Copyright \= \copyright{} 2014 \= \hspace{.2in} Free Software Foundation, Inc. \\

Copyright \> \copyright{} 2008 \> \hspace{.2in} Software Freedom Law Center. \\

\end{tabbing}

\vspace{1in}

\begin{center}

Authors of this part are: \\

Bradley M. Kuhn \\

Aaron Williamson \\

Karen M. Sandler \\

\vspace{1in}

Copy editors of this part include: \\

Martin Michlmayr

\vspace{3in}

The copyright holders of this part hereby grant the freedom to copy, modify,

convey, Adapt, and/or redistribute this work under the terms of the Creative

Commons Attribution Share Alike 4.0 International License.  A copy of that

license is available at

\end{center}

}

\bigskip

\chapter*{Executive Summary}

This is a guide to effective compliance with the GNU General Public

License (GPL) and related licenses.  Copyleft advocates

usually seek to assist the community with

GPL compliance cooperatively.   This guide focuses on complying from the

start, so that readers can learn to avoid enforcement actions entirely, or, at

least, minimize  the negative impact when enforcement actions occur.

This guide  introduces and explains basic legal concepts related to the GPL and its

enforcement by copyright holders. It also outlines business practices and

methods that lead to better GPL compliance.  Finally, it recommends proper

post-violation responses to the concerns of copyright holders.

\chapter{Background}

Early GPL enforcement efforts began soon after the GPL was written by

Richard M.~Stallman (RMS) in 1989, and consisted of informal community efforts,

often in public Usenet discussions.\footnote{One example is the public

  outcry over NeXT's attempt to make the Objective-C front-end to GCC

  proprietary.  RMS, in fact, handled this enforcement action personally and

  the Objective-C front-end is still part of upstream GCC today.}  Over the next decade, the Free Software Foundation (FSF),

which holds copyrights in many GNU programs, was the only visible entity

actively enforcing its GPL'd copyrights on behalf of the software freedom

community.

FSF's enforcement

was generally a private process; the FSF contacted violators

confidentially and helped them to comply with the license.  Most

violations were pursued this way until the early 2000's.

By that time, Linux-based systems such as GNU/Linux and BusyBox/Linux had become very common, particularly in

embedded devices such as wireless routers.  During this period, public

ridicule of violators in the press and on Internet fora supplemented

ongoing private enforcement and increased pressure on businesses to

comply.  In 2003, the FSF formalized its efforts into the GPL Compliance

Lab, increased the volume of enforcement, and built community coalitions

to encourage copyright holders to together settle amicably with violators.

Beginning in 2004, Harald Welte took a more organized public enforcement

list for collecting reports of GPL violations.  On the basis of these

reports, Welte successfully pursued many enforcements in Europe, including

formal legal action.  Harald earns the permanent fame as the first copyright

holder to bring legal action in a court regarding GPL compliance.

In 2007, two copyright holders in BusyBox, in conjunction with the

Software Freedom Conservancy (``Conservancy''), filed the first copyright infringement lawsuit

based on a violation of the GPL\@ in the USA. While  lawsuits are of course

quite public, the vast majority of Conservancy's enforcement actions 

are resolved privately via

cooperative communications with violators.  As both FSF and Conservancy have worked to bring

individual companies into compliance, both organizations have encountered numerous

violations resulting from preventable problems such as inadequate

attention to licensing of upstream software, misconceptions about the

GPL's terms, and poor communication between software developers and their

management.  This document highlights these problems and describe

best practices to encourage corporate Free Software users to reevaluate their

approach to GPL'd software and avoid future violations.

Both FSF and Conservancy continue GPL enforcement and compliance efforts

for software under the GPL, the GNU Lesser

Public License (LGPL) and other copyleft licenses.  In doing so, both organizations have

found that most violations stem from a few common, avoidable mistakes.  All copyleft advocates  hope to educate the community of

commercial distributors, redistributors, and resellers on how to avoid

decreases the number of physical media fulfillment requests.

(GPLv3~\S~6(b) permits provision of source with a public

network-accessible distribution only and no physical media.  We discuss

this in detail at the end of this section.)

The following is a suggested compliant offer for source under GPLv2 (and

is also acceptable for GPLv3) that you would include in your printed

materials accompanying each binary distribution:

\begin{quote}

The software included in this product contains copyrighted software that

is licensed under the GPL\@.  A copy of that license is included in this

document on page $X$\@.  You may obtain the complete Corresponding Source

code from us for a period of three years after our last shipment of this

product, which will be no earlier than 2011-08-01, by sending a money

order or check for \$5 to: \\

GPL Compliance Division \\

Our Company \\

Any Town, US 99999 \\

\\

Please write ``source for product $Y$'' in the memo line of your

payment.

You may also find a copy of the source at

This offer is valid to anyone in receipt of this information.

