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Bradley Kuhn (bkuhn) - 10 years ago 2014-03-16 20:21:17
bkuhn@ebb.org
Introductory discussion of GPLv2 for this section that introduces it.
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% compliance-guide.tex                            -*- LaTeX -*-
 

	
 
\part{A Practical Guide to GPL Compliance}
 

	
 
\label{gpl-compliance-guide}
 
\begin{center}
 

	
 
{\parindent 0in
 
This part is: \\
 
\begin{tabbing}
 
Copyright \= \copyright{} 2014 \= \hspace{.2in} Bradley M. Kuhn. \\
 
Copyright \= \copyright{} 2008 \= \hspace{.2in} Software Freedom Law Center. \\
 
\end{tabbing}
 

	
 
\vspace{1in}
 

	
 
Authors of this part are: \\
 

	
 
Bradley M. Kuhn \\
 
Aaron Williamson \\
 
Karen M. Sandler \\
 

	
 
\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
 
\verb=https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode=.  }
 

	
 
\end{center}
 

	
 
\bigskip
 

	
 
\chapter*{Executive Summary}
 

	
 
This is a guide to effective compliance with the GNU General Public
 
License (GPL) and related licenses. In accordance with the Software
 
Freedom Law Center's (SFLC's) philosophy of assisting the community with
 
GPL compliance cooperatively, this guide focuses on avoiding compliance
 
actions and minimizing the negative impact when enforcement actions occur.
 
It 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 Stallman 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.}  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 community of
 
Free/Libre and Open Source Software (FOSS) developers.  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 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
 
approach and launched \verb0gpl-violations.org0, a website and mailing
 
list for collecting reports of GPL violations.  On the basis of these
 
reports, Welte successfully pursued many enforcements in Europe, including
 
formal legal action.
 

	
 
In 2007, the SFLC filed the first U.S.~copyright infringement lawsuit
 
based on a violation of the GPL\@. While the lawsuits filed by SFLC on
 
behalf of its clients have been quite public, SFLC resolves the vast
 
majority of enforcement actions privately via
 
cooperative communications with violators.  As we have worked to bring
 
individual companies into compliance, we 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.  In this document, we highlight these problems and describe
 
best practices to encourage corporate users of FOSS to reevaluate their
 
approach to GPL'd software and avoid future violations.
 

	
 
SFLC continues to conduct GPL enforcement and compliance efforts for many
 
of its clients who release their software under the GPL, the GNU Lesser
 
Public License (LGPL) and other copyleft licenses.  In doing so, we have
 
found that most violations stem from a few common mistakes that can be,
 
for the most part, easily avoided.  We hope to educate the community of
 
commercial distributors, redistributors, and resellers on how to avoid
 
violations in the first place, and to respond adequately and appropriately
 
when a violation occurs.
 

	
 
\chapter{Best Practices to Avoid Common Violations}
 
\label{best-practices}
 

	
 
Unlike highly permissive FOSS licenses (such as the ISC license), which
 
typically only require preservation of copyright notices, the GPL places a
 
number of important requirements upon licensees.  These requirements are
 
carefully designed to uphold certain values and standards of the software
 
freedom community.  While the GPL's requirements may appear initially
 
counter-intuitive to those more familiar with proprietary software
 
licenses, by comparison its terms are in fact clear and favorable to
 
licensees.  The terms of the GPL actually simplify compliance when
 
violations occur.
 

	
 
GPL violations are often caused or compounded by a failure to adopt sound
 
practices for the incorporation of GPL'd components into a company's
 
internal development environment.  In this section, we introduce some best
 
practices for software tool selection, integration and distribution,
 
inspired by and congruent with FOSS methodologies.  We suggest companies
 
establish such practices before building a product based on GPL'd
 
software.\footnote{This document addresses compliance with GPLv2,
 
  GPLv3, LGPLv2, and LGPLv3.  Advice on avoiding the most common
 
  errors differs little for compliance with these four licenses.
 
