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Removes propagate/convey terminology.

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Among the more notable changes introduced in GNU GPLv3 is its
replacement of "copy" and "distribute" terminology of GNU GPLv2 with
the exotic defined terms "propagate" and "convey", which make
reference to local copyright law. The use of these terms has been
described as having achieved a greater degree of
"internationalization" of the GNU GPL.

The drafters of GNU GPLv3 assumed there was something sufficiently
problematic about the use in GNU GPLv2 of terms matching those of the
US Copyright Act (copy, distribute, derivative work) that a systematic
approach was taken to avoid reference to such terms. The
propagate/convey scheme was one aspect of this.

This continues to be a worthwhile and interesting experiment. In the
past 5 years of experience of software licensed under GNU GPLv3 the
use of these defined terms has not resulted in any particular problem
or difficulty, nor has it hindered adoption of the license so far as I
can tell.

Nevertheless, for GPL.next I propose that the propagate/convey scheme
be abandoned, because, while harmless and interesting, at the end of
the day it adds a layer of unnecessary marginal interpretive
complexity that appears unjustified by any possible benefit it might
provide.

As a practical matter, it is not really possible to apply "propagate"
and "convey" in typical free software contexts in the way that may
have been envisioned. Since free software development and distribution
involves effectively unquantifiable aggregations of
cross-jurisdictional transfers of software copies, it would seem that
in a typical case it would be quite difficult to pin down which local
law to apply. Of course this "problem", if it is really a problem,
arises under free software licenses using more conventional
terminology too. So nothing is gained by what ultimately appears to be
a superficial attempt to internationalize the terminology (except in a
purely political sense).

Indeed, it is a curious thing that when reasoning about free software
licenses it is practically necessary to hypothesize a harmonized
international system of exclusive copyright rights with equivalent
boundaries. This is so whether one uses an otherwise undefined term
that happens to find some use in one or more English-language local
copyright regimes (e.g. "distribute") or whether one attempts to map
GNU GPLv3 "convey" to some determined local law definition.

A choice of law clause (mainly a contract law concept) is the
traditional way to minimize some of this sort of complexity in other
contexts. The FSF, interestingly, has at times stated the view that
choice of law clauses in free software licenses are GPL-incompatible,
and I consider this to be GNU GPL interpretive orthodoxy. I believe
the historical concern (perhaps justified in some cases) was that of
selection of a jurisdiction that had laws markedly unfriendly to free
software.

For most individuals operating within the universe of GNU GPL-licensed
software and contemplating the differences in terminology between v2
and v3, it will be natural to assume that "propagate" and "convey" are
synonymous to v2's "copy" and "distribute", respectively.

In GNU GPLv3 the "propagate" definition is used mainly to provide the
basis for the "convey" definition. The counterpart term to "convey" in
GNU GPLv2, "distribute", is used in most other widely-used free
software licenses today. I believe it may even be used in some free
software licenses written from a European law perspective (though have
not checked that). True, some of these free software licenses have
choice of law clauses, but most don't. None of this has caused any
difficulty. We are left, then, with the conclusion that the main
benefit of the propagate/convey scheme is a political one. This is not
a good enough reason to keep it.
This commit is contained in:
Richard Fontana 2012-07-06 22:49:04 -04:00
parent b47829068c
commit 77dc8efd76
1 changed files with 69 additions and 74 deletions
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143
GPL.next
View file

