From 77579a83f43d033fa2b9e062b1b13f37e8ae41b0 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: "Bradley M. Kuhn" Date: Thu, 20 Mar 2014 08:17:19 -0400 Subject: [PATCH] Integrate case law reference on conspicuousness into this existing text. Include my lawyer-bashing-ish little anecdote too, just for fun. --- gpl-lgpl.tex | 24 ++++++++++++++++-------- 1 file changed, 16 insertions(+), 8 deletions(-) diff --git a/gpl-lgpl.tex b/gpl-lgpl.tex index ec46940..2201df4 100644 --- a/gpl-lgpl.tex +++ b/gpl-lgpl.tex @@ -2149,14 +2149,22 @@ There is apparently general acceptance that \textsc{all caps} is the preferred way to make something conspicuous, and that has over decades worked its way into the voodoo tradition of warranty disclaimer writing. -% FIXME: Admittedly, goes here ? - -There is authority under United States law suggesting that effective warranty -disclaimers must be ``conspicuous,'' and that conspicuousness can be -established by capitalization and is absent when a disclaimer has the same -typeface as the terms surrounding it (see \textit{Stevenson v.~TRW, Inc.}, -987 F.2d 288, 296 (5th Cir.~1993)). We have reason to doubt that such -authority would apply to copyright licenses like the GPL. +That said, there is admittedly some authority under USA law suggesting that +effective warranty disclaimers that conspicuousness can be established by +capitalization and is absent when a disclaimer has the same typeface as the +terms surrounding it (see \textit{Stevenson v.~TRW, Inc.}, 987 F.2d 288, 296 +(5th Cir.~1993)). While GPLv3's drafters doubted that such authority would +apply to copyright licenses like the GPL, the FSF has nevertheless left +warranty and related disclaimers in \textsc{all caps} throughout all versions +of GPL\@\footnote{\textsc{One of the authors of this tutorial, Bradley + M.~Kuhn, has often suggested that as compromise, use of a specifically + designed ``small caps'' font, such as the one used herein, is + aesthetically preferable to merely} WRITING IN ALL CAPS IN THE DEFAULT + FONT (LIKE THIS), WHICH SEEMS TO ADD UGLINESS RATHER THAN + CONSPICUOUSNESS\@. Indeed, Kuhn once got into a reversion war in a + document with a lawyer who disagreed with this, but the lawyer in question + ignored Kuhn's requests to produce any case law that argued THIS IS MORE + CONSPICUOUS \textit{Than this is}.}. Some have argued the GPL is unenforceable in some jurisdictions because its disclaimer of warranties is impermissibly broad. However, GPLv2~\S11