  \S~\ref{lgpl} discusses the key differences between GPL and LGPL
 
  compliance.}
 

	
 
\section{Evaluate License Applicability}
 
\label{derivative-works}
 
Political discussion about the GPL often centers around the ``copyleft''
 
requirements of the license.  Indeed, the license was designed primarily
 
to embody this licensing feature.  Most companies adding non-trivial
 
features (beyond mere porting and bug-fixing) to GPL'd software, and
 
thereby implicating these requirements, are already well aware of their
 
more complex obligations under the license.\footnote{There has been much legal
 
  discussion regarding copyleft and derivative works.  In practical
 
  reality, this issue is not relevant to the vast majority of companies
 
  distributing GPL'd software.}
 

	
 
However, in our experience with GPL enforcement, few redistributors'
 
compliance challenges relate directly to the copyleft provisions; this is
 
doubly true for most embedders.  Instead, the distributions of GPL'd
 
systems that we encounter typically consist of a full operating system
 
including components under the GPL (e.g., Linux, BusyBox) and components
 
under the LGPL (e.g., the GNU C Library).  Sometimes, these programs have
 
been patched or slightly improved by direct modification of their sources,
 
resulting unequivocally in a derivative work.  Alongside these programs,
 
companies often distribute fully independent, proprietary programs,
 
developed from scratch, which are designed to run on the FOSS operating
 
system but do not combine with, link to, modify, or otherwise derive from
 
the GPL'd components.\footnote{However, these programs do often combine
 
  with LGPL'd libraries. This is discussed in detail in \S~\ref{lgpl}.}
 
In the latter case, where the work is unquestionably a separate work of
 
creative expression, no derivative work has been created.  The tiny
 
minority of situations which lie outside these two categories, and thus
 
involve close questions about derivative works, require a highly
 
fact-dependent analysis and cannot be addressed in a general-purpose
 
document.
 

	
 
Most companies accused of violations, however, lack a basic understanding
 
of how to comply even in the straightforward scenario.  This document
 
provides that fundamental and generally applicable prerequisite knowledge.
 
For answers to rarer and more complicated legal questions, such as whether
 
your software is a derivative work of some copylefted software, consult
 
with an attorney.\footnote{If you would like more information on the
 
  application of derivative works doctrine to software, a detailed legal
 
  discussion is presented in our colleague Dan Ravicher's article,
 
  \textit{Software Derivative Work: A Circuit Dependent Determination}.}
 

	
 
For this discussion, we will assume that you have already identified the
 
``work'' covered by the license, and that any components not under the GPL
 
(e.g., applications written entirely by your developers that merely happen
 
to run on a Linux-based operating system) distributed in conjunction with
 
those works are separate works within the meaning of copyright law.  In
 
such a case, the GPL requires you to provide complete and corresponding
 
source for the GPL'd components and your modifications thereto, but not
 
for independent proprietary applications.  The procedures described in
 
this document address this typical scenario.
 

	
 
\section{Monitor Software Acquisition}
 

	
 
Software engineers should have the freedom to innovate and import useful
 
software components to improve your product.  However, along with that
 
freedom should come rules and reporting procedures to make sure that you
 
are aware of what software is being tested or included with your product.
 

	
 
The companies we contact about GPL violations often respond with: ``We
 
didn't know there was GPL'd stuff in there''.  This answer indicates a
 
failure in the software acquisition and procurement process.  Integration
 
of third-party proprietary software typically requires a formal
 
arrangement and management/legal oversight before the developers
 
incorporate the software.  By contrast, your developers often obtain and
 
integrate FOSS without intervention. The ease of acquisition, however,
 
does not mean the oversight is any less necessary.  Just as your legal
 
and/or management team negotiates terms for inclusion of any proprietary
 
software, they should be involved in all decisions to bring FOSS into your
 
product.
 

	
 
Simple, engineering-oriented rules help provide a stable foundation for
 
FOSS integration.  Ask your software developers to send an email to a
 
standard place describing each new FOSS component they add to the system,
 
and have them include a brief description of how they will incorporate it
 
into the product.  Make sure they use a revision control system, and have
gpl-lgpl.tex
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...
 
@@ -610,384 +610,415 @@ commercial developers of the software themselves.
 