@ -7,30 +7,23 @@
"The Program" means a particular copyrightable work licensed under
this License and received by You.
To "modify" a work means to copy from or adapt all or part of the work
in a fashion requiring copyright permission, other than the making of an
exact copy. The resulting work is called a "modified version" of the
earlier work or a work "based on" the earlier work.
To "modify" a work means to copy from or adapt all or part of the
work in a fashion requiring copyright permission, other than the
making of an exact copy. The resulting work is called a "modified
version" of the earlier work or a work "based on" the earlier work.
A "Covered Work" means either the Program or a work based on the
Program.
To "propagate" a work means to do anything with it that, without
permission, would make You directly or secondarily liable for
infringement under applicable copyright law, except executing it on a
computer or modifying a private copy. Propagation includes copying,
distribution (with or without modification), making available to the
public, and in some countries other activities as well.
To "convey" a work means any kind of propagation that enables other
parties to make or receive copies. Mere interaction with a user through
a computer network, with no transfer of a copy, is not conveying.
For the avoidance of doubt, "distribution" of a work does not
include mere interaction with a user through a computer network, with
no transfer of a copy.
An interactive user interface displays "Appropriate Legal Notices"
to the extent that it includes a convenient and prominently visible
feature that (1) displays an appropriate copyright notice, and (2)
tells the user that there is no warranty for the work (except to the
extent that warranties are provided), that licensees may convey the
extent that warranties are provided), that licensees may distribute the
work under this License, and how to view a copy of this License. If
the interface presents a list of user commands or options, such as a
menu, a prominent item in the list meets this criterion.
@ -78,18 +71,19 @@ Covered Work is covered by this License only if the output, given its
content, constitutes a Covered Work. This License acknowledges Your
rights of fair use or other equivalent, as provided by copyright law.
You may make, run and propagate Covered Works that You do not
convey, without conditions so long as Your license otherwise remains
in force. You may convey Covered Works to others for the sole purpose
of having them make modifications exclusively for You, or provide You
You may make, run and copy Covered Works that You do not distribute,
without conditions so long as Your license otherwise remains in force.
You may distribute Covered Works to others for the sole purpose of
having them make modifications exclusively for You, or provide You
with facilities for running those works, provided that You comply with
the terms of this License in conveying all material for which You do
not control copyright. Those thus making or running the Covered Works
for You must do so exclusively on Your behalf, under Your direction
and control, on terms that prohibit them from making any copies of
Your copyrighted material outside their relationship with You.
the terms of this License in distributing all material for which You
do not control copyright. Those thus making or running the Covered
Works for You must do so exclusively on Your behalf, under Your
direction and control, on terms that prohibit them from making any
copies of Your copyrighted material outside their relationship with
You.
Conveying under any other circumstances is permitted solely under
Distributing under any other circumstances is permitted solely under
the conditions stated below. Sublicensing is not allowed; section 9
makes it unnecessary.
@ -101,7 +95,7 @@ measure under any applicable law fulfilling obligations under article
similar laws prohibiting or restricting circumvention of such
measures.
When You convey a Covered Work, You waive any legal power to forbid
When You distribute a Covered Work, You waive any legal power to forbid
circumvention of technological measures to the extent such circumvention
is effected by exercising rights under this License with respect to
the Covered Work, and You disclaim any intention to limit operation or
@ -109,9 +103,9 @@ modification of the work as a means of enforcing, against the work's
users, Your or third parties' legal rights to forbid circumvention of
technological measures.
4. Conveying Verbatim Copies.
4. Distributing Verbatim Copies.
You may convey verbatim copies of the Program's source code as You
You may distribute verbatim copies of the Program's source code as You
receive it, in any medium, provided that You conspicuously and
appropriately publish on each copy an appropriate copyright notice;
keep intact all notices stating that this License and any
@ -119,12 +113,12 @@ non-permissive terms added in accord with section 7 apply to the code;
keep intact all notices of the absence of any warranty; and give all
recipients a copy of this License along with the Program.
You may charge any price or no price for each copy that You convey,
You may charge any price or no price for each copy that You distribute,
and You may offer support or warranty protection for a fee.
5. Conveying Modified Source Versions.
5. Distributing Modified Source Versions.
You may convey a work based on the Program in the form of source
You may distribute a work based on the Program in the form of source
code under the terms of section 4, provided that You also meet all of
these conditions:
@ -159,19 +153,19 @@ beyond what the individual works permit. Inclusion of a Covered Work
in an aggregate does not cause this License to apply to the other
parts of the aggregate.
6. Conveying Non-Source Forms.
6. Distributing Non-Source Forms.
You may convey a Covered Work in object code form under the terms
of sections 4 and 5, provided that You also convey the
