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

Tue Dec 15 17:42:04 UTC 2015

Simon Johnson-Begin wrote:

> 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.

I agree with that interpretation for every FOSS license. Nothing else makes sense for open source.

/Larry

-----Original Message-----
From: Simon.Johnson-Begin at cspq.gouv.qc.ca [mailto:Simon.Johnson-Begin at cspq.gouv.qc.ca] 
Sent: Tuesday, December 15, 2015 9:15 AM
To: license-review at opensource.org
Subject: Re: [License-review] International Licenses: Québec Free and Open-Source Licence (LiLiQ)

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> 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  <mailto:simon.johnson-begin at cspq.gouv.qc.ca> simon.johnson-begin at cspq.gouv.qc.ca |  <http://www.cspq.gouv.qc.ca> www.cspq.gouv.qc.ca

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