copyleft-guide/GPL-LGPL/gpl-lgpl-overview.txt

               Detailed Study and Analysis of GPL and LGPL

This one-day course gives a section-by-section explanation of the most
popular Free Software copyright license, the GNU General Public License
(GNU GPL), and teaches lawyers, software developers, managers and business
people how to use the GPL (and GPL'ed software) successfully in a new Free
Software business and in existing, successful enterprises.

Prerequisites:

     Attendees should have a general familiarity with software development
     processes.  A basic understanding of how copyright law typically
     applies to software is also helpful.

Audience:

     The course is of most interest to lawyers, software developers and
     managers who run (or have clients who run) software businesses that
     modify and/or redistribute software under terms of the GNU GPL or
     LGPL, or who wish to make use of existing GPL'd and LGPL'd software
     in their enterprise.

The course will include the topics listed below, along with ample time for
questions and discussions.  Lunch is included, with a lunch speaker to be
announced.

  * Free Software Principles and the Free Software Definition

    The ethical principles that motivated the creation of these licenses
    are presented.  Unlike licenses that seek to lock up software in a
    proprietary fashion, the GPL and LGPL are designed to grant freedom to
    innovate, learn and improve.  Those principles influence licensing
    policy decisions.  We present the specific definition of the concept
    of "Free Software" (software whose license grants freedoms to copy,
    share, modify and redistribute the software either gratis or for a
    fee) for-profit companies.

  * Preamble of the GNU General Public License (GPL)

    The preamble presents the intent of the license.  The preamble puts
    forth the motivations for the detailed terms and conditions that
    follow in the license.  We discuss the language of the preamble in
    detail to show how it frames the legal details that follow.

  * GPL, Section 0: Definitions, etc.

    GPL's section 0 defines and presents the terms that make the basis of
    this copyright license.  We discuss those definitions and the
    copyright scope of the license.

  * GPL, Section 1: Grant for Verbatim Source Copying

    Section 1 defines the terms for making source-only copies of software
    programs.  We discuss how those rules work and the requirements and
    obligations for distributors of GPL'd source, whether they choose to
    distribute at no charge or for fees.

  * Derivative Works: Statute and Case Law

    Free Software licensing in general, and the GPL and LGPL in
    particular, relies critically on the concept of derivative work since
    software that is independent (i.e., not derivative) of Free Software
    need not abide by any of the terms of the applicable Free Software
    license. If a work is a derivative work of Free Software, then the
    terms of the license are triggered, and one has obligations to comply
    with the terms of the Free Software license under which the original
    work is distributed.  Therefore, one is left to ask, just what is a
    "derivative work?"  We will show how the answer to that question
    depends on which court is being asked.  We also present the best
    background information available to build a working understanding of
    what is generally considered a derivate work in the rapidly changing
    field of software copyright law.

  * GPL, Section 2: Grants for Source Derivative Works

    Section 2 sets forth the rules for creation of derivative works of
    GPL'd software.  We discuss the intent of this section of GPL and how
    it relates to the copyright situation discussed in our discussion of
    derivative works.  We also explain the details of preparing derivative
    source in a GPL-compliant way.

  * GPL, Section 3: Grants for Creating Binary Derivative Works

    Source-only distribution works well for technically savvy clients and
    users, but most want runnable binary programs as well.  Section 3
    gives permission for the creation and distribution of such binary
    works.  We explain how GPL's requirement for corresponding source code
    operate, and detail what distribution options are available to
    distributors of binary GPL'd software.  We explore the benefits and
    downsides of each of those options.

  * The Implied Patent Grant in GPL

    Patent rights are most often granted expressly, through detailed
    language in a license.  However, express patent grants are not the
    exclusive way rights in patents are granted by patentees.  Even
    without express language, patent rights can be granted by a patentee's
    actions or behavior.  The GPL contains no express patent grant.  Does
    that mean it grants less rights in the licensor's patents than other
    licenses which do?  Or, does the GPL, in its silence, actually result
    in a grant of patent rights to the licensee greater than occurs
    through many other Free Software and "Open Source" licenses?

    We will consider these questions and provide detailed answers to them.

  * GPL, Section 4: Termination of License

    Section 4 terminates rights under GPL for those who violate it.  We
    discuss how such termination works, what it means for violators, what
    risks one takes in violating, and how rights are typically restored.
    We briefly mention how Section 4 is used as the central tool in GPL
    enforcement.

  * GPL, Section 5: Acceptance of License

    GPL is not a contract, so acceptance of the license works differently
    than it does for contracts.  We discuss how this acceptance works
    under the copyright rules that govern GPL.

  * GPL, Section 6: Prohibition on Further Restrictions

    Other licensing terms cannot be placed on GPL'd software that would
    trump the rights granted under GPL.  We discuss how Section 6 is used
    to ensure that no such additional restrictions occur.  We briefly
    discuss how this leads to the concept of GPL-incompatible Free
    Software licenses.

  * GPL, Section 7: Conflicts with other Agreements or Orders

    Just as additional licensing restrictions cannot trump GPL, outside
    agreements, patent licenses or court orders cannot do so either.  We
    discuss how Section 7 ensures that other rules outside of the direct
    software license cannot take rights away from users, distributors, and
    modifiers of GPL'd software.

  * GPL, Section 8: International Licensing Issues

    Section 8 is rarely used part of the GPL that helps copyright holders
    when certain technologies are prohibited from full international
    distribution due to draconian rules elsewhere in the world.  We
    explain how Section 8 helps such copyright holders.

  * GPL, Section 9: FSF as GPL's Stewards

    We discuss how the update process and release of new GPL versions
    happens.

  * GPL, Section 10: Copyright Holder's Exceptions to GPL

    Section 10 reminds licensees that under copyright law, other
    relicensing arrangements can be made.  We discuss how this can often
    be used as a business model and we explicate that model's benefits and
    downsides.

  * GPL, Section 11: Disclaimer of Warranties
    GPL, Section 12: Limitation of Liability

    Almost all software licenses, including Free Software licenses such as
    the GPL, contain sections, typically in all caps, regarding warranties
    and liability.  The purposes of these sections are lost on most
    non-lawyers, but attorneys understand the importance their language
    provides to both the licensor and the licensee.  Some have argued that
    the GPL's Sections 11 and 12 render it entirely unenforceable.  We
    consider whether that is true, and present the likely interpretation
    and implementation of the GPL's Warranty Disclaimer and Liability
    Limitation provisions.

  * Lesser General Public License (LGPL)

    The LGPL is a "scaled back" version of GPL, designed specifically to
    allow creation of a very well-defined class of proprietary derivative
    works.  However, it does prohibit turning the LGPL'd software itself
    directly into proprietary software.

    We discuss the basic design of LGPL and how it compares and contrasts
    with GPL.  We introduce the two classes of derivative works covered
    by LGPL -- "works that use the library" and "works based on the
    library" -- and give some concrete examples of what proprietary
    derivative works are prohibited and permitted when basing the
    software on an LGPL'd work.