" The ideas behind open source are about freedom , " continues randal , " that people should have certain basic rights in the software that they use , the same as every other part of life . It 's about people 's rights to create things they 're passionate about . "
The court that is due to approve the class action settlement could also find ways to extend the " orphan works " protections to distributors other than google , says randal picker , a law professor at the university of chicago - though legal opinions are divided on whether this is possible .