Changeset - cea2bde2d55a
[Not reviewed]
0 1 0
Bradley Kuhn (bkuhn) - 10 years ago 2014-03-21 16:53:48
bkuhn@ebb.org
Finish section.
1 file changed with 15 insertions and 10 deletions:
0 comments (0 inline, 0 general)
gpl-lgpl.tex
Show inline comments
...
 
@@ -3208,140 +3208,145 @@ pathological case\footnote{Theoretically, a user could collect copyright
 
%% Under subsections 7a and 7b, the requirements may include preservation of
 
%% copyright notices, information about the origins of the code or alterations
 
%% of the code, and different warranty disclaimers. Under subsection 7c, the
 
%% requirements may include limitations on the use of names of contributors and
 
%% on the use of trademarks for publicity purposes. In general, we permit these
 
%% requirements in added terms because many free software licenses include them
 
%% and we consider them to be unobjectionable. Because we support trademark fair
 
%% use, the limitations on the use of trademarks may seek to enforce only what
 
%% is required by trademark law, and may not prohibit what would constitute fair
 
%% use.
 

	
 
% FIXME-LATER:  Say removing additional restrictions
 

	
 
% FIXME-LATER: This text may be useful later:
 

	
 
%% Some have questioned whether section 7 is needed, and some have suggested
 
%% that it creates complexity that did not previously exist.  We point out to
 
%% those readers that there is already GPLv2-licensed code that carries
 
%% additional terms.  One of the objectives of section 7 is to rationalize
 
%% existing practices of program authors and modifiers by setting clear
 
%% guidelines regarding the removal and addition of such terms.  With its
 
%% carefully limited list of allowed additional requirements, section 7
 
%% accomplishes additional objectives, permitting the expansion of the base of
 
%% code available for GPL developers, while also encouraging useful
 
%% experimentation with requirements we do not include in the GPL itself.
 

	
 
\section{GPLv3~\S8: A Lighter Termination}
 

	
 
GPLv2 provided for automatic termination of the rights of a person who
 
copied, modified, sublicensed, or distributed a work in violation of the
 
license.  Automatic termination can be too harsh for those who have committed
 
an inadvertent violation, particularly in cases involving distribution of
 
large collections of software having numerous copyright holders.  A violator
 
who resumes compliance with GPLv2 technically needs to obtain forgiveness
 
from all copyright holders, and even contacting them all might be impossible.
 

	
 
GPLv3~\S8 replaces now grants opportunities for provisional and permanent
 
reinstatement of rights. The termination procedure provides a limited
 
opportunity to cure license violations.  If a licensee has committed a
 
first-time violation of the GPL with respect to a given copyright holder, but
 
the licensee cures the violation within 30 days following receipt of notice
 
of the violation, then any of the licensee's GPL rights that have been
 
terminated by the copyright holder are ``automatically reinstated''.
 

	
 

	
 
Finally, if a licensee violates the GPL, a contributor may terminate any
 
patent licenses that it granted under GPLv3~\S11, in addition to any
 
copyright permissions the contributor granted to the licensee.
 

	
 
% FIXME-LATER: write more here, perhaps linking up to enforcement
 

	
 

	
 
\section{GPLv3~\S9: Acceptance}
 

	
 
GPLv3~\S9 means what it says: mere receipt or execution of code neither
 
requires nor signifies contractual acceptance under the GPL.  Speaking more
 
broadly, GPLv3 is intentionally structured our license as a unilateral grant
 
of copyright permissions, the basic operation of which exists outside of any
 
law of contract.  Whether and when a contractual relationship is formed
 
between licensor and licensee under local law do not necessarily matter to
 
the working of the license.
 

	
 
\section{GPLv3~\S10: Explicit Downstream License}
 

	
 
% FIXME-LATER: this is a punt: need more time to write!
 

	
 
GPLv3~\S10 ensures that everyone downstream receives licenses from all
 
copyright holders.  It really is a generally straightforward section.
 

	
 
% FIXME-LATER: link up this paragraph to above sections.
 

	
 
GPLv3 removed the words ``at no charge'' from GPLv2~\S2(b) (in GPLv3,~\S5(b))
 
because it contributed to a misconception that the GPL did not permit
 
charging for distribution of copies.  The purpose of the ``at no charge''
 
wording was to prevent attempts to collect royalties from third parties.  The
 
removal of these words created the danger that the imposition of licensing
 
fees would no longer be seen as a license violation.  Therefore, GPLv3~\S10
 
adds a new explicit prohibition on imposition of licensing fees or royalties.
 
