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My understanding of the case as a legal noob: 1) The defendant was not willing to redistribute the source-code it and hence they were sued for violation of GPL

My understanding of the case as a legal noob: 1) The defendant was not willing to redistribute the source-code it and hence they were sued for violation of GPL from the owner of the software under copyright law. 2) French court did not recognize the validity of software licenses to be enforced under French copyright law. Does that mean GPL and all similar free licenses that rely on copyright law cannot be enforced in similar jurisdictions? Does anyone have a list of countries/jurisdictions where a similar ruling is likely to happen? What alternatives exist for free software in those countries?

bluGill 5y ago
> Does that mean GPL and all similar free licenses that rely on copyright law cannot be enforced in similar jurisdictions You missed one important point 3) The French court said take this is for the contracts courts, take it to them - something that hasn't happened yet. The contract courts have not ruled (this hasn't even been brought to them from what I can tell) on this case at all, but probably would find in favor of the GPL. The GPL probably can be enforced in France, but it is a contract violation not a copyright violation which apparently the FSF doesn't like. (I'm not clear on why - possibly because the court award would be much less)
- lukeschlather 5y ago
  The FSF is not mentioned in this article, nor are they the author of the article. I was surprised when the author wrote "Remember that it’s all about money!" because that is never what the FSF says - in fact the FSF whenever they sue they always say "We don't care about money, we want you to comply with the terms of the GPL."
  - bluGill 5y ago
    Good point. Though the courts might disagree and decide it is about money anyway. I have no idea how France will handle this - nor any of the other countries in the world.
dathinab 5y ago
> validity of software licenses to be enforced under French copyright law. Neither does the US (as far as I know) What happens in the us is that a termination clause in the GPL contract leads to a termination of the contract and only then you can sue for copyright violations. So my guess is that the difference of law or the interpretation/application of it lies in how/when the termination applies. > cannot be enforced in similar jurisdictions They still can be enforced it's just based on a different legal basis, which in general is much less costly for the offender and might lead to less "damage payment" for the offended.

bluGill 5y ago

> Does that mean GPL and all similar free licenses that rely on copyright law cannot be enforced in similar jurisdictions You missed one important point 3) The French court said take this is for the contracts courts, take it to them - something that hasn't happened yet. The contract courts have not ruled (this hasn't even been brought to them from what I can tell) on this case at all, but probably would find in favor of the GPL. The GPL probably can be enforced in France, but it is a contract violation not a copyright violation which apparently the FSF doesn't like. (I'm not clear on why - possibly because the court award would be much less)

lukeschlather 5y ago
The FSF is not mentioned in this article, nor are they the author of the article. I was surprised when the author wrote "Remember that it’s all about money!" because that is never what the FSF says - in fact the FSF whenever they sue they always say "We don't care about money, we want you to comply with the terms of the GPL."
- bluGill 5y ago
  Good point. Though the courts might disagree and decide it is about money anyway. I have no idea how France will handle this - nor any of the other countries in the world.

dathinab 5y ago

> validity of software licenses to be enforced under French copyright law. Neither does the US (as far as I know) What happens in the us is that a termination clause in the GPL contract leads to a termination of the contract and only then you can sue for copyright violations. So my guess is that the difference of law or the interpretation/application of it lies in how/when the termination applies. > cannot be enforced in similar jurisdictions They still can be enforced it's just based on a different legal basis, which in general is much less costly for the offender and might lead to less "damage payment" for the offended.