You may distribute a Covered Work in object code form under the terms
of sections 4 and 5, provided that You also distribute the
machine-readable Corresponding Source under the terms of this License,
in one of these ways:
a) Convey the object code in, or embodied in, a physical product
a) Distribute the object code in, or embodied in, a physical product
(including a physical distribution medium), accompanied by the
Corresponding Source fixed on a durable physical medium
customarily used for software interchange.
b) Convey the object code in, or embodied in, a physical product
b) Distribute the object code in, or embodied in, a physical product
(including a physical distribution medium), accompanied by a
written offer, valid for at least three years and valid for as
long as You offer spare parts or customer support for that product
@ -180,16 +174,16 @@ in one of these ways:
product that is covered by this License, on a durable physical
medium customarily used for software interchange, for a price no
more than Your reasonable cost of physically performing this
conveying of source, or (2) access to copy the
distributing of source, or (2) access to copy the
Corresponding Source from a network server at no charge.
c) Convey individual copies of the object code with a copy of the
c) Distribute individual copies of the object code with a copy of the
written offer to provide the Corresponding Source. This
alternative is allowed only occasionally and noncommercially, and
only if You received the object code with such an offer, in accord
with subsection 6b.
d) Convey the object code by offering access from a designated
d) Distribute the object code by offering access from a designated
place (gratis or for a charge), and offer equivalent access to the
Corresponding Source in the same way through the same place at no
further charge. You need not require recipients to copy the
@ -202,7 +196,7 @@ in one of these ways:
Corresponding Source, You remain obligated to ensure that it is
available for as long as needed to satisfy these requirements.
e) Convey the object code using peer-to-peer transmission, provided
e) Distribute the object code using peer-to-peer transmission, provided
You inform other peers where the object code and Corresponding
Source of the work are being offered to the general public at no
charge under subsection 6d.
@ -228,12 +222,12 @@ suffice to ensure that the continued functioning of the modified object
code is in no case prevented or interfered with solely because
modification has been made.
If You convey an object code work under this section in, or with, or
specifically for use in, a User Product, and the conveying occurs as
If You distribute an object code work under this section in, or with, or
specifically for use in, a User Product, and the distributing occurs as
part of a transaction in which the right of possession and use of the
User Product is transferred to the recipient in perpetuity or for a
fixed term (regardless of how the transaction is characterized), the
Corresponding Source conveyed under this section must be accompanied
Corresponding Source distributeed under this section must be accompanied
by the Installation Information. But this requirement does not apply
if neither You nor any third party retains the ability to install
modified object code on the User Product (for example, the work has
@ -247,7 +241,7 @@ network may be denied when the modification itself materially and
adversely affects the operation of the network or violates the rules and
protocols for communication across the network.
Corresponding Source conveyed, and Installation Information provided,
Corresponding Source distributeed, and Installation Information provided,
in accord with this section must be in a format that is publicly
documented (and with an implementation available to the public in
source code form), and must require no special password or key for
@ -264,7 +258,7 @@ apply only to part of the Program, that part may be used separately
under those permissions, but the entire Program remains governed by
this License without regard to the additional permissions.
When You convey a copy of a Covered Work, You may at Your option
When You distribute a copy of a Covered Work, You may at Your option
remove any additional permissions from that copy, or from any part of
it. (Additional permissions may be written to require their own
removal in certain cases when You modify the work.) You may place
@ -292,7 +286,7 @@ that material) supplement the terms of this License with terms:
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
material by anyone who distributes 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.
@ -302,21 +296,21 @@ restrictions" within the meaning of section 9. If the Program as You
received it, or any part of it, contains a notice stating that it is
governed by this License along with a term that is a further
restriction, You may remove that term. If a license document contains
a further restriction but permits relicensing or conveying under this
a further restriction but permits relicensing or distributing under this
License, You may add to a Covered Work material governed by the terms
of that license document, provided that the further restriction does
not survive such relicensing or conveying.
not survive such relicensing or distributing.
Additional terms may be stated in the form of a separately written
license or stated as exceptions to or qualifications of this License.
8. Termination.
You may not propagate or modify a Covered Work except as expressly
provided under this License. Any unauthorized act of propagation or
modification automatically terminates Your rights under this License
(including any patent licenses granted under the third paragraph of
section 10).
You may not copy, distribute or modify a Covered Work except as
expressly provided under this License. Any unauthorized act of
copying, distribution or modification automatically terminates Your