No party is a threat to another in the GPL software scenario because
 
everyone is on equal ground.  The GPL protects rights of the commercial
 
and noncommercial contributors and users equally. The GPL creates trust,
 
because it is a level playing field for all.
 

	
 
\subsection{Law Analogy}
 

	
 
In his introduction to Stallman's \emph{Free Software, Free Society},
 
Lawrence Lessig draws an interesting analogy between the law and Free
 
Software. He argues that the laws of a free society must be protected
 
much like the GPL protects software.  So that I might do true justice to
 
Lessig's argument, I quote it verbatim:
 

	
 
\begin{quotation}
 

	
 
A ``free society'' is regulated by law. But there are limits that any free
 
society places on this regulation through law: No society that kept its
 
laws secret could ever be called free.  No government that hid its
 
regulations from the regulated could ever stand in our tradition. Law
 
controls.  But it does so justly only when visibly.  And law is visible
 
only when its terms are knowable and controllable by those it regulates,
 
or by the agents of those it regulates (lawyers, legislatures).
 

	
 
This condition on law extends beyond the work of a legislature.  Think
 
about the practice of law in American courts.  Lawyers are hired by their
 
clients to advance their clients' interests.  Sometimes that interest is
 
advanced through litigation. In the course of this litigation, lawyers
 
write briefs. These briefs in turn affect opinions written by judges.
 
These opinions decide who wins a particular case, or whether a certain law
 
can stand consistently with a constitution.
 

	
 
All the material in this process is free in the sense that Stallman means.
 
Legal briefs are open and free for others to use.  The arguments are
 
transparent (which is different from saying they are good), and the
 
reasoning can be taken without the permission of the original lawyers.
 
The opinions they produce can be quoted in later briefs.  They can be
 
copied and integrated into another brief or opinion.  The ``source code''
 
for American law is by design, and by principle, open and free for anyone
 
to take. And take lawyers do---for it is a measure of a great brief that
 
it achieves its creativity through the reuse of what happened before.  The
 
source is free; creativity and an economy is built upon it.
 

	
 
This economy of free code (and here I mean free legal code) doesn't starve
 
lawyers.  Law firms have enough incentive to produce great briefs even
 
though the stuff they build can be taken and copied by anyone else.  The
 
lawyer is a craftsman; his or her product is public.  Yet the crafting is
 
not charity. Lawyers get paid; the public doesn't demand such work
 
without price.  Instead this economy flourishes, with later work added to
 
the earlier.
 

	
 
We could imagine a legal practice that was different --- briefs and
 
arguments that were kept secret; rulings that announced a result but not
 
the reasoning. Laws that were kept by the police but published to no one
 
else. Regulation that operated without explaining its rule.
 

	
 
We could imagine this society, but we could not imagine calling it
 
``free.''  Whether or not the incentives in such a society would be better
 
or more efficiently allocated, such a society could not be known as free.
 
The ideals of freedom, of life within a free society, demand more than
 
efficient application.  Instead, openness and transparency are the
 
constraints within which a legal system gets built, not options to be
 
added if convenient to the leaders.  Life governed by software code should
 
be no less.
 

	
 
Code writing is not litigation.  It is better, richer, more
 
productive.  But the law is an obvious instance of how creativity and
 
incentives do not depend upon perfect control over the products
 
created.  Like jazz, or novels, or architecture, the law gets built
 
upon the work that went before. This adding and changing is what
 
creativity always is.  And a free society is one that assures that its
 
most important resources remain free in just this sense.\footnote{This
 
quotation is Copyright \copyright{} 2002, Lawrence Lessig. It is
 
licensed under the terms of
 
\href{http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/1.0/}{the ``Attribution
 
License'' version 1.0} or any later version as published by Creative
 
Commons.}
 
\end{quotation}
 

	
 
In essence, lawyers are paid to service the shared commons of legal
 
infrastructure.  Few citizens defend themselves in court or write their
 
own briefs (even though they are legally permitted to do so) because
 
everyone would prefer to have an expert do that job.
 

