Managing copyrights in free software projects - discussion panel with GNU maintainers

Day 1 | 12:30 | 00:25 | H.1301 (Cornil) | Krzysztof Siewicz

Note: I'm reworking this at the moment, some things won't work.

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For FSF-copyrighted GNU packages, FSF insists on executing copyright assignments and employer disclaimers. These are designed to ensure steady and continuing enforcement of the GPL, as well as to serve other important purposes related to licensing and copyright management. The maintainers of some GNU packages would like to use a simple mechanism called "Developer Certificate of Origin" (DCO). It is hard, and some lawyers think it's even impossible, for a DCO to allow FSF to enforce the GPL. However, we at the FSF have once promised to accept DCOs and to draft a DCO that would best serve the needs of the free software community. We want to fulfill this promise after a broad discussion about issues surrounding copyright assignments: their importance, best approaches, and challenges in managing copyrights in free software projects.

Panelists will elaborate on the following questions: 1) How to ensure swift enforcement of the GPL? 2) How to protect free software against third party claims, including employers' copyright or patent claims? 3) How to enable swift relicensing or adding additional permissions, while protecting software against appropriation? 4) How to remove any challenges a contributor might encounter with the process?