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MySQL AB and Nusphere Go to Court Over GPL

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the fate-of-the-Free-world-at-stake dept.

A little fairy whispered in our ear: "MySQL AB is seeking a temporary injunction against NuSphere, even though they've finally released the source code for Gemini and MySQL Advantage. According to the GPL, NuSphere lost the right to redistribute when they violated #3 by not providing the source code originally. The FSF will testify tomorrow in court, according to this Newsforge article." Newsforge and Slashdot are both part of OSDN. We've done a couple of previous stories about the MySQL AB vs. Nusphere conflict: the original story, a follow-up, and a note about a countersuit. Update: 02/26 21:15 GMT by T : bkuhn (Bradley Kuhn of the Free Software Foundation) writes: "The FSF has a press release on the matter and affidavit that we filed is also available."

4 of 238 comments (clear)

  1. Without GPL you simply have no license to by Vicegrip · · Score: 5, Informative

    distribute your derivative work.

    The GPL is clear on this point. If, for whatever reason a court of law decides the GPL is invalid in a particular case, then you lose any right to distribute derivative works.

    Thus, there is no incentive for a company to try to invalidate the GPL, because without it they have no rights to distribute derived works. The only option a company has is to prove it is in compliance with the GPL.

    The one interesting thing here I observe is that once you have been found in violation of the GPL only the holder of the copyright can reinstate your ability to distribute derivative works-- and there is no obligation to do so.

    Thus, companies using GPLed code in works they distribute need to pay special attention to compliance as none-compliance carries with it the possibility being permanently blocked from using the GPLed code again.

    Admitedly though, it's not complicated. Simply ensure you distribute your source along with the product, and all is well.

    Otherwise put, if you want to use GPLed code, you have to share the code of your derivative work with everyone.

    --
    Do not spread "09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0" over the internet, thank you.
  2. Section 4 of the GPL by lupercalia · · Score: 5, Informative
    The most interesting comment raised in the article is the invocation of section 4 of the GPL:

    Any attempt otherwise to copy, modify, sublicense or distribute the Program is void, and will automatically terminate your rights under this License.


    Basically, since the GPL is the only document granting you permission to use the software, violating the GPL revokes your rights under it. That means that if it is found that they violated the GPL (which seems a foregone conclusion if the reporting is accurate), they will no longer be able to distributed MySQL code at all. In other words, put completely out of that business.

    Now that is something other companies will take seriously in the future. (IANAL and all that of course.)

    1. Re:Section 4 of the GPL by bwt · · Score: 5, Informative

      Enforceability of the GPL is problematic at best. It's no more legal than any other software license, and consider how many objections the average /.er raises to (say) Microsoft's clickwrap licenses. Those same objections apply to the GPL, but even more strongly.

      Totally wrong.

      My objection to Microsoft's clickwrap licence is that it only purports to grant me a licence to "use" the software on a single machine, which I already have by 17 USC 117, since I am the "owner of a copy". Since their contract does not give me anything I don't already have, it is unenforcable because there is no "consideration".

      The GPL is a unilateral grant to do something that you cannot otherwise do without violating 17 USC 106. It is not a contract at all, but a unilateral grant. If the GPL is unenforcable then NuSphere is commiting copyright infringement by distributing a derivitive work.

  3. More information on FSF Website by bkuhn · · Score: 5, Informative

    FSF has a press release and the affidavit we filed available on our website.