Re: [libreplanet-discuss] suggestion/help. GPL enforcement.

[Joshua Gay]

On 06/06/2016 02:46 PM, Daniel Pocock wrote:
> That same principle goes on to read: "Occasionally, violations are
> intentional or the result of severe negligence, and there is no duty to
> be empathetic in those cases. Even then, a lawsuit is a last resort;
> mutually agreed terms that fix (or at least cease) further distribution
> and address damage already done are much better than a battle in court. "
> 
> So, the law suit is still a last resort but it remains an option.
> Waiting years to start a lawsuit means that the violator may enjoy
> significant benefit in the meantime
> 
> E.g. imagine a startup company who makes a successful app and sells the
> company in 2 years for $10,000,000.  The original owners of the company
> violate the GPL but they are long gone by the time the violation is
> prosecuted.  Is that fair?  If the lawsuit had been made immediately,
> buyers of the company would have backed off and the developers would
> have sought to comply with the GPL somehow to have the lawsuit withdrawn.

Why would you need to wait years?

The Principles we are discussing don't say you need to sit around. You
can be aggressive and demanding in doing enforcement. Obviously when
addressing your own particular legal situations you'll want to seek the
advice of a qualified lawyer.

But, I'm happy to share a bit about the FSF's approach to doing
compliance, which is most certainly in-line with the Principles document
I cited.

When the FSF writes a letter to apparent GPL violators, the first things
we want to do are:

1) Get there help in confirming for us in writing that they have in fact
violated the terms of the GPL;

2) Get there commitment to work with us in a timely manner to resolve
the GPL violation and to come into compliance as well as meet several
other conditions (such as putting in place a free software compliance
officer so that we have a single point of contact to work with to
resolve such matters both during the compliance process as well as in
the future)

3) agree to cover any and all expenses for our time spent on working
with them to come into compliance and to agree to make payment before we
will reinstate their rights under the terms of the respective licenses.


If a company refuses to work with us or they don't follow through on the
commitments they agreed to in a timely manner, then what else can we do
but bring them to court? Maybe we try contacting them more than once or
resort to asking our lawyers to write a formal letter or something, but
again, that is something that could happen in a matter of hours or days,
it needn't be years.

Again, you will need to decide the best course of action for your own
situation and you should get advice from a competent lawyer.

Josh