[Discussioni] GPL in Francia

[Marco Ciurcina]

http://fsffrance.org/news/article2009-09-22.en.html

Paris Court of Appeals condemns Edu4 for violating the GNU General Public 
License

PARIS, France -- Tuesday, September 22, 2009 -- In a landmark ruling that will 
set legal precedent, the Paris Court of Appeals decided last week that the 
company Edu4 violated the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL) when 
it distributed binary copies of the remote desktop access software VNC but 
denied users access to its corresponding source code. The suit was filed by 
Association pour la formation professionnelle des adultes (AFPA), a French 
education organization. 
 "This decision should raise awareness about free software licensing for 
everyone involved with it," said Olivier Hugot, attorney of Free Software 
Foundation France. "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." 
 The events of the case go back to early 2000, when Edu4 was hired to provide 
new computer equipment in AFPA's classrooms. Shortly thereafter, AFPA 
discovered that VNC was distributed with this equipment. Despite repeated 
requests, with mediation from the Free Software Foundation France, Edu4 
refused to provide AFPA with the source code to this version of VNC. 
Furthermore, FSF France later discovered that Edu4 had removed copyright and 
license notices in the software. All of these activities violate the terms of 
the GNU GPL. AFPA filed 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 Court's ruling is available on the web at 
http://fsffrance.org/news/arret-ca-paris-16.09.2009.pdf.
Media contact
 Loïc Dachary, FSF France president. E-mail : loic a dachary.org Phone : +33 6 
64 03 29 07 
About Free Software Foundation France
 The FSF France (http://www.fsffrance.org/) is a non-profit organization 
dedicated to all aspects of Free Software. Access to software determines who 
may participate in a digital society. Therefore the freedoms to use, copy, 
modify and redistribute software - as described in the Free Software 
definition - allow equal participation in the information age. Creating 
awareness for these issues, securing Free Software politically and legally, 
and giving people freedom by supporting development of Free Software are 
central issues of the FSF France.