GPL violations are typically only escalated when a company ignores the

copyright holder's initial communication or fails to work toward timely

compliance.  Accused violators should respond very promptly to the

initial request.  As the process continues, violators should follow up weekly with the

copyright holders to make sure everyone agrees on targets and deadlines

for resolving the situation.

Ensure that any staff who might receive communications regarding alleged

GPL violations understands how to channel the communication appropriately

within your organization.  Often, initial contact is addressed for general

correspondence (e.g., by mail to corporate headquarters or by e-mail to

general informational or support-related addresses).  Train the staff that

processes such communications to escalate them to someone with authority

to take action.  An unknowledgable response to such an inquiry (e.g., from

a first-level technical support person) can cause negotiations to fail

prematurely.

Answer promptly by multiple means (paper letter, telephone call, and

email), even if your response merely notifies the sender that you are

investigating the situation and will respond by a certain date.  Do not

let the conversation lapse until the situation is fully resolved.

Proactively follow up with synchronous communication means to be sure

communications sent by non-reliable means (such as email) were received.

Remember that the software freedom community generally values open communication and

cooperation, and these values extend to GPL enforcement.  You will

generally find that software freedom developers and their lawyers are willing to

have a reasonable dialogue and will work with you to resolve a violation

once you open the channels of communication in a friendly way.

\section{Termination}

GPLv3~\S~8).  Under v2, violators forfeit their rights to redistribute and

modify the GPL'd software until those rights are explicitly reinstated by

the copyright holder.  In contrast, v3 allows violators to rapidly resolve

some violations without consequence.

If you have redistributed an application under GPLv2\footnote{This applies

  to all programs licensed to you under only GPLv2 (``GPLv2-only'').

  However, most so-called GPLv2 programs are actually distributed with

  permission to redistribute under GPLv2 \emph{or any later version of the

    GPL} (``GPLv2-or-later'').  In the latter cases, the redistributor can

  choose to redistribute under GPLv2, GPLv3, GPLv2-or-later or even

  GPLv3-or-later.  Where the redistributor has chosen v2 explicitly, the

  v2 termination provision will always apply.  If the redistributor has

  chosen v3, the v3 termination provision will always apply.  If the

  redistributor has chosen GPLv2-or-later, then the redistributor may want

  to narrow to GPLv3-only upon violation, to take advantage of the

  termination provisions in v3.}, but have violated the terms of GPLv2,

you must request a reinstatement of rights from the copyright holders

before making further distributions, or else cease distribution and

modification of the software forever.  Different copyright holders

condition reinstatement upon different requirements, and these

requirements can be (and often are) wholly independent of the GPL\@.  The

terms of your reinstatement will depend upon what you negotiate with the

copyright holder of the GPL'd program.

Since your rights under GPLv2 terminate automatically upon your initial

violation, \emph{all your subsequent distributions} are violations and

infringements of copyright.  Therefore, even if you resolve a violation on

your own, you must still seek a reinstatement of rights from the copyright

holders whose licenses you violated, lest you remain liable for

infringement for even compliant distributions made subsequent to the

initial violation.

\item you receive, from a copyright holder, your first-ever contact

  regarding a GPL violation, and you correct that violation within thirty

  days of receipt of copyright holder's notice.

\end{itemize}

In addition to these permanent reinstatements provided under v3, violators

who voluntarily correct their violation also receive provisional

permission to continue distributing until they receive contact from the

copyright holder.  If sixty days pass without contact, that reinstatement

becomes permanent.  Nonetheless, you should be prepared to cease

distribution during those initial sixty days should you receive a

termination notice from the copyright holder.

Given that much discussion of v3 has focused on its so-called more

complicated requirements, it should be noted that v3 is, in this regard,

more favorable to violators than v2.

\chapter{Standard Requests}

As we noted above, different copyright holders have different requirements

for reinstating a violator's distribution rights.  Upon violation, you no

longer have a license under the GPL\@.  Copyright holders can therefore

set their own requirements outside the license before reinstatement of

rights.  We have collected below a list of reinstatement demands that

copyright holders often require.

\begin{itemize}

\item {\bf Compliance on all Free Software copyrights}.  Copyright holders of Free Software

  often want a company to demonstrate compliance for all GPL'd software in

  a distribution, not just their own.  A copyright holder may refuse to

  reinstate your right to distribute one program unless and until you

\item {\bf Notification to past recipients}.  Users to whom you previously

  distributed non-compliant software should receive a communication

  (email, letter, bill insert, etc.) indicating the violation, describing

  distribution.  If a customer list does not exist (such as in reseller

  situations), an alternative form of notice may be required (such as a

  magazine advertisement).

\item {\bf Appointment of a GPL Compliance Officer.}  The software freedom community

  values personal accountability when things go wrong.  Copyright holders

  often require that you name someone within the violating company

  individual serve as the key public contact for the community when

  compliance concerns arise.

\item {\bf Periodic Compliance Reports.}  Many copyright holders wish to

  monitor future compliance for some period of time after the violation.

  For some period, your company may be required to send regular reports on

  how many distributions of binary and source have occurred.

\end{itemize}

These are just a few possible requirements for reinstatement.  In the

context of a GPL violation, and particularly under v2's termination

provision, the copyright holder may have a range of requests in exchange

for reinstatement of rights.  These software developers are talented

professionals from whose work your company has benefited.  Indeed, you are

unlikely to find a better value or more generous license terms for similar

software elsewhere.  Treat the copyright holders with the same respect you

treat your corporate partners and collaborators.

\chapter{Special Topics in Compliance}

There are several other issues that are less common, but also relevant in

a GPL compliance situation.  To those who face them, they tend to be of

particular interest.

\section{LGPL Compliance}

\label{lgpl}

GPL compliance and LGPL compliance mostly involve the same issues.  As we

discussed in \S~\ref{derivative-works}, questions of modified versions of

software are highly fact-dependant and cannot be easily addressed in any

overview document.  The LGPL adds some additional complexity to the

analysis.  Namely, the various LGPL versions permit proprietary licensing