	
 
The Free Software economy is a market ripe for experts.  It
 
functions similarly to other well established professional fields like the
 
law. The GPL, in turn, serves as the legal scaffolding that permits the
 
creation of this vibrant commercial and noncommercial Free Software
 
economy.
 

	
 
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
 
\chapter{A Tale of Two Copyleft Licenses}
 

	
 
While determining the proper methodology and criteria to yield an accurate
 
count remains difficult, the GPL is generally considered one of the most
 
widely used Free Software licenses.  For most of its history --- for 16 years
 
from June 1991 to June 2007 --- there was really only one version of the GPL,
 
version 2.
 

	
 
However, the GPL had both earlier versions before version 2, and, more well
 
known, a revision to version 3. 
 

	
 
\section{Historical Motivations for the General Public License}
 

	
 
The earliest license to grant software freedom was likely the Berkeley
 
Software Distribution (``BSD'') license.  This license is typical of what are
 
often called lax, highly permissive licenses.  Not unlike software in the
 
public domain, these non-copyleft licenses (usually) grant software freedom
 
to users, but they do not go to any effort to uphold that software freedom
 
for users.  The so-called ``downstream'' (those who receive the software and
 
then build new things based on that software) can restrict the software and
 
distribute further.
 

	
 
The GNU's Not Unix (``GNU'') project, which Richard M.~Stallman (``RMS'')
 
founded in 1984 to make a complete Unix-compatible operating system
 
implementation that assured software freedom for all.  However, RMS saw that
 
using a license that gave but did not assure software freedom would be
 
counter to the goals of the GNU project.  RMS invented ``copyleft'' as an
 
answer to that problem, and began using various copyleft licenses for the
 
early GNU project programs\footnote{RMS writes more fully about this topic in
 
  his essay entitled simply
 
  \href{http://www.gnu.org/gnu/thegnuproject.html}{\textit{The GNU Project}}.
 
    For those who want to hear the story in his own voice,
 
    \href{http://audio-video.gnu.org/audio/}{speech recordings} of his talk,
 
    \textit{The Free Software Movement and the GNU/Linux Operating System}
 
    are also widely available}.
 

	
 
\section{Proto-GPLs And Their Impact}
 

	
 
The earliest copyleft licenses were specific to various GNU programs.  For
 
example, \href{http://www.free-soft.org/gpl_history/emacs_gpl.html}{The Emacs
 
  General Public License} was likely the first copyleft license ever
 
published.  Interesting to note that even this earliest copyleft license
 
contains a version of the well-known GPL copyleft clause:
 

	
 
\begin{quotation}
 
You may modify your copy or copies of GNU Emacs \ldots provided that you also
 
\ldots cause the whole of any work that you distribute or publish, that in
 
whole or in part contains or is a derivative of GNU Emacs or any part
 
thereof, to be licensed at no charge to all third parties on terms identical
 
to those contained in this License Agreement.
 
\end{quotation}
 

	
 
This simply stated clause is the fundamental innovation of copyleft.
 
Specifically, copyleft \textit{uses} the copyright holders' controls on
 
permission to modify the work to add a conditional requirement.  Namely,
 
downstream users may only have permission to modify  the work if they pass
 
along the same permissions on the modified version that came originally to
 
them.
 

	
 
These original program-specific proto-GPLs give an interesting window into
 
the central ideas and development of copyleft.  In particular, reviewing them
 
shows how the text of the GPL we know has evolved to address more of the
 
issues discussed earlier in \S~\ref{software-and-non-copyright}.
 

	
 
\section{The GNU General Public License, Version 1}
 

	
 
In January 1989, the FSF announced that the GPL had been converted into a
 
``subroutine'' that could be reused not just for all FSF-copyrighted
 
programs, but also by anyone else.  As the FSF claimed in its announcement of
 
the GPLv1\footnote{The announcement of GPLv1 was published in the
 
  \href{http://www.gnu.org/bulletins/bull6.html\#SEC8}{GNU'S Bulletin, vol 1,
 
    number 6 dated January 1989}.  (Thanks very much to Andy Tai for his
 
  \href{http://www.free-soft.org/gpl_history/}{consolidation of research on
 
    the history of the pre-v1 GPL's}.)}:
 
\begin{quotation}
 
To make it easier to copyleft programs, we have been improving on the
 
legalbol architecture of the General Public License to produce a new version
 
that serves as a general-purpose subroutine: it can apply to any program
 
without modification, no matter who is publishing it.
 
