On 06/06/16 22:06, Joshua Gay wrote: > > > On 06/06/2016 02:46 PM, Daniel Pocock wrote: >> That same principle goes on to read: "Occasionally, violations are >> intentional or the result of severe negligence, and there is no duty to >> be empathetic in those cases. Even then, a lawsuit is a last resort; >> mutually agreed terms that fix (or at least cease) further distribution >> and address damage already done are much better than a battle in court. " >> >> So, the law suit is still a last resort but it remains an option. >> Waiting years to start a lawsuit means that the violator may enjoy >> significant benefit in the meantime >> >> E.g. imagine a startup company who makes a successful app and sells the >> company in 2 years for $10,000,000. The original owners of the company >> violate the GPL but they are long gone by the time the violation is >> prosecuted. Is that fair? If the lawsuit had been made immediately, >> buyers of the company would have backed off and the developers would >> have sought to comply with the GPL somehow to have the lawsuit withdrawn. > > Why would you need to wait years? >
A previous reply (from Adonay) had suggested the effort before starting a lawsuit might take years > The Principles we are discussing don't say you need to sit around. You > can be aggressive and demanding in doing enforcement. Obviously when > addressing your own particular legal situations you'll want to seek the > advice of a qualified lawyer. > > But, I'm happy to share a bit about the FSF's approach to doing > compliance, which is most certainly in-line with the Principles document > I cited. > > When the FSF writes a letter to apparent GPL violators, the first things > we want to do are: > > 1) Get there help in confirming for us in writing that they have in fact > violated the terms of the GPL; > > 2) Get there commitment to work with us in a timely manner to resolve > the GPL violation and to come into compliance as well as meet several > other conditions (such as putting in place a free software compliance > officer so that we have a single point of contact to work with to > resolve such matters both during the compliance process as well as in > the future) > > 3) agree to cover any and all expenses for our time spent on working > with them to come into compliance and to agree to make payment before we > will reinstate their rights under the terms of the respective licenses. > > > If a company refuses to work with us or they don't follow through on the > commitments they agreed to in a timely manner, then what else can we do > but bring them to court? Maybe we try contacting them more than once or > resort to asking our lawyers to write a formal letter or something, but > again, that is something that could happen in a matter of hours or days, > it needn't be years. > > Again, you will need to decide the best course of action for your own > situation and you should get advice from a competent lawyer. > Do you mean that is the approach taken when the intellectual property rights have been granted to the FSF? I fully agree that any negotiation should start out in good faith and in the hope that it has been a misunderstanding. Law suits should not be motivated by greed or vindictiveness either. At any time, if the violator agrees to make good, a law suit can be withdraw. Regards, Daniel