GPL / GNU Licence enforcement

[Xann]

A simple question to start with.

If one suspects a GPL violation, can the FSF take legal action without the copyright holder's consent?

Thanks,

Fabien.

[Gian-Carlo Pascutto]

No. (One reason why they request you assign it to them).

From: http://www.gnu.org/licenses/why-assign.html

...enforcement of copyright is generally not possible for distributors: only the copyright holder or someone having assignment of the copyright can enforce the license...

(I'm not sure what the relevant difference between "copyright holder" and "having assignment of the copyright" is, if there is any, though. If your question depends on the details of that, ignore mine)

[Xann]

No. (One reason why they request you assign it to them).

I see, thanks.

Another question: is it possible at all to start legal action five years after the suspected infringement?

Fabien.

[Steve B]

No. (One reason why they request you assign it to them).

I see, thanks.

Another question: is it possible at all to start legal action five years after the suspected infringement?

Fabien.

Seems to me Fabien that if you are really serious about pursuing your interests in this matter...then posting questions here about your potential case.. is probably only helping the other party who i am sure is reading every word you write here with great interest
in business.. one consults with an attorney and does not allow the other party to listen in to the conversation
of course you are more them welcome to post whatever you want here and the members are certainly eating up every word with great relish
at the very least.. contacting other engine authors Privately ..to ask questions ..rather then through public postings is probably better for your case then these public posts
Best Regards
Steve

[JuLieN]

No. (One reason why they request you assign it to them).

I see, thanks.

Another question: is it possible at all to start legal action five years after the suspected infringement?

Fabien.

In french law (and it is a pretty standard law in the western world), the legal prescription for intellectual property cases is of three years starting from the discovery of the facts by the legal owner of the rights.

But there would be lots of other legal grounds to act on this matter. Like unfair business practices (though you couldn't as you're not in a business relation/competition with the author of a potential clone).

[JuLieN]

No. (One reason why they request you assign it to them).

I see, thanks.

Another question: is it possible at all to start legal action five years after the suspected infringement?

Fabien.

In french law (and it is a pretty standard law in the western world), the legal prescription for intellectual property cases is of three years starting from the discovery of the facts by the legal owner of the rights.

But there would be lots of other legal grounds to act on this matter. Like unfair business practices (though you couldn't as you're not in a business relation/competition with the author of a potential clone).

To precise my answer : the important part of my answer was not the "three years" one but the "starting from discovery of the facts by the legal owner of the rights."

This means that whoever the owner of the rights is (presumably the FSF, here), he will have three years in most western countries to take actions. If the FSF is the legal owner, it will have three years to react, starting from the day you'll give them the elements you gathered.

[Xann]

Seems to me Fabien that if you are really serious about pursuing your interests in this matter...then posting questions here about your potential case.. is probably only helping the other party who i am sure is reading every word you write here with great interest
in business.. one consults with an attorney and does not allow the other party to listen in to the conversation

Hi Steve,

How is it my case?
I am not the copyright holder.

Fabien.

[Steve B]

Seems to me Fabien that if you are really serious about pursuing your interests in this matter...then posting questions here about your potential case.. is probably only helping the other party who i am sure is reading every word you write here with great interest
in business.. one consults with an attorney and does not allow the other party to listen in to the conversation

Hi Steve,

How is it my case?
I am not the copyright holder.

Fabien.

not sure if you are trying to see if you have a case to pursue Rybka
not just in this thread but in general since your return to posting here
if not..then forget my post
if so..its best to pursue your rights(if any) in private and to seek professional advice
that my only point here
Steve

[pawnslinger]

As a programmer -- who hired an attorney or two over the years, for both copyright and trademark problems -- I will throw in my 2 cents.

First, I have no knowledge of the GPL. So please take what I am about to write with a large dose of care.

To have a copyright, it is not required, but it is recommended to assert that right. As I have admitted in other threads here, I have obtained a copy of the source code to Fruit 2.1. Nowhere in the soure code was there to be found a copyright notice of any kind.

When I wrote and published work, every source code file had a copyyright notice prominently placed at the beginning of each file. And the program itself displayed a copyright notice immediately when it was run. This was the way my lawyers advised me to protect (assert) my copyright. Even then my work was frequently the target of hackers, so I was forced to add code to my programs that would detect and prevent unauthorized change. This was embedded in the program code itself, written in C/C++, so any half decent programmer could have found it -- but hackers and thieves are generally too lazy to look very deeply. Some of them even had the gall to confront me and ask how to modify the program!

I even had to put code in that would defeat hackers that used debuggers to try and patch my code... usually they didn't try that twice, as once detected my programs would store zeros thru memory (very quickly, had to do it faster than an average debugger could catch it). Again really good hackers could have gotten around this, but most thieves are too lazy.

I found my career with this sort of thing to be one attempt after another. As a hacker would try something, I would find out about it and add new prevention to my code. It was like a game.

Sincerely,
Ed

[Gian-Carlo Pascutto]

As I have admitted in other threads here, I have obtained a copy of the source code to Fruit 2.1. Nowhere in the soure code was there to be found a copyright notice of any kind.

Uh:

- copying.txt
- readme.txt -> "Legal details"