\end{quotation}
 

	
 
This, like many inventive ideas, seems somewhat obvious in retrospect.  But,
 
the FSF had some bright people and access to good lawyers when it started.
 
It took almost five years from the first copyleft licenses to get to a
 
generalized, reusable GPLv1.  In the context and mindset of the 1980s, this
 
is not surprising.  The idea of reusable licensing infrastructure was not
 
only uncommon, it was virtually nonexistent!  Even the early BSD licenses
 
were simply copied and rewritten slightly for each new use\footnote{It
 
  remains an interesting accident of history that the early BSD problematic
 
  ``advertising clause'' (discussion of which is somewhat beyond the scope of
 
  this tutorial) lives on into current day, simply because while the
 
  University of California at Berkeley gave unilateral permission to remove
 
  the clause from \textit{its} copyrighted works, others who adapted the BSD
 
  license with their own names in place of UC-Berkeley's never have.}.  The
 
GPLv1's innovation of reuable licensing infrastructure, an obvious fact
 
today, was indeed a novel invention for its day\footnote{We're all just
 
  grateful that the FSF also opposes business method patents, since the FSF's
 
  patent on a ``method for reusable licensing infrastructure'' would have
 
  not expired until 2006!}.
 

	
 
\section{The GNU General Public License, Version 2}
 

	
 
The GPLv2 was released two and a half years after GPLv1, and over the
 
following sixteen years, it became the standard for copyleft licensing until
 
the release of GPLv3 in 2007 (discussed in more detail in the next section).
 

	
 
While this tutorial does not discuss the terms of GPLv1 in detail, it is
 
worth noting below the three key changes that GPLv2 brought:
 

	
 
\begin{itemize}
 

	
 
\item Software patents and their danger are explicitly mentioned, inspiring
 
  (in part) the addition of GPLv2\S\S5--7.  (These sections are discussed in
 
  detail in \S~\ref{GPLv2s5}, \S~\ref{GPLv2s6} and \S~\ref{GPLv2s7} of this
 
  tutorial.)
 

	
 
\item GPLv2\S2's copyleft terms are expanded to more explicitly discuss the
 
  issue of combined works.  (GPLv2\S2 is discussed in detail in
 
  \S~\ref{GPLv2s2} in this tutorial).
 

	
 
\item GPLv2\S3 includes more detailed requirements, including the phrase
 
 ``the scripts used to control compilation and installation of the
 
  executable'', which is a central component of current GPLv2 enforcement
 
  .  (GPLv2\S3 is discussed in detail in
 
  \S~\ref{GPLv2s3} in this tutorial).
 
\end{itemize}
 

	
 
The next chapter discusses GPLv2 in full detail, and readers who wish to dive
 
into the section-by-section discussion of the GPL should jump ahead now to
 
that chapter.  However, the most interesting fact to note here is how GPLv2
 
was published with little fanfare and limited commentary.  This contrasts
 
greatly with the creation of GPLv3.
 

	
 
\section{The GNU General Public License, Version 3}
 

	
 
\section{The Innovation of Optional ``Or Any Later'' Version}
 

	
 
\section{Complexities of Two Simultaneously Popular Copylefts}
 

	
 
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
 
\chapter{GPLv2: Running Software and Verbatim Copying}
 
\label{run-and-verbatim}
 

	
 

	
 
This chapter begins the deep discussion of the details of the terms of
 
GPLv2\@. In this chapter, we consider the first two sections: GPLv2 \S\S
 
0--2. These are the straightforward sections of the GPL that define the
 
simplest rights that the user receives.
 

	
 
\section{GPLv2 \S 0: Freedom to Run}
 
\label{GPLs0}
 

	
 
\S 0, the opening section of GPLv2, sets forth that the work is governed by
 
copyright law. It specifically points out that it is the ``copyright
 
holder'' who decides if a work is licensed under its terms and explains
 
how the copyright holder might indicate this fact.
 

