Date: Sat, 14 Aug 1999 14:43:11 -0700 (PDT) From: Kip Macy <kip@lyris.com> To: Jason Thorpe <thorpej@nas.nasa.gov> Cc: Mike Smith <mike@smith.net.au>, James Howard <howardjp@wam.umd.edu>, Terry Lambert <tlambert@primenet.com>, Mark Tinguely <tinguely@plains.NoDak.edu>, Hackers@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: BSD XFS Port & BSD VFS Rewrite Message-ID: <Pine.SOL.4.05.9908141438480.21253-100000@luna> In-Reply-To: <199908141814.LAA03708@lestat.nas.nasa.gov>
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After seeing this discussion go on for just a wee bit too long, I have a couple of questions for the armchair lawyers to answer. Has anyone ever successfully enforced the GPL? (in other words, has anyone ever violated it then been sued over it?) If not, how enforcable is it? From the length of the discussion I get the impression that it would just boil down to who had better the lawyer. Putting my flamesuit on. -Kip On Sat, 14 Aug 1999, Jason Thorpe wrote: > On Sat, 14 Aug 1999 10:38:17 -0700 > Mike Smith <mike@smith.net.au> wrote: > > > > What the GPL does is require that full source for the program be included > > > with the program, and that full source, in my example, would include > > > a BSD-licensed XFS module. > > > > It also requires that the GPL be attached to that additional source > > component. Go back and read section 3 of the GPL again. > > If you're referring to: > > 3. You may copy and distribute the Program (or a work based on it, > under Section 2) in object code or executable form under the terms of > Sections 1 and 2 above provided that you also do one of the following: > > a) Accompany it with the complete corresponding machine-readable > source code, which must be distributed under the terms of Sections > 1 and 2 above on a medium customarily used for software interchange; or, > > ...specifically "under the terms of Sections 1 and 2 above"... > > That certainly applies to "the complete corresponding machine-readable > source code", but I think you'd be hard-pressed to apply it to individual > source modules which themselves carry different license terms. > > Consider the following example... > > Let's say I e-mail you the source module linux/drivers/net/bsd_comp.c, > which carries the following copyright notice and license terms: > > * Copyright (c) 1985, 1986 The Regents of the University of California. > * All rights reserved. > * > * This code is derived from software contributed to Berkeley by > * James A. Woods, derived from original work by Spencer Thomas > * and Joseph Orost. > * > * Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without > * modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions > * are met: > * 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright > * notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer. > * 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright > * notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the > * documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution. > * 3. All advertising materials mentioning features or use of this software > * must display the following acknowledgement: > * This product includes software developed by the University of > * California, Berkeley and its contributors. > * 4. Neither the name of the University nor the names of its contributors > * may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software > * without specific prior written permission. > * > * THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE REGENTS AND CONTRIBUTORS ``AS IS'' AND > * ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE > * IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE > * ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE REGENTS OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE > * FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL > * DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS > * OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) > * HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT > * LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY > * OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF > * SUCH DAMAGE. > > ...and you use that source in a product which is distributed binary-only. > > I think you'd be hard-pressed to find someone to legitimately tell you that > you'd be legally bound by the terms of the GPL by using that source module. > > > We've had this discussion before. > > Well, I think you came to the wrong conclusion :-) 'Course, you shouldn't > take my word for it. I encourage you to speak to an attorney! I certainly > do whenever I have questions regarding software licenses. > > -- Jason R. Thorpe <thorpej@nas.nasa.gov> > > > > To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org > with "unsubscribe freebsd-hackers" in the body of the message > > To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-hackers" in the body of the message
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