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a license is a contract. from legalzoom: When you own a copyrighted work, such as a book, article, play, or song, you have the right to decide if and how anyo

a license is a contract. from legalzoom: When you own a copyrighted work, such as a book, article, play, or song, you have the right to decide if and how anyone else can use it. Giving permission to do so is called granting a license, which is a written contract giving the user authorization to use the work, usually in exchange for payment. A copyright license agreement outlines the entire licensing contract made between the copyright owner and the licensee. also in some other comments here I think the wording is a little sloppy. The GPL license (like all licenses) grants you the right to have the copy of the work you have only if you accept the license terms. So if you don't accept the terms of the GPL, then you must delete the copy you have, before any of the other stuff about compilation, modifications, sharing, etc. even kicks in. If you ever violate the terms of the license, that erases your rights to everything that came before and you are operating without a license.

Defletter 3y ago
> This portion of the site (its articles) is for informational purposes only. The content is not legal advice. The statements and opinions are the expression of the author, not LegalZoom, and have not been evaluated by LegalZoom for accuracy, completeness, or changes in law. Since there's no citations to statutes or case law which state that copyright licences are contracts, this source, which you didn't link either, is not reliable.
frognumber 3y ago
Legalzoom is wrong (or to be more precise, probably intentionally oversimplifying to the point of being irrelevant here). A more nuanced take: https://lwn.net/Articles/747563/ https://lwn.net/Articles/747563/ This is a discussion between three lawyers specializing in the field, from three jurisdictions (US and UK, both of which are common law, as well as parts of the EU which are under statutory law).
- xcdzvyn 3y ago
  > In the US, at least for the frequently-used free software licenses, acceptance is by conduct. The license is irrevocable once even partial performance has occurred. Third-party rights depend on the wording. Orders for specific performance are rarely granted but are theoretically possible. You won't get legal costs awarded, and exclusion of liability is likely to be valid. > In the UK, where many free-software licenses are probably just bare licenses, no acceptance is required for a defense against an infringement claim. The license is revocable by the licensor until the licensee has relied on it. No third-party rights exist. Orders for specific performance are not available. The award of legal costs is discretionary but may happen, and liability exclusion is generally enforceable. > In the EU acceptance can be by any means, including conduct. The license is probably irrevocable. Third-party rights do exist, and specific performance is available. Nothing was said about legal costs, and liability exclusion is possible but is subject to the the requirements of proportionality and consumer protection. I don't think it's unreasonable to boil this down to a "yes". Particularly given (1) LegalZoom is presumably American, where, in isolation, the answer is likely "yes"; (2) if licenses are considered contracts in any region in which you do business, you should probably consider them contracts, just to be safe.
  - olddustytrail 3y ago
    Where are you quoting from, because it's not that lwn article. Not least because that article is careful to specify "England and Wales" not the UK.
    - xcdzvyn 3y ago
      Did you actually confirm what you wrote before writing it? Because every word of what I quoted is in that article.
      - olddustytrail 3y ago
        Yes, I did. None of it is. And your version doesn't make sense for the reason I just described. What exactly are you quoting?
        xcdzvyn 3y ago
        Ha! Your first one was pretty good. You entertain me.
  - pessimizer 3y ago
    I don't know how you got "yes" from a quote that didn't contain the word "contract."

Defletter 3y ago

> This portion of the site (its articles) is for informational purposes only. The content is not legal advice. The statements and opinions are the expression of the author, not LegalZoom, and have not been evaluated by LegalZoom for accuracy, completeness, or changes in law. Since there's no citations to statutes or case law which state that copyright licences are contracts, this source, which you didn't link either, is not reliable.

frognumber 3y ago

Legalzoom is wrong (or to be more precise, probably intentionally oversimplifying to the point of being irrelevant here). A more nuanced take: https://lwn.net/Articles/747563/ https://lwn.net/Articles/747563/ This is a discussion between three lawyers specializing in the field, from three jurisdictions (US and UK, both of which are common law, as well as parts of the EU which are under statutory law).

xcdzvyn 3y ago
> In the US, at least for the frequently-used free software licenses, acceptance is by conduct. The license is irrevocable once even partial performance has occurred. Third-party rights depend on the wording. Orders for specific performance are rarely granted but are theoretically possible. You won't get legal costs awarded, and exclusion of liability is likely to be valid. > In the UK, where many free-software licenses are probably just bare licenses, no acceptance is required for a defense against an infringement claim. The license is revocable by the licensor until the licensee has relied on it. No third-party rights exist. Orders for specific performance are not available. The award of legal costs is discretionary but may happen, and liability exclusion is generally enforceable. > In the EU acceptance can be by any means, including conduct. The license is probably irrevocable. Third-party rights do exist, and specific performance is available. Nothing was said about legal costs, and liability exclusion is possible but is subject to the the requirements of proportionality and consumer protection. I don't think it's unreasonable to boil this down to a "yes". Particularly given (1) LegalZoom is presumably American, where, in isolation, the answer is likely "yes"; (2) if licenses are considered contracts in any region in which you do business, you should probably consider them contracts, just to be safe.
- olddustytrail 3y ago
  Where are you quoting from, because it's not that lwn article. Not least because that article is careful to specify "England and Wales" not the UK.
  - xcdzvyn 3y ago
    Did you actually confirm what you wrote before writing it? Because every word of what I quoted is in that article.
    - olddustytrail 3y ago
      Yes, I did. None of it is. And your version doesn't make sense for the reason I just described. What exactly are you quoting?
      - xcdzvyn 3y ago
        Ha! Your first one was pretty good. You entertain me.
- pessimizer 3y ago
  I don't know how you got "yes" from a quote that didn't contain the word "contract."