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Our Blogs Open Sauce French court hands GPL victory | French court hands GPL victory |
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| by Sam Varghese | |
| Friday, 25 September 2009 | |
  
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What's more, the ruling (PDF in French) came following a submission by a user, not the copyright holder, according to a statement by the Free Software Foundation's branch in France. Last week, the Paris Court of Appeals decided that a company named Edu4 violated the GPL by distributing binary copies of VNC, a remote desktop access application, and denying users access to the source code. The lawsuit was brought by an organisation dedicated to education, Association pour la Formation Professionnelle des Adultes (AFPA). In the year 2000, Edu4 was given the job of providing new computer equipment for the AFPA's classroom use. When AFPA found that VNC was provided with the hardware, it asked for the source code. But, despite asking again and again, and even attempting to mediate the situation with the help of the FSF France, Edu4 just refused to provide the source. Later it came to light that Edu4 had removed the copyright and licence notices in the software, something that violates the terms of the GPL as well. With no other way of gaining recourse, AFPA filed a suit in 2002 to protect its rights and obtain the source code. "We've long said the GNU GPL is enforceable, and of course we're pleased to see another court reaffirm that fact," said Loic Dachary, president of FSF France. "But what makes this ruling unique is the fact that the suit was filed by a user of the software, instead of a copyright holder. "It's a commonly held belief that only the copyright holder of a work can enforce the license's terms - but that's not true in France. People who received software under the GNU GPL can also request compliance, since the license grants them rights from the authors." The FSF's attorney, Olivier Hugot, said: "This decision should raise awareness about free software licensing for everyone involved with it. "Companies distributing the software have been given a strong reminder that the license's terms are enforceable under French law. And users in France can rest assured that, if need be, they can avail themselves of the legal system to see violations addressed and their rights respected." |
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