specified by clause (1) or to the public, by means of any device
or process, whether the members of the public capable of receiving the performance or display receive it in the same place or in separate places and at the
same time or at different times.
You make some good points, here and on the other comments, so I'm not arguing against you.
>In the digital world, showing is "distributing" [...]
I guess it has to do with how copyright law adapts to the specific circumstances of this particular case. I guess we won't get an answer until a judge justifies some sort of resolution on either side.
My take is that:
* GH showing you some source code on their website is akin to reproduction; even though, of course, a binary copy of the code was made and was transmitted to your local browser in order to be displayed.
while
* GH taking chunks of code from here and there, and making them available into a new product from which they claim ownership (or the final user, or whatever) is more akin to the physical concept of redistribution.
> GH showing you some source code on their website is akin to reproduction
This is clearly and unambiguously defined as “publication” in the copyright law, where “publication” is defined as distributing copies. (And GitHub’s TOS also calls showing you code “publish”).
There is nothing to wait for, and the law and many court cases have already established clear definitions and precedent on these terms. You just got stuck on the wrong idea, it happens, it’s okay, but if you are curious about copyright and interested in discussing it here, it will certainly help to improve your understanding of the terminology.
> GH taking chunks of code from here and there […] is more akin to the physical concept of redistribution
No, this is still just wrong. You’re talking about derivative works, which is also defined in the copyright legal code. There is no such physical concept of mixing and matching that is called “redistribution” in legal terms. I’m not sure where that idea came from, it might make sense to you or in some narrow contexts, but generally speaking and specifically wrt copyright law, distribution has nothing to do with whether you sample a work nor whether you make a new work out of old works.
You're mixing sub-threads here, but you're still confused. Distribution is a transfer of ownership of a copy, it does not grant copyrights or ownership of the work. You can buy a book that was distributed, and that does not give you the right to make copies of the book.
> Github can show your code to others but it cannot give (as in ownership) your code to them.
In the digital world, showing is "distributing", and copyright law is clear about this.
You should perhaps read the definitions that are in the copyright law itself, and try to understand them:
"“Publication” is the distribution of copies or phonorecords of a work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending. The offering to distribute copies or phonorecords to a group of persons for purposes of further distribution, public performance, or public display, constitutes publication. A public performance or display of a work does not of itself constitute publication.
To perform or display a work “publicly” means—
(1) to perform or display it at a place open to the public or at any place where a substantial number of persons outside of a normal circle of a family and its social acquaintances is gathered; or
(2) to transmit or otherwise communicate a performance or display of the work to a place specified by clause (1) or to the public, by means of any device or process, whether the members of the public capable of receiving the performance or display receive it in the same place or in separate places and at the same time or at different times.
https://www.copyright.gov/title17/title17.pdf