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Integrate pasted & commented out text for GPLv3§7.

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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.
This commit is contained in:
Bradley M. Kuhn 2014-11-13 10:28:38 -05:00
parent fd69b39c38
commit 345da0fc2e
2 changed files with 63 additions and 62 deletions
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1
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,

122
gpl-lgpl.tex
View file

@ -3492,77 +3492,77 @@ pathological case\footnote{Theoretically, a user could collect copyright
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
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*]
% FIXME-URGENT: integrate
\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.
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.
\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.
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.
\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.
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.
\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}.
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.
\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.
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.
\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}.
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
\end{enumerate}
%% 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.
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.
% 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.
% FIXME-URGENT: integrate
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
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}