GPL: which country's law?

[John Cowan]

Paul Reilly wrote:


> Unless I've missed something, the GPL V2 doesn't specify in which 
> country's courts any dispute should be heard.


That is intentional, since it is meant to be used by developers in
all countries, and changing it is forbidden.

> Has anyone looked at where that leaves a systems integrator outside the 
> US who builds a product using, say, an American distribution of Linux? 


Unless you contemplate a breach of the GPL, and are worried about
where you might be sued, I don't foresee a problem.


>  - If I want my own legal advisors to research GPL for the purpose of 
> compatibility with our own business model, should that be against the 
> framework of UK law, or is only US law relevant?


There is not likely to be anything specially relevant about US law,
unless some actual party to the transaction is in the US.  IANAL.

>  - Secondly (and this applies to US companies too), if I create a 
> product which in some way incorporates GPL code (whether that 
> 'incorporation' be very loose or very tight), and then I export it 
> (maybe worldwide) what country's laws am I subject to?


If you enter into a contract with a foreigner, you certainly may be
subject to the jurisdiction of the foreign court.  The court would
then have to decide, using its own conflict-of-laws principles,
whether to apply its own law, UK law, or some other law altogether.

> Could a customer 
> in country X decide that his laws should apply, and choose to interpret 
> GPL accordingly, possibly to my serious disadvantage?


Sure.  But will the foreign court decide it has jurisdiction, and
(if it does) do you care?

These are ordinary questions about doing business with foreign
customers, and don't have that much to do with the GPL.

> Could I get round this by creating some sort of wrapper around the GPL 
> that fills this vacuum and positively defines the country of law?


As far as your own works are concerned.  But such choice-of-law
provisions conflict with the unmodified GPL (because they impose
extra conditions on the recipient), so you could not mix your works
with other GPLed works into a derivative work.

-- 
There is / one art             || John Cowan <jcowan at reutershealth.com>
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to do / all things             || http://www.ccil.org/~cowan
with art- / lessness           \\ -- Piet Hein