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<p>Free and open source software is

        everywhere and in everything; yet our software freedom is constantly

        eroded.  With the help of its volunteers, <a href="/members/current/">member projects</a>, and <a href="/about/staff/">staff</a>,

  Conservancy stands up for users' software freedom via its copyleft compliance work.</p>

<p>Conservancy engages in copyleft compliance work in two different ways: by acting directly

on behalf of <a href="/projects/">Conservancy's Member Projects</a> who request

Free and Open Source License compliance efforts, and for

specific, targeted member projects for communities of developers.</p>

<p>Conservancy's Copyleft Compliance Projects are run in a collaborative manner with

  support of relevant copyright holders.</p>

<p>In addition to taking feedback internally from those who participate as

  part of the coalitions described below, Conservancy also welcomes feedback

  and discussion with the general public about our copyleft compliance

  efforts.  This discussion happens on

  Conservancy's <a href="https://lists.sfconservancy.org/mailman/listinfo/principles-discuss">principles-discuss</a>

  mailing list, which is named

  for <a href="/copyleft-compliance/principles.html">Principles of

  Community-Oriented GPL Enforcement</a> which Conservancy follows in all our

  copyleft compliance.</p>

<p>Historically, Conservancy was well-known for its ongoing license

compliance efforts on behalf of its BusyBox member project.  Today, Conservancy

does semi-regular compliance work for its BusyBox, Evergreen, Git, Inkscape, Mercurial,

Samba, Sugar Labs, QEMU and Wine member projects.  If you are a copyright holder

in any member project of Conservancy, please contact the project's leadership committtee,

via <a href="mailto:PROJECTNAME@sfconservancy.org">&lt;PROJECTNAME@sfconservancy.org&gt;</a>

for more information on getting involved in compliance efforts in that project.

</p>

<h2 id="linux">GPL Compliance Project For Linux Developers</h2>

<h2 id="debian">The Debian Copyright Aggregation Project</h2>

<p>In August 2015, <a href="/news/2015/aug/17/debian/">Conservancy announced the Debian Copyright Aggregation

Project</a>.  This project allows Debian contributors to assign copyrights to

Conservancy, or sign enforcement agreements allowing Conservancy to enforce

Free and Open Source (FOSS) licenses on their behalf.  Many Debian contributors

have chosen each of these options already, and more continue to join.</p>

<p>Debian contributors who wish to assign copyright to or sign an enforcement agreement with

Conservancy should contact <a href="mailto:debian-services@sfconservancy.org">&lt;debian-services@sfconservancy.org&gt;</a>.</p>

<p>Conservancy is dedicated to encouraging all users of software to comply

  with Free Software licenses. Toward this goal, in its compliance efforts,

  Conservancy helps distributors of Free Software in a friendly spirit of

  cooperation and participation.  In this spirit, Conservancy has co-published,

  with the Free Software Foundation (FSF), <a href="/copyleft-compliance/principles.html">the principles that both organizations

  follow in their compliance efforts</a>.

  Also in collaboration with the FSF, Conservancy also sponsors

  the <a href="https://copyleft.org/guide/"><cite>Copyleft and the GNU

  General Public License:A Comprehensive Tutorial and Guide</cite></a>,

  which <a href="/news/2014/nov/07/copyleft-org/">formally

  launched in fall 2014</a>.  The Guide includes tutorial materials about

  including <a href="https://copyleft.org/guide/comprehensive-gpl-guidepa2.html"><cite>A

  Practical Guide to GPL Compliance</cite></a>.  The materials

  on <a href="https://copyleft.org/">copyleft.org</a> have been developed and

  improved since 2002, and are themselves copylefted, and developed

  collaboratively in public.</p>

<p>However, the Guide is admittedly a large document, so for those who are

  interested in a short summary of describing how Conservancy handles GPL

  enforcement and compliance

  work, <a href="/blog/2012/feb/01/gpl-enforcement/">this

  blog post outlining the compliance process</a> is likely the best source.</p>

<p>If you are aware of a license violation or compliance issue regarding

  Debian, Linux, or

  any <a href="/members/current/">Conservancy member

  project</a> (&mdash; in particular BusyBox, Evergreen, Inkscape, Mercurial,

  Samba, Sugar Labs, or Wine),

  please <a href="mailto:compliance@sfconservancy.org">contact us by email at

    &lt;compliance@sfconservancy.org&gt;</a>.</p>

<p>If you think you've found a GPL violation, we encourage you to

   read <a href="http://ebb.org/bkuhn/blog/2009/11/08/gpl-enforcement.html">this

   personal blog post by our Distinguished Technologist, Bradley M. Kuhn</a>,

   about good practices in discovering and reporting GPL violations.  (We'd

   also like someone to convert the text of that blog post into a patch for

   <a href="http://compliance.guide">The Compliance Guide on

   copyleft.org</a>; submit it

   via <a href="https://k.copyleft.org/guide/">k.copyleft.org</a>.)</p>

<p>Finally, Conservancy welcomes <a href="#donate-box"

  class="donate-now">donations</a> in support of our GPL Compliance Projects,

  and we encourage you to become a <a href="/supporter/">an official

  Supporter of Software Freedom Conservancy</a>. </p>

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