Software Freedom Conservancy

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2021-07-02 13:00:06

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The GNU General Public License (GPL) is the principal copyleft license. Copyleft is a framework that permits ongoing sharing of a published work, with clear permissions that both grant and defend its users' freedoms — in contrast to other free licenses that grant freedom but don't defend it. Free software released under the GPL is fundamental to modern technology, powering everything from laptops and desktops to household appliances, cars, and mobile phones, to the foundations of the Internet. Following the GPL's terms is easy — it gets more complicated only when products distributed with GPL'd software also include software distributed under terms that restrict users. Even in these situations, many companies comply properly, but some companies also try to bend or even break the GPL's rules to their perceived advantage.

The Software Freedom Conservancy regularly engages in worldwide efforts to ensure compliance with the GPL family of licenses. Conservancy has enforced the GPL for many of its member projects since its founding in 2006. Conservancy also helped published, and hosts, Copyleft and the GNU General Public License: A Comprehensive Tutorial and Guide (often called the “Copyleft Guide”), which includes sections such as “A Practical Guide to GPL Compliance” and “Case Studies in GPL Enforcement”. Those sections explain the typical process that Conservancy follows in our GPL enforcement actions. (A Shorter descriptions of these processes appeared in earlier blog post.)