4 ms·

If adobe accidentally publishes the photoshop source code unde GPL and later realizes the mistake and removes it, can it "retract" previously published GPL code

by arein3 2y ago

If adobe accidentally publishes the photoshop source code unde GPL and later realizes the mistake and removes it, can it "retract" previously published GPL code?

Brananarchy 2y ago
IANAL and all that... If it's truly accidental (as in a rogue employee or a script that f'd up), they probably have a legal basis to break the contract/license terms and retract it. Just as stores are not required to honor misprinted price tags. There will likely be a court case if someone believes they legitimately received a GPL-licensed version of the code and wants to use that code in another project (or pass it on to others). Like I said, I think Adobe has a good case to win that here. If it's "accidental", and they're just trying to walk it back, there would definitely be a court case. Whether they'd win or lose would be very up in the air, and probably depend on the jurisdiction's friendliness to businesses.
- MrJohz 2y ago
  And if it was completely deliberate but they simply regretted the decision, then they would not be able to revoke the licenses they'd already given out, i.e. that version would be essentially out in the wild and under GPL forever. But future versions could be closed-source again, assuming Adobe retained all the copyright to their code.
kopecs 2y ago
I don't believe so (although this is probably fact-specific about what "accidentally" means), at least with regards to retracting the licence. The GPL is an irrevocable licence. They could choose not to continue to distribute the code though (but good luck clawing back the GPL licenced copies).
rcxdude 2y ago
Depends exactly on the context of 'accidental'. I suspect such attempts would be based on the idea that it was not authorised properly by the company.
pornel 2y ago
Tangential note: nobody is required to accept the terms GPL, so inclusion of some GPL code doesn't automatically force projects to release their source code. Without accepting the GPL, use of GPL code is generally a copyright violation, but it can be litigated as software piracy, which may have various outcomes based on how serious that is.

by arein3 2y ago

If adobe accidentally publishes the photoshop source code unde GPL and later realizes the mistake and removes it, can it "retract" previously published GPL code?

Brananarchy 2y ago

IANAL and all that... If it's truly accidental (as in a rogue employee or a script that f'd up), they probably have a legal basis to break the contract/license terms and retract it. Just as stores are not required to honor misprinted price tags. There will likely be a court case if someone believes they legitimately received a GPL-licensed version of the code and wants to use that code in another project (or pass it on to others). Like I said, I think Adobe has a good case to win that here. If it's "accidental", and they're just trying to walk it back, there would definitely be a court case. Whether they'd win or lose would be very up in the air, and probably depend on the jurisdiction's friendliness to businesses.

MrJohz 2y ago
And if it was completely deliberate but they simply regretted the decision, then they would not be able to revoke the licenses they'd already given out, i.e. that version would be essentially out in the wild and under GPL forever. But future versions could be closed-source again, assuming Adobe retained all the copyright to their code.

kopecs 2y ago

I don't believe so (although this is probably fact-specific about what "accidentally" means), at least with regards to retracting the licence. The GPL is an irrevocable licence. They could choose not to continue to distribute the code though (but good luck clawing back the GPL licenced copies).

rcxdude 2y ago

Depends exactly on the context of 'accidental'. I suspect such attempts would be based on the idea that it was not authorised properly by the company.

pornel 2y ago

Tangential note: nobody is required to accept the terms GPL, so inclusion of some GPL code doesn't automatically force projects to release their source code. Without accepting the GPL, use of GPL code is generally a copyright violation, but it can be litigated as software piracy, which may have various outcomes based on how serious that is.