[License-review] International Licenses: Québec Free and Open-Source Licence (LiLiQ)

[Simon.Johnson-Begin at cspq.gouv.qc.ca]

Hi Richard,

>In English, saying that the *exercise* of certain previously-described
>granted rights is "subject to" something would (I think) ordinarily
>suggest that you are limiting the grant of rights in some way. That
>does not appear to be the case here. I assume that "sujet à" here is
>specifically intended to give rise to a contractual remedy against the
>licensor who fails to provide source code (which seems unusual in open
>source licenses, but see AFL/OSL 3.0 for an example)?

Just to be on the safe side, we contacted our translator and we agree
with him that it is not a translation issue. What we means is that the
rights that are granted cannot really be fully exercised if the source
code is not distributed, nothing more, nothing less. Subject to, in
other words “being dependent or conditional upon something” means that
the full exercice of the rights is dependant of the distribution of the
source code. In other words, the licensor must distribute the source
code. It is the licensor who is the debtor of that obligation. There is
no other possible interpretations. This is supported by section 4.1 and
4.2 of the LiLiQ R and R+: “Every time the licensee distributes the
software or modified software, the licensee is obliged to distribute
its source code in the manner prescribed in the third paragraph of
section (3).”

>2) Section 8, first paragraph says: > >  Le licencié est responsable
de tout préjudice résultant de l’exercice >  des droits accordés par la
licence. > >English: > >  The licensee is liable for any prejudice
resulting from the exercise >  of the rights granted under the licence.
> >This would seem to be a counterpart to limitation-of-liability
>provisions in conventional Anglophone software licenses. Is
>"préjudice" equivalent in meaning to damages of any sort, liability of
>any sort, or something else?

Yes, it is a sort of limitation-of-liability provision. According to
our translator, and I agree with him, “prejudice” was the best choice
to translate “préjudice”, and it means, in that sentence, damage or
detriment to one's legal rights or claims (took from the Black's Law
Dictionary, 10th edition). In french, it means “dans un sens général,
atteinte portée aux droits ou aux intérêts de quelqu'un”
(http://dictionnairereid.caij.qc.ca/#s=~_d0!2!1!!0!1!1!6!!2!!!1!3!0!_d2!c3a1f841-a629-495d-aa39-79f20cd3e026!547!_d6!-1%240%2441.18467%24dictionnaire%3A//pre_0judice!zpypApspBptpvqaqxrusrwrqqpvqqqpsp!_d8!2!_d0!4!pr%C3%A9judice!_d1!Idictionnaire!!xqJqtFpupEpGppwpupwpvppvpppIpHpDpzpApypuppCpqxpspBpqrq!),
which is translated “prejudice”. I am mostly sure that the words
“injury” or “damage” are correct equivalent if used in the sense
“liable for”. In any event, I don't think that the word “prejudice” is
going to be an issue.

Thanks,

Simon





Simon Johnson-Bégin, avocat  | Direction des affaires juridiques
Centre de services partagés du Québec | 875, Grande Allée Est, 4e étage, Québec (Québec) G1R 5W5
Tél. : 418 644-7934  | Téléc. : 418 646-0105
simon.johnson-begin at cspq.gouv.qc.ca | www.cspq.gouv.qc.ca

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