Adding Terms to the GPL. Arne, P. H. MMM Tech Law & Business Report, 2014.
abstract   bibtex   
[Excerpt] Many of us are called to review our clients' use of open source software. Frequently, we are given a report with the name of the software and the name of the license to that software, with nothing else. One can then look up the open source license, often from a neutral source such as The Open Source Initiative's website, where the text of many open source software licenses can be found. [] This process of reviewing open source licenses is only accurate if the license agreement that is actually being used to license the open source software matches the text of the open source licenses on these third party sites. Unfortunately, the terms of the actual license to the software in question can be different from the '' form'' open source license. [] This article explores some of the software packages that utilize the GNU General Public License ( '' GPL'') but have added additional terms. A selection of those software packages and their additional license terms is set forth in Attachment A to this article. This article also explores the rationale for adding additional license terms to the GPL. [Added Terms and the GPL] Historically, the Free Software Foundation ( '' FSF''), the creators and strongest proponents of the GPL, has generally espoused a desire not to have its licenses modified. At the very beginning of these licenses, there is a copyright notice followed immediately by some variation of the following: '' Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this license document, but changing it is not allowed.'' The FSF also has been very hesitant to allow translations of its licenses. [] It became clear, however, that certain modifications to the GPL made sense in certain situations. One of the early modifications was to the license for the GNU Bison parser. Because the use of Bison had the effect of incorporating some of the elements of Bison into the resulting outputs (in the case of Bison, the outputs are themselves software), the outputs became derivative works of Bison itself. Unless relief from the '' copyleft'' terms of the GPL was available, the only software with which one would be willing to use Bison would be software that is licensed under the GPL. Such a limit would reduce the usefulness of Bison itself and also would help prevent Bison from being a standard or '' parcer of choice.'' [] Accordingly, the FSF allowed for the following special exception: [::] As a special exception, you may create a larger work that contains part or all of the Bison parser skeleton and distribute that work under terms of your choice, so long as that work isn't itself a parser generator using the skeleton or a modified version thereof as a parser skeleton. Alternatively, if you modify or redistribute the parser skeleton itself, you may (at your option) remove this special exception, which will cause the skeleton and the resulting Bison output files to be licensed under the GNU General Public License without this special exception. [] By the time version 3 of the GPL (GPLv3) was promulgated, the FSF incorporated terms into version 3 of its licenses that expressly contemplated changes to the license terms. Not all changes are acceptable, however. GPLv3 contemplates three different types of modifications to the terms of the GPL: '' additional permissions,'' '' supplemental terms,'' and '' further restrictions.'' [] Additional permissions are covered in Section 7 of GPLv3 and are defined as '' terms that supplement the terms of this License by making exceptions from one or more of its conditions.'' The GPLv3 allows the author of the work to add additional permissions to that part of the work contributed by that author. GPLv3 also allows a recipient of software that is licensed under GPLv3 with additional permissions to remove those additional permissions for subsequent distribution of the work. [] GPLv3 also allows the author to add – only for the materials that such author actually contributes to a work – certain supplemental terms, as follows: [::a)] Disclaiming warranty or limiting liability differently from the corresponding terms of GPLv3; or [::b)] Requiring preservation of specified reasonable legal notices or author attributions in that material or in the Appropriate Legal Notices displayed by works containing it; or [::c)] Prohibiting misrepresentation of the origin of that material, or requiring that modified versions of such material be marked in reasonable ways as different from the original version; or [::d)] Limiting the use for publicity purposes of names of licensors or authors of the material; or [::e)] Declining to grant rights under trademark law for use of some trade names, trademarks, or service marks; or [::f)] Requiring indemnification of licensors and authors of that material by anyone who conveys the material (or modified versions of it) with contractual assumptions of liability to the recipient, for any liability that these contractual assumptions directly impose on those licensors and authors. [] All added terms other than additional permissions or the above-enumerated supplemental terms are treated as '' further restrictions.'' GPLv3 grants licensees the rights to ignore and remove '' further restrictions.'' Further, in Sections 8 and 10 of GPLv3, preclude the use of further restrictions as a condition of subsequent licensing and distribution. Section 8 also provides that an attempt to distribute any software subject to GPLv3 except as allowed under GPLv3 results in an automatic termination of all rights under the license. [Why Add Terms?] There are a number of different situations where adding additional permissions and supplemental terms to the GPL may make sense for software licensed under the GPL ( '' GPL Software''). Below are a few examples. [::] When the use of the GPL Software results in expressive elements of the GPL Software itself begin present in the output. Examples include software used in the development of software itself, including compliers, parsers, etc. [::] When the author of the GPL Software wants to enable its use with libraries not licensed under the GPL. Because the linking of libraries with GPL Software runs the risk of having the library being treated as a derivative work of the GPL Software, or the combination being treated as a single work for copyright purposes, there is a risk that using a non-GPL-licensed library with GPL Software will result in the non-GPL-licensed software to be required to be licensed under the GPL. This situation is sufficiently common that the Frequently Asked Questions about the GNU Licenses ( '' GNU FAQ'') contains an example of license language that can be used for this purpose.9 [::] When attribution is desired. It is possible to require some form of attribution by adding supplemental terms. [::] When GPL disclaimers are considered insufficient. Some software providers feel the need to add, or substitute, their own disclaimers of warranty, limitations of consequential damages, or limitations of liability. [] [...]
@article{arneAddingTermsGPL2014,
  title = {Adding Terms to the {{GPL}}},
  author = {Arne, Paul H.},
  year = {2014},
  pages = {7921+},
  abstract = {[Excerpt]

Many of us are called to review our clients' use of open source software. Frequently, we are given a report with the name of the software and the name of the license to that software, with nothing else. One can then look up the open source license, often from a neutral source such as The Open Source Initiative's website, where the text of many open source software licenses can be found.

