Automatic GPL termination

dlw danw6144 at insightbb.com
Mon Sep 3 21:45:40 UTC 2007


 >>  "...provided the stated conditions are met."

What if the stated conditions are not met?

License rescission is not nearly as simple as some think. A good example 
is this link concerning California law:
http://www.kinseylaw.com/clientserv2/civillitigationserv/rescission/rescission.html

"In addition to giving prompt notice of rescission, the party seeking 
rescissionary relief must "promptly," upon discovering the facts 
entitling him or her to rescind, restore to the other party "everything 
of value" received under the contract or offer to restore the benefits 
received "upon condition that the other party do likewise" . . . unless 
the other party "is unable or positively refuses to do so." [Ca Civil § 
1691(b)] This restoration of benefits accomplishes the ultimate purpose 
of rescission--i.e., to return the parties to their precontract status 
quo positions. Thus, in a real property purchase and sale transaction, a 
rescission normally requires the buyer to return the property (title) to 
the seller and the seller to return the funds received from the buyer.

A formal offer to restore the contractual benefits received is not 
required. Plaintiff's service of the complaint seeking rescissionary 
relief "shall be deemed" to be the requisite offer. [Ca Civil § 1691]"

After a GPL derivative work is released over the internet to thousands 
of servers how does a plaintiff  return all the initial copyright 
permissions that were exchanged prior to terminating the license? 
Sometimes it's impossible to put the cat back in the bag.



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