\end{quote}

There are a few important details about this offer.  First, it requires a

copying fee.  GPLv2 permits ``a charge no more than your cost of

physically performing source distribution''.  This fee must be reasonable.

If your cost of copying and mailing a CD is more than around \$10, you

should perhaps find a cheaper CD stock and shipment method.  It is simply

not in your interest to try to overcharge the community.  Abuse of this

provision in order to make a for-profit enterprise of source code

provision will likely trigger enforcement action.

Second, note that the last line makes the offer valid to anyone who

requests the source.  This is because v2~\S~3(b) requires that offers be

``to give any third party'' a copy of the Corresponding Source.  GPLv3 has

a similar requirement, stating that an offer must be valid for ``anyone

who possesses the object code''.  These requirements indicated in

v2~\S~3(c) and v3~\S~6(c) are so that noncommercial redistributors may

pass these offers along with their distributions.  Therefore, the offers

must be valid not only to your customers, but also to anyone who received

a copy of the binaries from them.  Many distributors overlook this

requirement and assume that they are only required to fulfill a request

from their direct customers.

or related spare part.  Accordingly, you may satisfy your fulfillment

obligations via Internet-only distribution.  This makes the ``offer for

source'' option less troublesome for v3-only distributions, easing

compliance for commercial redistributors.  However, before you switch to a

purely Internet-based fulfillment process, you must first confirm that you

can actually distribute \emph{all} of the software under GPLv3.  Some

programs are indeed licensed under ``GPLv2, \emph{or any later version}''

(often abbreviated ``GPLv2-or-later'').  Such licensing gives you the

option to redistribute under GPLv3.  However, a few popular programs are

only licensed under GPLv2 and not ``or any later version''

(``GPLv2-only'').  You cannot provide only Internet-based source request

fulfillment for the latter programs.

If you determine that all GPL'd works in your whole product allow upgrade

to GPLv3 (or were already GPLv3'd to start), your offer for source may be

as simple as this:

\begin{quote}

The software included in this product contains copyrighted software that

is licensed under the GPLv3\@.  A copy of that license is included in this

document on page $X$\@.  You may obtain the complete Corresponding Source

code from us for a period of three years after our last shipment of this

product and/or spare parts therefor, which will be no earlier than

2011-08-01, on our website at

\end{quote}

\medskip

Under both GPLv2 and GPLv3, source offers must be accompanied by a copy of

the license itself, either electronically or in print, with every

distribution.

Finally, it is unacceptable to use option (b) merely because you do not have

Corresponding Source ready.  We find that some companies choose this option

because writing an offer is easy, but producing a source distribution as

an afterthought to a hasty development process is difficult.  The offer

for source does not exist as a stop-gap solution for companies rushing to

market with an out-of-compliance product.  If you ship an offer for source

with your product but cannot actually deliver \emph{immediately} on that

offer when your customers request it, you should expect an enforcement

action.

\subsection{Option (c): Noncommercial Offers}

As discussed in the last section, GPLv2~\S~3(c) and GPLv3~\S~6(c) apply

only to noncommercial use.  These options are not available to businesses

distributing GPL'd software.  Consequently, companies that redistribute

software packaged for them by an upstream vendor cannot merely pass along

This part is: \\

\begin{tabbing}

Copyright \> \copyright{} 2014 \>  Bradley M. Kuhn. \\

Copyright \= \copyright{} 2014 \= \hspace{.2in} Denver Gingerich \\

Copyright \= \copyright{} 2003, 2004, 2014 \= \hspace{.2in} Free Software Foundation, Inc. \\

\end{tabbing}

\vspace{1in}

\begin{center}

Authors of this part are: \\

Bradley M. Kuhn \\

John Sullivan

\vspace{3in}

Copy editors of this part include: \\

Martin Michlmayr

\vspace{3in}

The copyright holders hereby grant the freedom to copy, modify, convey,

Adapt, and/or redistribute this work under the terms of the Creative Commons

Attribution Share Alike 4.0 International License.  A copy of that license is

\end{center}

}

% =====================================================================

% START OF SECOND DAY SEMINAR SECTION

% =====================================================================

\chapter*{Preface}

This one-day course presents the details of five different GPL

compliance cases handled by FSF's GPL Compliance Laboratory. Each case

offers unique insights into problems that can arise when the terms of

the GPL are not properly followed, and how diplomatic negotiation between

the violator and the copyright holder can yield positive results for

both parties.

Attendees should have successfully completely the course, a ``Detailed

Study and Analysis of the GPL and LGPL,'' as the material from that

course forms the building blocks for this material.

This course is of most interest to lawyers who have clients or

employers that deal with Free Software on a regular basis. However,

technical managers and executives whose businesses use or distribute

Free Software will also find the course very helpful.