[] This process of reviewing open source licenses is only accurate if the license agreement that is actually being used to license the open source software matches the text of the open source licenses on these third party sites. Unfortunately, the terms of the actual license to the software in question can be different from the '' form'' open source license.

[] This article explores some of the software packages that utilize the GNU General Public License ( '' GPL'') but have added additional terms. A selection of those software packages and their additional license terms is set forth in Attachment A to this article. This article also explores the rationale for adding additional license terms to the GPL.

[Added Terms and the GPL]

Historically, the Free Software Foundation ( '' FSF''), the creators and strongest proponents of the GPL, has generally espoused a desire not to have its licenses modified. At the very beginning of these licenses, there is a copyright notice followed immediately by some variation of the following: '' Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this license document, but changing it is not allowed.'' The FSF also has been very hesitant to allow translations of its licenses.

[] It became clear, however, that certain modifications to the GPL made sense in certain situations. One of the early modifications was to the license for the GNU Bison parser. Because the use of Bison had the effect of incorporating some of the elements of Bison into the resulting outputs (in the case of Bison, the outputs are themselves software), the outputs became derivative works of Bison itself. Unless relief from the '' copyleft'' terms of the GPL was available, the only software with which one would be willing to use Bison would be software that is licensed under the GPL. Such a limit would reduce the usefulness of Bison itself and also would help prevent Bison from being a standard or '' parcer of choice.''

[] Accordingly, the FSF allowed for the following special exception:

[::] As a special exception, you may create a larger work that contains part or all of the Bison parser skeleton and distribute that work under terms of your choice, so long as that work isn't itself a parser generator using the skeleton or a modified version thereof as a parser skeleton. Alternatively, if you modify or redistribute the parser skeleton itself, you may (at your option) remove this special exception, which will cause the skeleton and the resulting Bison output files to be licensed under the GNU General Public License without this special exception.

[] By the time version 3 of the GPL (GPLv3) was promulgated, the FSF incorporated terms into version 3 of its licenses that expressly contemplated changes to the license terms. Not all changes are acceptable, however. GPLv3 contemplates three different types of modifications to the terms of the GPL: '' additional permissions,'' '' supplemental terms,'' and '' further restrictions.''

[] Additional permissions are covered in Section 7 of GPLv3 and are defined as '' terms that supplement the terms of this License by making exceptions from one or more of its conditions.'' The GPLv3 allows the author of the work to add additional permissions to that part of the work contributed by that author. GPLv3 also allows a recipient of software that is licensed under GPLv3 with additional permissions to remove those additional permissions for subsequent distribution of the work.

[] GPLv3 also allows the author to add -- only for the materials that such author actually contributes to a work -- certain supplemental terms, as follows:

[::a)] Disclaiming warranty or limiting liability differently from the corresponding terms of GPLv3; or

[::b)] Requiring preservation of specified reasonable legal notices or author attributions in that material or in the Appropriate Legal Notices displayed by works containing it; or

[::c)] Prohibiting misrepresentation of the origin of that material, or requiring that modified versions of such material be marked in reasonable ways as different from the original version; or

[::d)] Limiting the use for publicity purposes of names of licensors or authors of the material; or

[::e)] Declining to grant rights under trademark law for use of some trade names, trademarks, or service marks; or

[::f)] Requiring indemnification of licensors and authors of that material by anyone who conveys the material (or modified versions of it) with contractual assumptions of liability to the recipient, for any liability that these contractual assumptions directly impose on those licensors and authors.

[] All added terms other than additional permissions or the above-enumerated supplemental terms are treated as '' further restrictions.'' GPLv3 grants licensees the rights to ignore and remove '' further restrictions.'' Further, in Sections 8 and 10 of GPLv3, preclude the use of further restrictions as a condition of subsequent licensing and distribution. Section 8 also provides that an attempt to distribute any software subject to GPLv3 except as allowed under GPLv3 results in an automatic termination of all rights under the license.

[Why Add Terms?] There are a number of different situations where adding additional permissions and supplemental terms to the GPL may make sense for software licensed under the GPL ( '' GPL Software''). Below are a few examples.

[::] When the use of the GPL Software results in expressive elements of the GPL Software itself begin present in the output. Examples include software used in the development of software itself, including compliers, parsers, etc.

[::] When the author of the GPL Software wants to enable its use with libraries not licensed under the GPL. Because the linking of libraries with GPL Software runs the risk of having the library being treated as a derivative work of the GPL Software, or the combination being treated as a single work for copyright purposes, there is a risk that using a non-GPL-licensed library with GPL Software will result in the non-GPL-licensed software to be required to be licensed under the GPL. This situation is sufficiently common that the Frequently Asked Questions about the GNU Licenses ( '' GNU FAQ'') contains an example of license language that can be used for this purpose.9

[::] When attribution is desired. It is possible to require some form of attribution by adding supplemental terms.

[::] When GPL disclaimers are considered insufficient. Some software providers feel the need to add, or substitute, their own disclaimers of warranty, limitations of consequential damages, or limitations of liability.

[] [...]},
  journal = {MMM Tech Law \& Business Report},
  keywords = {*imported-from-citeulike-INRMM,~INRMM-MiD:c-13927636,~to-add-stable-URL,copyleft,free-scientific-software,free-software,gplv3,gplv3orlater,license-gnu-gpl},
  lccn = {INRMM-MiD:c-13927636}
}

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