This section is an appropriate place for such a clause, since it is a
 
specific consequence of the general requirement that no further restrictions
 
be imposed on downstream recipients of GPL-covered code.
 
Note, however, GPLv3 removed the words ``at no charge'' from GPLv2~\S2(b) (in
 
GPLv3,~\S5(b)) because it contributed to a misconception that the GPL did not
 
permit charging for distribution of copies.  The purpose of the ``at no
 
charge'' wording was to prevent attempts to collect royalties from third
 
parties.  The removal of these words created the danger that the imposition
 
of licensing fees would no longer be seen as a license violation.  Therefore,
 
GPLv3~\S10 adds a new explicit prohibition on imposition of licensing fees or
 
royalties.  This section is an appropriate place for such a clause, since it
 
is a specific consequence of the general requirement that no further
 
restrictions be imposed on downstream recipients of GPL-covered code.
 

	
 
Careful readers of the GPL have suggested that its explicit prohibition
 
against imposition of further restrictions\footnote{GPLv2, section 6; Draft
 
  3, section 10, third paragraph.} has, or ought to have, implications for
 
those who assert patents against other licensees.  Draft 2 took some steps to
 
clarify this point in a manner not specific to patents, by describing the
 
imposition of ``a license fee, royalty, or other charge'' for exercising GPL
 
rights as one example of an impermissible further restriction.  In Draft 3 we
 
have clarified further that the requirement of non-imposition of further
 
restrictions has specific consequences for litigation accusing GPL-covered
 
programs of infringement.  Section 10 now states that ``you may not initiate
 
litigation (including a cross-claim or counterclaim in a lawsuit) alleging
 
that any patent claim is infringed by making, using, selling, offering for
 
sale, or importing the Program (or the contribution of any contributor).''
 
That is to say, a patent holder's licensed permissions to use a work under
 
GPLv3 may be terminated under section 8 if the patent holder files a lawsuit
 
alleging that use of the work, or of any upstream GPLv3-licensed work on
 
which the work is based, infringes a patent.
 

	
 
\section{GPLv3~\S11: Explicit Patent Licensing}
 
\label{GPLv3s11}
 

	
 
% FIXME: These don't belong here, but it's closer to where it ought to be now.
 

	
 
It is important to note that section 11, paragraph 3 refers to a work that is
 
conveyed, and section 10, paragraph 2 refers to a kind of automatic
 
counterpart to conveying achieved as the result of a transaction. 
 

	
 
The patent licensing practices that section 7 of GPLv2 (corresponding to
 
section 12 of GPLv3) was designed to prevent are one of several ways in which
 
software patents threaten to make free programs non-free and to prevent users
 
from exercising their rights under the GPL. GPLv3 takes a more comprehensive
 
approach to combatting the danger of patents.
 

	
 
Software patenting is a harmful and unjust policy, and should be abolished;
 
recent experience makes this all the more evident. Since many countries grant
 
patents that can apply to and prohibit software packages, in various guises
 
and to varying degrees, we seek to protect the users of GPL-covered programs
 
from those patents, while at the same time making it feasible for patent
 
holders to contribute to and distribute GPL-covered programs as long as they
 
do not attack the users of those programs.
 

	
 
It is generally understood that GPLv2 implies some limits on a licensee's
 
power to assert patent claims against the use of GPL-covered works.
 

	
 
Therefore, we have designed GPLv3 to reduce the patent risks that distort and
 
threaten the activities of users who make, run, modify and share free
 
software.  At the same time, we have given due consideration to practical
 
goals such as certainty and administrability for patent holders that
 
participate in distribution and development of GPL-covered software.  Our
 
policy requires each such patent holder to provide appropriate levels of
 
patent assurance to users, according to the nature of the patent holder's
 
relationship to the program.
 

	
 
Draft 3 features several significant changes concerning patents.  We have
 
made improvements to earlier wording, clarified when patent assertion becomes
 
a prohibited restriction on GPL rights, and replaced a distribution-triggered
 
non-assertion covenant with a contribution-based patent license grant. We
 
have also added provisions to block collusion by patent holders with software
 
distributors that would extend patent licenses in a discriminatory way.
 

	
 

	
 
Draft 3 introduces the terms ``contributor'' and ``contribution,'' which are
 
used in the third paragraph of section 10 and the first paragraph of section
0 comments (0 inline, 0 general)