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

[Daniel Pocock]

On 06/06/16 17:14, Joshua Gay wrote:
> On 06/05/2016 11:39 AM, Adonay Felipe Nogueira wrote:
>> Free software activists shouldn't sue people right from the start, they
>> should instead enforce it through collaboration, first by private
>> communication with the violator, then after series of negligencies done
>> by the violators, the original project can express their disappointment
>> publicly, then wait for the violators to apologize and accept the
>> suggestions or collaborations done, and only after series of
>> negligencies, it must be thought on suing the violator. This might take
>> years, but the most immediate advice you can deliver to a possible
>> violator is to cease redistribution temporarily until the issue is
>> resolved or proven to be false by all the parties involved.
>>
> 
> 
> The Principles of Community-Oriented GPL Enforcement agree with this
> general principle that legal action should be a last resort. See:
> <https://www.fsf.org/licensing/enforcement-principles>
> 
> 

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have sought to comply with the GPL somehow to have the lawsuit withdrawn.

Regards,

Daniel