>> Not only that, but the Working Class License itself is a blatant violation >> of the FSF's copyright, unless the author has a private license from the FSF >> to create such a thing (which I do not believe, as it fails to acknowledge >> the FSF in any way). As the GPL says right at the top: "Everyone is >> permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this license document, >> but changing it is not allowed." >> > > This came up with the SSPL. From the FSF: > > "You can legally use the GPL terms (possibly modified) in another license > provided that you call your license by another name and do not include the > GPL preamble, and provided you modify the instructions-for-use at the end > enough to make it clearly different in wording and not mention GNU (though > the actual procedure you describe may be similar)." > > While this license appears to be a non-free parody international socialism, > it doesn't violate the FSF's copyright. >
The FSF's publicly stated position in its Licensing FAQ on modifications of the GPL is: """ *Can I modify the GPL and make a modified license? (#ModifyGPL [1])* It is possible to make modified versions of the GPL, but it tends to have practical consequences. You can legally use the GPL terms (possibly modified) in another license provided that you call your license by another name and do not include the GPL preamble, and provided you modify the instructions-for-use at the end enough to make it clearly different in wording and not mention GNU (though the actual procedure you describe may be similar). If you want to use our preamble in a modified license, please write to <[email protected]> for permission. For this purpose we would want to check the actual license requirements to see if we approve of them. Although we will not raise legal objections to your making a modified license in this way, we hope you will think twice and not do it. Such a modified license is almost certainly incompatible with the GNU GPL, and that incompatibility blocks useful combinations of modules. The mere proliferation of different free software licenses is a burden in and of itself. Rather than modifying the GPL, please use the exception mechanism offered by GPL version 3. """ The working class license includes at least portions of the FSF preamble and the instructions for use at the end. [1] https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.en.html#ModifyGPL -- Marc Jones, esq. [email protected] 860-916-6720 The information contained in this email may be confidential and/or legally privileged. It has been sent for the sole use of the intended recipient(s). If the reader of this message is not an intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any unauthorized review, use, disclosure, dissemination, distribution, or copying of this communication, or any of its contents, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please reply to the sender and destroy all copies of the message. To contact us directly, send to [email protected]. Thank you. _______________________________________________ License-discuss mailing list [email protected] http://lists.opensource.org/mailman/listinfo/license-discuss_lists.opensource.org
