Copyleft/guide Changeset - 345da0fc2e6a

Changeset - 345da0fc2e6a

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Bradley Kuhn (bkuhn) - 9 years ago 2014-11-13 15:32:54
bkuhn@ebb.org

Integrate pasted & commented out text for GPLv3§7.

The pasted text, most of which was useful, is now integrated as the
desired laundry-list of GPLv3§7 subsection explanations.

This also allowed for easy integration of some of the older
commented-out text that originally came from GPLv3 rationale documents.

Meanwhile, however, I discovered, upon more careful examination of the
pasted text, a serious and grave error regarding GPLv3§7(d).
Specifically, GPLv3§7(d) makes the modern "third clause" of the 3-Clause
BSD compatible with the GPL, *not* the problematic old-school BSD
advertising clause (from the 4-Clause BSD).

I'm amazed that anyone versed in licensing could make this error,
frankly, and readers should be told, since other materials are now
disseminated by others, that the point is incorrect. Therefore, I've
not only noted the correct compatibility conclusion, but also
affirmatively identified the incorrectness of the wrong conclusion that
was previously added via the pasted text from SFLC's "Guide".

Finally, on a LaTeX formatting note, the enumitem package is now needed
since I'm using that for the list of GPLv3§7 subsections.

2 files changed with 69 insertions and 68 deletions:

comprehensive-gpl-guide.tex

gpl-lgpl.tex

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comprehensive-gpl-guide.tex

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@@ ... / @@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ @@
 \usepackage{hyperref}
 \usepackage{listings}
 \usepackage{enumerate}
 \usepackage{enumitem}
 \usepackage[Conny]{fncychap}
 \usepackage[dvips]{graphicx}
 \usepackage[verbose, twoside, dvips,

gpl-lgpl.tex

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@@ ... @@
   assignment from all known contributors and then do this, but this would
   indeed be the pathological case.}  would a user have the right to do so.
 % FIXME-LATER: It would be good to have detailed info on each of 7a-f.
 %              Here's some commented-out text that might be useful for 7a-b
 % FIXME-URGENT: integrate
 Section 7(a) – Disclaimer of warranty: Copyright holders can disclaim
 warranty or limit liability differently from the terms as provided under \S\S15
 \& 16. Internationalization of GPL required the drafters to permit the
 variation in such terms necessary to deal with the absence of any
 international harmonization of the laws of warranty and disclaimer.
 Section 7(b) – Preservation of appropriate legal notices. Section 7 permits
 additional terms requiring preservation of legal notices, including on output
 from execution of covered works.
 Section 7(c) – This provision allows for prohibition of misrepresentation of
 original material and makes GPLv3 compatible with permissive licenses that
 require modified versions be marked in ``reasonable''ways which are different
 from the precise marking requirements of GPL itself.
 Section 7(d) – Limiting the use of names of licensor for publicity
 purposes. This provision was added to provide compatibility with licenses
 which prohibit the use of the licensor’s name on unmodified versions and
 other prohibitions on advertising rights. The long-standing and occasionally
 troublesome incompatibility with the ``BSD advertising clause'' is an example
 of the friction removed by this provision.
 Section 7(e) – No grant of rights under Trademark Law. This provision serves
 a similar function with respect to ``no trademark grant'' clauses in permissive
 licenses.
 Section 7(f) – allows for requiring of Indemnification of authors and
 licensors, removing one of two primary sources of incompatibility with the
 Apache Software License version 2.0.
 % FIXME-URGENT: end
 In general, the types of additional requirements were those terms in regular
 use by other non-copyleft Free Software licenses that the FSF found
 unobjectionable.  The specific details GPLv3's permitted additional
 requirements hat GPLv3 are as follows:
 \begin{enumerate}[label=7(\alph*):,ref=GPLv3s7\alph*]
 \item This provision allows alternative ``disclaimer of warranty''
   forms. Copyright holders can disclaim warranty or limit liability
   differently from the terms as provided under GPLv3\S~\S15--16.  Drafters
   included this permission to advance the internationalization goals of
   GPLv3; international treaties lack adequate harmonization for laws
   regarding warranty and disclaimer.
 \item This provision allows alternative requirements for preservation of
   appropriate legal notices.  GPLv3 permits additional requirements regarding
   preservation of legal notices, including on output from execution of
   covered works.  Preserved information can include information about the
   origins of the code or alterations of the code.
 \item This provision allows prohibition of misrepresentation of original
   material.  The provision yields compatibility with non-copyleft Free
   Software licenses that require marking of modified versions in
   ``reasonable''ways which differ from GPL's own precise marking
   requirements.
 \item This provision allows limitations on the use of names of licensor for
   publicity purposes.  This provision also yields additional compatibility
   with non-copyleft Free Software licenses that prohibit the use of the
   licensor’s name on unmodified versions (or other prohibitions on
   advertising rights).  The third clause of the
   \href{http://opensource.org/licenses/BSD-3-Clause}{3-Clause BSD
   License}, for example, long considered de-facto compatible with GPLv2
     anyway, is via this clause unequivocally compatible with GPLv3.  However,
     \href{https://www.gnu.org/licenses/license-list.html#OriginalBSD}{this
       clause \textit{does not} make GPL compatible with the old BSD
       advertising clause} that the FSF
     \href{https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/bsd.html}{long ago identified as
       problematic}.
 \item This provision clarifies that refusal to grant trademark rights for a
   GPLv3'd covered work remains compatible with GPLv3.  Again, some
   non-copyleft permissive licenses include such clauses.
 %% 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.
 \item This provision allows indemnification requirements of authors and
   licensors.  The FSF specifically designed this clause to achieve GPLv3
   compatibility for the
   \href{http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0.html}{Apache Software
     License, Version 2.0}.
-% FIXME-URGENT: integrate
+\end{enumerate}
 Any other non-permissive additional terms apart from those stated above are
 considered ``further'' restrictions and are prohibited by \S10. If you add any
 kind of additional terms in accordance with \S7, you must ensure that the
 terms are placed in the relevant source files or provide a conspicuous notice
 about where to find the additional terms.
 % FIXME-URGENT: end
 During the GPLv3 drafting process, some questioned the necessity of GPLv3~\S7;
 those critics suggested that it creates complexity that did not previously
 exist.  However, by the time of GPLv3's drafting, many existing GPLv2'd
 software packages already combined with various non-copylefted Free Software
 licensed code that carried such additional terms.  Therefore, GPLv3~\S7 is
 rationalized existing practices of those package authors and modifiers, since
 it sets clear guidelines regarding the removal and addition of these
 additional terms.  With its carefully limited list of allowed additional
 requirements, GPLv3\S7 accomplishes additional objectives as well, since it
 permits the expansion of the base of code available for GPL developers, while
 also encouraging useful experimentation with requirements the GPLv3 does not
 include by default.
 However, any other non-permissive additional terms apart from those stated
 above are considered ``further'' restrictions which
 \hyperref[GPLv3s10]{GPLv3~\S10} prohibits.  Furthermore, as a compliance
 matter, if you add additional terms in accordance with GPLv3~\S7, you must
 ensure that the terms are placed in the relevant source files or provide a
 conspicuous notice about where to find the additional terms.
 \section{GPLv3~\S8: A Lighter Termination}

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