legal March 2025

legal@lists.fedoraproject.org

6 participants
4 discussions

Sleepycat license with SaaS restriction
by Florian Weimer 08 Jul '25

08 Jul '25

cryptlib is licensed under the Sleepycat license with a SaaS restriction: “Note that decoupling the software from the user, for example by running in a SaaS configuration, does not exempt you from these requirements.” (Full text attached.) This was not part of the original Sleepycat license, so a new license tag is required. Maybe this license is not even free; this additional clause seems to be a restriction on use. But perhaps it is not so different from the AGPL. Thanks, Florian

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GCC license compliance question
by Matthew Woehlke 24 Mar '25

24 Mar '25

Portions of GCC are distributed under the following license: ==================================================== Copyright (C) 1993 by Sun Microsystems, Inc. All rights reserved. Developed at SunPro, a Sun Microsystems, Inc. business. Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software is freely granted, provided that this notice is preserved. ==================================================== However, this notice does not seem to exist anywhere in binary distributions. I suspect the *intent* was similar to a BSD-style license, and my impression is that corporate lawyers tend to argue for that interpretation; i.e. "preserved" means that the notice is present somewhere in derivative works. Upstream, however, seems to feel that the notice is "preserved" because it hasn't been removed from the source file, i.e. it is *not* necessary to include the notice in binary distributions or other derived works. If I ship compiled code which includes code under the above license, what are my obligations? Do I need to include the above notice? Can I omit it entirely? Something else? (See also https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2353932.)

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Requesting license review of 7zip (also: question about public domain review requirements)
by Michel Lind 21 Mar '25

21 Mar '25

Dear legal list, I just filed https://gitlab.com/fedora/legal/fedora-license-data/-/issues/640 requesting review request for 7zip's license. TL;DR - this is blocking the review of 7zip, which we want to have as a replacement for p7zip which is dead upstream (and is needed by e.g. the Fedora Asahi Remix) The specific worry is - the language dedicating this to the public domain is very spartan (all of them are one-liners, see the issue) - some of these are done by other people and not the main project author, with no reference to where the sources are obtained from Related question: as I understand it public domain dedications have to be vetted before use, but where is this requirement documented? e.g. https://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/legal/license-approval/#_overview does not specifically mention a special process for LicenseRef-Fedora- Public-Domain. Thanks, -- _o) Michel Lind _( ) identities: https://keyoxide.org/5dce2e7e9c3b1cffd335c1d78b229d2f7ccc04f2 README: https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/User:Salimma#README

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Fwd: Invitation from FSFE to Online Q&A Session about DMA & Free Software
by Richard Fontana 13 Mar '25

13 Mar '25

---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Dario Presutti <dario(a)fsfe.org> Date: Thu, Mar 13, 2025 at 11:06 AM Subject: Invitation from FSFE to Online Q&A Session about DMA & Free Software To: <rfontana(a)redhat.com> Cc: Lucas Lasota <lucas.lasota(a)fsfe.org> Dear Richard, I hope this email finds you well. My name is Dario, and I am a project manager at the Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE). I received your contact from Matthias Kirschner - pleased to e-meet you! I am reaching out because my colleague Lucas (CC’d) and I are actively working on the implementation of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and its implications for Free Software. Recently, we have received many questions from other Free Software organisations regarding this topic. To address these, at the FSFE, we have decided to host an online Q&A session specifically for representatives of FOSS organisations, We would be delighted if you could participate. We would also appreciated if you could post this invitation to the Fedora Legal Mailing List (https://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/legal/) because we think this might be of interest. Below, you’ll find key details about the event. Thank you in advance! --- # Online Q&A session – DMA & Free Software: what Free Software organisations need to know Date: 24 March 2025 Time: 17:30 CET Location: Online (FSFE’s instance) Registration required: https://share.fsfe.org/apps/forms/s/riaMwgdMcgTnpHTTX3g92bkk As you may already know, the DMA is a landmark regulation by the European Union, designed to limit the power of large technology companies acting as “gatekeepers” and to foster fairer competition. Among its key provisions, the DMA establishes obligations for these dominant platforms, including the right to install and uninstall software freely, access to third-party app stores, and enhanced interoperability measures. These provisions have the potential to create new opportunities for Free Software development, distribution, and adoption. This session will provide Free Software organisation representatives the opportunity to: - Gain a deeper understanding of how the DMA’s enforcement impacts the Free Software ecosystem and the FSFE’s role in this process - Learn about FSFE’s legal efforts, including its ongoing litigation against Apple at the Court of Justice of the European Union. (If you attended FOSDEM, you may have seen FSFE Legal Programme Manager Lucas Lasota’s keynote on this topic [1]) - Engage directly with the FSFE team working on these issues. Event page: https://fsfe.org/news/2025/news-20250306-01.en.html ---- If you have any questions or need further information, please don’t hesitate to reach out! Thank you again. Best regards, Dario [1] https://fosdem.org/2025/schedule/event/fosdem-2025-5084-how-we-are-defendin… -- Dario Presutti (he/him/none) | Project Manager Free Software Foundation Europe e.V. Schönhauser Allee 6/7, 10119 Berlin, Germany Matrix: @dario:fsfe.org | Email: dario(a)fsfe.org

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legal March 2025