	
 
A bit more subtly, \S 0 makes an inference that copyright law is the only
 
system under which it is governed. Specifically, it states:
 
\begin{quote}
 
Activities other than copying, distribution and modification are not
 
covered by this License; they are outside its scope.
 
\end{quote}
 
In essence, the license governs \emph{only} those activities, and all other
 
activities are unrestricted, provided that no other agreements trump GPLv2
 
(which they cannot; see Sections~\ref{GPLs6} and~\ref{GPLs7}). This is
 
very important, because the Free Software community heavily supports
 
users' rights to ``fair use'' and ``unregulated use'' of copyrighted
 
material. GPLv2 asserts through this clause that it supports users' rights
 
to fair and unregulated uses.
 

	
 
Fair use of copyrighted material is an established legal doctrine that
 
permits certain activities. Discussion of the various types of fair
 
use activity are beyond the scope of this tutorial. However, one
 
important example of fair use is the right to quote a very few lines
 
(less than seven or so) and reuse them as you would with or without
 
licensing restrictions.
 

	
 
Fair use is a doctrine established by the courts or by statute. By
 
contrast, unregulated uses are those that are not covered by the statue
 
nor determined by a court to be covered, but are common and enjoyed by
 
many users. An example of unregulated use is reading a printout of the
 
program's source code like an instruction book for the purpose of learning
 
how to be a better programmer.
 

	
 
\medskip
 

	
 
Thus, the GPLv2 protects users fair and unregulated use rights precisely by
 
not attempting to cover them. Furthermore, the GPLv2 ensures the freedom
 
to run specifically by stating the following:
 
\begin{quote}
 
''The act of running the Program is not restricted.''
 
\end{quote}
 
Thus, users are explicitly given the freedom to run by \S 0.
 

	
 
\medskip
 

	
 
The bulk of \S 0 not yet discussed gives definitions for other terms used
 
throughout. The only one worth discussing in detail is ``work based on
 
the Program.''  The reason this definition is particularly interesting is
 
not for the definition itself, which is rather straightforward, but
 
because it clears up a common misconception about the GPL\@.
 

	
 
The GPL is often mistakenly criticized because it fails to give a
 
definition of ``derivative work.''  In fact, it would be incorrect and
 
problematic if the GPL attempted to define this. A copyright license, in
 
fact, has no control over what may or may not be a derivative work. This
 
matter is left up to copyright law, not the licenses that utilize it.
 

	
 
It is certainly true that copyright law as a whole does not propose clear
 
and straightforward guidelines for what is and is not a derivative
 
software work under copyright law. However, no copyright license --- not
 
even the GNU GPL --- can be blamed for this. Legislators and court
 
opinions must give us guidance to decide the border cases.
 

	
 
\section{GPLv2 \S 1: Verbatim Copying}
 
\label{GPLs1}
 

	
 
GPLv2 \S 1 covers the matter of redistributing the source code of a program
 
exactly as it was received. This section is quite straightforward.
 
However, there are a few details worth noting here.
 

	
 
The phrase ``in any medium'' is important. This, for example, gives the
 
freedom to publish a book that is the printed copy of the program's source
 
code. It also allows for changes in the medium of distribution. Some
 
vendors may ship Free Software on a CD, but others may place it right on
 
the hard drive of a pre-installed computer. Any such redistribution media
 
is allowed.
 

	
 
Preservation of copyright notice and license notifications are mentioned
 
specifically in \S 1. These are in some ways the most important part of
 
the redistribution, which is why they are mentioned by name. The GPL
 
always strives to make it abundantly clear to anyone who receives the
 
software what its license is. The goal is to make sure users know their
 
rights and freedoms under GPL, and to leave no reason that someone would be
 
surprised the software she got was licensed under GPL\@. Thus
 
throughout the GPL, there are specific references to the importance of
 
notifying others down the distribution chain that they have rights under
 
GPL.
 

	
 
Also mentioned by name is the warranty disclaimer. Most people today do
 
not believe that software comes with any warranty. Notwithstanding the
 
proposed state-level UCITA bills (which have never obtained widespread
 
adoption), there are few or no implied warranties with software.
 
