RE: Need legal advice regarding CSS in Germany
This is often depending on the amount of money handed over too... if I get
something for free and it doesn't work then I can hardly expect to be able
to take it back for repair/replacement/etc. if I pay a token fee for it the
same will likely apply. however if I pay, say a few hundred dollars for a
certain other distro then yes, under such laws that certain other distro may
end up responsible for the code.
is it just me or is -private starting to look like -legal?
*nudges the discussion over to -legal* (please don't reply to both -private
*and* -legal!)
- samj
-----Original Message-----
From: Jesus M. Gonzalez-Barahona [mailto:jgb@gsyc.escet.urjc.es]
Sent: Thursday, 19 April 2001 1:24 AM
To: debian-private@lists.debian.org
Subject: Re: Need legal advice regarding CSS in Germany
Siggi Langauf writes:
> On Mon, 16 Apr 2001, T.Pospisek's MailLists wrote:
>
> [parts of the GPL are viod in Switzerland]
> > > I am surprised to hear that. Which parts don't hold up?
> >
> > The parts about liability("NO WARRANTY"). Allthough it has not yet been
> > proved in court, the current opinion on local lugs mailing lists is
> > that in switzerland you *are* liable for the code you write. This
opinion
> > is aparently backed by some experts in the field (i.e. advocates). And
I
> > think the nearly meaningless generalisation "there are similar laws
> > outside switzerland as well though, unfortunately" (refering to an
> > original statement by Anthony T.) applies as well.
>
> Yes, the same thing applies here in Germany. Again, not proven in court,
> but backed up by advocates.
I've heard of a legal study in France about the applicability of GPL
(I've3 not read it, but people of my confidence have explained its
results to me). It states that GPL is valid in France, and is in
conformance with the EU directives applicable (mainly those related to
consumers rights). The point seems to be that getting a GPLed program
is not, in the general case, an economic transaction, since the
original author gets nothing from the consumer. On the other hand,
those companies selling distributions (including those selling Debian)
could be obligued by the EU legislation on consumer rights, but that
does not affect the GPL or the relationship between the copyright
owner and the consumer (note that GPL talks about lack of warranty by
the copyright holder, not, for instace, by the company selling a
distribution).
A similar study has been made in Spain, with similar results, but in
this case by a student of Law, not by a lawyer.
In any case, the same people who told me about this did also told me
that all these studies are just that, studies. Nothing is settled
until there is (long) history of testing in court.
Saludos,
Jesus.
--
Jesus M. Gonzalez Barahona | Grupo de Sistemas y
Comunicaciones
jgb@gsyc.escet.urjc.es / jgb@computer.org | ESCET, Universidad Rey Juan
Carlos
tel: +34 91 664 74 67 | c/ Tulipan s/n
fax: +34 91 664 74 90 | 28933 Mostoles, Spain
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