Re: GPL and software I have written
Andrew Sullivan writes:
> It's not true that nothing in the GPL restricts the author in any way.
> If an author releases code under the GPL, s/he must either make the
> source available, or change the license.
The only condition under which the terms of the GPL would be enforceable
against a sole author would be if the author entered into a contract which
incorporated the terms of the GPL.
> Just because someone is the author does not give him/her special rights
> to violate the license.
It is impossible for a sole author to violate his own license. The GPL is
not a law: it is a model license. Only the author has standing to sue to
enforce a license he has granted. You cannot sue yourself.
> Whether a court would uphold that, by acting contrary to the GPL, the
> author was making a _de facto_ change to the license is quite another
> matter, since no-one's ever tested it.
The issue has nothing in particular to do with the GPL.
--
John Hasler
john@dhh.gt.org (John Hasler)
Dancing Horse Hill
Elmwood, WI
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