[FFmpeg-devel] license violator seeking help to continue his behavior

Diego Biurrun diego
Sat Jul 25 20:06:17 CEST 2009


On Fri, Jul 24, 2009 at 07:51:54PM -0700, Cory Nelson wrote:
> On Thu, Jun 25, 2009 at 1:12 AM, Diego Biurrun<diego at biurrun.de> wrote:
> 
> Are you a lawyer?

No.

> I always thought the "will automatically terminate your rights under
> this License" line in the GPL was meant specifically for that instance
> of the violation -- and not as a permanent hold that lets the licensor
> apply new demands outside of the GPL before the licensee ever gets to
> distribute it again.  I distribute some of my own code under the GPL
> and this is useful knowledge.

Read paragraph 4 of the GPL version 2 (LGPL parapgraph 8 is identical)
again:

  4. You may not copy, modify, sublicense, or distribute the Program
  except as expressly provided under this License. Any attempt otherwise
  to copy, modify, sublicense or distribute the Program is void, and will
  automatically terminate your rights under this License. However, parties
  who have received copies, or rights, from you under this License will
  not have their licenses terminated so long as such parties remain in
  full compliance.

There is not a word about rights getting restored in there.  (L)GPL v3,
on the other hand, does have such provisions.

Diego



More information about the ffmpeg-devel mailing list