What does it mean when a company violates the GPL?
The companies we contact about GPL violations often respond with: “We didn’t know there was GPL’d stuff in there”. This answer indicates a failure in the software acquisition and procurement process.
Who is the Executive Director of the GPL?
Our Executive Director, Karen Sandler, has warned for years about the dangers of lawsuits between two for-profit companies engaged in a legal dispute in which the GPL is tangentially featured.
What’s the best way to comply with the GPL?
In accordance with the Software Freedom Law Center’s (SFLC’s) philosophy of assisting the community with GPL compliance cooperatively, this guide focuses on avoiding compliance actions and minimizing the negative impact when enforcement actions occur.
Why are GPL requirements important to Software Freedom?
These requirements are carefully designed to uphold certain values and standards of the software freedom community. While the GPL’s requirements may appear initially counter-intuitive to those more familiar with proprietary software licenses, by comparison its terms are in fact clear and favorable to licensees.
Which is the best tool for GPL compliance?
If you are in that situation, we recommend the Fossology system, which analyzes a source-code base and produces a list of FOSS licenses that may apply to the code. Fossology can help you build a catalog of the sources you have already used to build your product. You can then expand that into a more structured inventory and process.
What are the requirements for a GPL license?
Unlike highly permissive FOSS licenses (such as the ISC license), which typically only require preservation of copyright notices, the GPL places a number of important requirements upon licensees. These requirements are carefully designed to uphold certain values and standards of the software freedom community.