rights under this License (including any patent licenses granted under
the third paragraph of section 10).
However, if You cease all violation of this License, then Your
license from a particular copyright holder is reinstated (a)
@ -340,9 +334,9 @@ material under section 9.
9. Automatic Licensing of Downstream Recipients.
Each time You convey a Covered Work, the recipient automatically
receives a license from the original licensors, to run, modify and
propagate that work, subject to this License.
Each time You distribute a Covered Work, the recipient automatically
receives a license from the original licensors, to run, copy, modify
and distribute that work, subject to this License.
You may not impose any further restrictions on the exercise of the
rights granted or affirmed under this License. For example, You may
@ -370,8 +364,8 @@ this License.
Each contributor grants You a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free
patent license under the contributor's essential patent claims, to
make, use, sell, offer for sale, import and otherwise run, modify and
propagate the contents of its contributor version.
make, use, sell, offer for sale, import and otherwise run, copy,
modify and distribute the contents of its contributor version.
In the following two paragraphs, a "patent license" is any express
agreement or commitment, however denominated, not to enforce a patent
@ -380,7 +374,7 @@ sue for patent infringement). To "grant" such a patent license to a
party means to make such an agreement or commitment not to enforce a
patent against the party.
If You convey a Covered Work, knowingly relying on a patent license,
If You distribute a Covered Work, knowingly relying on a patent license,
and the Corresponding Source of the work is not available for anyone
to copy, free of charge and under the terms of this License, through a
publicly available network server or other readily accessible means,
@ -388,7 +382,7 @@ then You must either (1) cause the Corresponding Source to be so
available, or (2) arrange, in a manner consistent with the
requirements of this License, to extend the patent license to
downstream recipients. "Knowingly relying" means You have actual
knowledge that, but for the patent license, Your conveying the Covered
knowledge that, but for the patent license, Your distributing the Covered
Work in a country, or Your recipient's use of the Covered Work in a
country, would infringe one or more identifiable patents in that
country that You have reason to believe are valid.
@ -396,14 +390,14 @@ country that You have reason to believe are valid.
A patent license is "discriminatory" if it does not include within
the scope of its coverage, prohibits the exercise of, or is
conditioned on the non-exercise of one or more of the rights that are
specifically granted under this License. You may not convey a covered
specifically granted under this License. You may not distribute a covered
work if You are a party to an arrangement with a third party that is
in the business of distributing software, under which You make payment
to the third party based on the extent of Your activity of conveying
to the third party based on the extent of Your activity of distributing
the work, and under which the third party grants, to any of the
parties who would receive the Covered Work from You, a discriminatory
patent license (a) in connection with copies of the Covered Work
conveyed by You (or copies made from those copies), or (b) primarily
distributeed by You (or copies made from those copies), or (b) primarily
for and in connection with specific products or compilations that
contain the Covered Work, unless You entered into that arrangement,
or that patent license was granted, prior to 28 March 2007.
@ -417,13 +411,13 @@ otherwise be available to You under applicable patent law.
If conditions are imposed on You (whether by court order, agreement
or otherwise) that contradict the conditions of this License, they do
not excuse You from the conditions of this License. If You cannot
convey a Covered Work in a way that would satisfy simultaneously Your
distribute a Covered Work in a way that would satisfy simultaneously Your
requirements under this License and any pertinent obligations
extrinsic to this License, then as a consequence You may not convey it
extrinsic to this License, then as a consequence You may not distribute it
at all. For example, if You agree to terms that obligate You to
collect a royalty for further conveying from those to whom You convey
collect a royalty for further distributing from those to whom You distribute
the Program, the only way You could satisfy both those terms and this
License would be to refrain entirely from conveying the Program.
License would be to refrain entirely from distributing the Program.
12. Compatibility with GNU GPL and GNU AGPL.
@ -475,11 +469,12 @@ Program is authorized under this License except under this disclaimer.
In no event unless required by applicable law or agreed to in
writing will any copyright holder, or any other party who modifies
and/or conveys the Program as permitted above, be liable to You for
damages, including any general, special, incidental or consequential
damages arising out of the use or inability to use the Program
(including but not limited to loss of data or data being rendered
inaccurate or losses sustained by You or third parties or a failure of
the Program to operate with any other programs), even if such holder
or other party has been advised of the possibility of such damages.
and/or distributes the Program as permitted above, be liable to You
for damages, including any general, special, incidental or
consequential damages arising out of the use or inability to use the
Program (including but not limited to loss of data or data being
rendered inaccurate or losses sustained by You or third parties or a
failure of the Program to operate with any other programs), even if
such holder or other party has been advised of the possibility of such
damages.