Automatic GPL termination

[Philippe Verdy]

Removal of permissions granted in the original GPL is NOT permitted. Only
the additional permissions (that are not part of the original GPL) are
granted.

So it is not adding restriction to the GPL, it is just returning to the
original GPL. Additional permissions are not covered by the GPL text itself,
and if they are present, the GPL states explicitly which one can be added
and how, and how they can be removed. These additions and suppressions are
rights granted by the original GPL.

But even if additional permission are added, the GPL still requires
providing a verbatim copy of the GPL, in addition to the optional additional
permissions allowed to distributors.

The GPL also allows distributors to restrict the redistribution of
additional rights so that they are non transferable, but the original GPL is
not affected.

The GPL with additional permissions is exactly like two separate licences
which are compatible with each other only under the conditions defined in
the GPL: if present in a distribution, they can't remove permissions granted
by the original GPL.

Here again the GPL remains protected. The GPL text itself, whiuch must be
transferred verbatim without modification, keep its own copyright by the
FSF. Even if you transmit a translation of the GPL, you must still provide a
verbatim copy of the original unmodified GPL text in English, and the GPL
states that the translation must not be legally binding.

An example of additional permissions are the LGPL licence, which is the GPL
with optional additionnal permissions, or the CeCIL licence which is
explicitly the GPL with optional additional permissions (you can explicitly
replace the CeCIL or LGPL licences by the original GPL alone without braking
the LGPL or CeCIL licences or any rights granted in the GPL).

> -----Message d'origine-----
> De : Alexander Terekhov [mailto:alexander.terekhov at gmail.com]
> Envoyé : mercredi 12 septembre 2007 20:08
> À : verdy_p at wanadoo.fr
> Cc : Chris Travers; John Cowan; lrosen at rosenlaw.com; dlw; license-
> discuss at opensource.org
> Objet : Re: Automatic GPL termination
> 
> On 9/12/07, Philippe Verdy <verdy_p at wanadoo.fr> wrote:
> [...]
> > No sublicencing ! Tinkers does not provide any exclusive distribution
> right
> > to Evers and Evers can't claim copyright reassignment and cannot add
> further
> > restrictions even if he adds code or modifies it in his distribution.
> 
> And removal of permissions is what? How is that not adding restrictions?