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<h1>GPL Compliance Project for Linux Developers</h1>

<p>The GPL Compliance Project for Linux Developers is comprised of copyright

holders in the kernel, Linux, who have contributed to Linux under its

license, <a href="http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.html">the

GPLv2</a>. These copyright holders have formally asked Conservancy to engage

in compliance efforts for their copyrights in the Linux kernel.</p>

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

compliance efforts on behalf of its BusyBox member project.  In May

2012, <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/news/2012/may/29/compliance/">Conservancy

announced a coordinated compliance effort</a> on behalf of its BusyBox and

Samba projects, and also launched this unique project, called the <cite>GPL

Compliance Project for Linux Developers</cite>, which handles compliance and

enforcement activities on behalf of more than a dozen Linux copyright

holders.</p>

<p>Conservancy's GPL Compliance Project is run in a collaborative manner with

the project developers.  All copyright holders involved have the opportunity

to give input and guidance on Conservancy's strategy in dealing with

compliance issues.  Thus, all Conservancy's compliance matter have full

support of relevant copyright holders.</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 also sponsors

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

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

  collaboration with the Free Software Foundation (FSF),

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

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

  copyleft and compliance with copyleft licenses,

  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="https://sfconservancy.org/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

  Linux, or

  any <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/members/current/">Conservancy member

  project</a> (and 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>Finally, Conservancy welcomes <a href="#donate-box"

  class="donate-now">donations</a> in support of the GPL Compliance Project

  for Linux Developers.  Just use the <a href="#donate-box"

  class="donate-now">PayPal link on this page or any of our other donation

  methods listed</a>.  Be sure to mention &ldquo;GPL Compliance Project for

  Linux Developers” in the memo line or description field of the

  donation.</p>

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