However, just to be on the safe side, GPL clearly disclaims them, and the
 
GPL requires redistributors to keep the disclaimer very visible. (See
 
Sections~\ref{GPLs11} and~\ref{GPLs12} of this tutorial for more on GPL's
 
warranty disclaimers.)
 

	
 
Note finally that \S 1 begins to set forth the important defense of
 
commercial freedom. \S 1 clearly states that in the case of verbatim
 
copies, one may make money. Redistributors are fully permitted to charge
 
for the redistribution of copies of Free Software. In addition, they may
 
provide the warranty protection that the GPL disclaims as an additional
 
service for a fee. (See Section~\ref{Business Models} for more discussion
 
on making a profit from Free Software redistribution.)
 

	
 
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
 

	
 
\chapter{Derivative Works: Statute and Case Law}
 

	
 
We digress for this chapter from our discussion of GPL's exact text to
 
consider the matter of derivative works --- a concept that we must
 
understand fully before considering \S\S 2--3 of GPLv2\@. GPL, and Free
 
Software licensing in general, relies critically on the concept of
 
``derivative work'' since software that is ``independent,'' (i.e., not
 
``derivative'') of Free Software need not abide by the terms of the
 
applicable Free Software license. As much is required by \S 106 of the
 
Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. \S 106 (2002), and admitted by Free Software
 
licenses, such as the GPL, which (as we have seen) states in \S 0 that ``a
 
`work based on the Program' means either the Program or any derivative
 
work under copyright law.'' It is being a derivative work of Free Software
 
that triggers the necessity to comply with the terms of the Free Software
 
license under which the original work is distributed. Therefore, one is
 
left to ask, just what is a ``derivative work''? The answer to that
 
question differs depending on which court is being asked.
 

	
 
The analysis in this chapter sets forth the differing definitions of
 
derivative work by the circuit courts. The broadest and most
 
established definition of derivative work for software is the
 
abstraction, filtration, and comparison test (``the AFC test'') as
 
created and developed by the Second Circuit. Some circuits, including
 
the Ninth Circuit and the First Circuit, have either adopted narrower
 
versions of the AFC test or have expressly rejected the AFC test in
 
favor of a narrower standard. Further, several other circuits have yet
 
to adopt any definition of derivative work for software.
 

	
 
As an introductory matter, it is important to note that literal copying of
 
a significant portion of source code is not always sufficient to establish
 
that a second work is a derivative work of an original
 
program. Conversely, a second work can be a derivative work of an original
 
program even though absolutely no copying of the literal source code of
 
the original program has been made. This is the case because copyright
 
protection does not always extend to all portions of a program's code,
 
while, at the same time, it can extend beyond the literal code of a
 
program to its non-literal aspects, such as its architecture, structure,
 
sequence, organization, operational modules, and computer-user interface.
 

	
 
\section{The Copyright Act}
 

	
 
The copyright act is of little, if any, help in determining the definition
 
of a derivative work of software. However, the applicable provisions do
 
provide some, albeit quite cursory, guidance. Section 101 of the Copyright
 
Act sets forth the following definitions:
 

	
 
\begin{quotation}
 
A ``computer program'' is a set of statements or instructions to be used
 
directly or indirectly in a computer in order to bring about a certain
 
result.
 

	
 
A ``derivative work'' is a work based upon one or more preexisting works,
 
such as a translation, musical arrangement, dramatization,
 
fictionalization, motion picture version, sound recording, art
 
reproduction, abridgment, condensation, or any other form in which a work
 
may be recast, transformed, or adapted. A work consisting of editorial
 
revisions, annotations, elaborations, or other modifications which, as a
 
whole, represent an original work of authorship, is a ``derivative work.''
 
\end{quotation}
 

	
 
These are the only provisions in the Copyright Act relevant to the
 
determination of what constitutes a derivative work of a computer
 
program. Another provision of the Copyright Act that is also relevant to
 
the definition of derivative work is \S 102(b), which reads as follows:
 

	
 
\begin{quotation}
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