Compatibility of the AFL with the GPL
Richard Stallman
rms at gnu.org
Thu Mar 13 07:48:21 UTC 2003
> The key question: If Person C who has W' sues Person A for
> patent infringement, does that void his license to do things with W'?
If C sues A for patent infringement, C can no longer copy, modify or
distribute W, or W+X, or W', because his license to do those things with
W is terminated.
This means that the license for W+X is not the GPL. More precisely,
that the GPL is not the whole of the license that applies to C for
W+X.
The GPL does not permit using X in this way. It does not permit
adding any other restriction whatsoever to any work that contains or
derives from X.
Section 7 applies to any other license that limits the GPL rights in
any way, and that includes terminating them under any conditions
where the GPL itself would not terminate them.
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