Dear colleagues of the Free Software Foundation(FSF) :
Hope this message finds you well! We are members working on a long-term translation project named “Contransus™” initiated and hosted by the OpenAtom Foundation, a Chinese not-for-profit open source foundation established in 2020.
The project is aiming at bringing consensus in open source among people speaking different languages via translation, and first of all by offering, for public and for free, credible Chinese translation of popular OSS licenses.
To achieve this, we called for candidate translation scripts from the community and established a Review Panel of Experts with competence (in regard to both languages, law and open source) to work collaboratively in reviewing and revising translation scripts line by line. So far we have reviewed and approved credible translation scripts of the MIT License, the 3-Clause BSD and Apache-2.0, while the GNU GPL licenses (GPLv3, AGPLv3, LGPLv3 and GPLv2) are expected to be done by Q1 of 2024.
In revising translation script of the GNU GPLv3 (FYI, see: Translation Draft and Review Minitues[CN]), our panel raised some unsettled questions, for which we are writing to seek from you, the steward of the License, kind opinions, clarification and interpretation:
1. Re Article 3: “When you convey a covered work, you waive any legal power to forbid circumvention of technological measures to the extent such circumvention is effected by exercising rights under this License with respect to the covered work, and you disclaim any intention to limit operation or modification of the work as a means of enforcing, against the work's users, your or third parties' legal rights to forbid circumvention of technological measures.”
Question: There are two understandings in regard to the relation between “limit (users’) operation or modification of the work” and “enforcing ... legal right to forbid circumvention”:
1) “limit (users’) operation or modification of the work” is a means for “enforcing ... legal right to forbid circumvention”; or
2) “enforcing ... legal right to forbid circumvention” should be a means to “limit (users’) operation or modification of the work”.
Please advise which one is more accurate.
2. Re Article 8: "Termination of your rights under this section does not terminate the licenses of parties who have received copies or rights from you under this License. If your rights have been terminated and not permanently reinstated, you do not qualify to receive new licenses for the same material under section 10.”
Question: The phrase “same material” herein has no specific definition elsewhere in the license. We wonder if it is correct to translate it, in light of the context, as a reference to “any materials” in which “your rights have been terminated and not permanently reinstated”?
We believe that this part is to make clear that an disqualified licensee could not get his license renewed simply by receiving another version of the program.
3. Re Article 11:
A “contributor” is a copyright holder who authorizes use under this License of the Program or a work on which the Program is based. The work thus licensed is called the contributor's “contributor version”.
A contributor's “essential patent claims” are all patent claims owned or controlled by the contributor, whether already acquired or hereafter acquired, that would be infringed by some manner, permitted by this License, of making, using, or selling its contributor version, but do not include claims that would be infringed only as a consequence of further modification of the contributor version. For purposes of this definition, “control” includes the right to grant patent sublicenses in a manner consistent with the requirements of this License.
Understandings:
While the “contributor” refers to copyright holder of the Program or a copyrightable upstream portion of the Program (a work on which the Program is based), there are two understandings:
1. the “contributor version” should refer to the contribution portion made by the contributor (in case of the first contributor, his contribution version could be the Program). As shown in the following graph:
* “contribution version by B = the Program - the contribution version by A”
* “contribution version by C = the Covered Work - the Program (i.e. the contribution version by A and B)” .
2. the “contributor version” should refer to the whole Program/covered work incoporating the contributor’s contribution. As shown in the following graph:
* “contribution version by B = the Program”
* “contribution version by C = the Covered Work”
Questions:
Further to the first understanding: whether the “essential patent claims” cover claims that would be infringed by the combination of contributor version and the rest parts contributed by others? For example, if a patent claim is infringed by the combination (rather than individually) of A’s contribution and B’s contribution, would it be granted by A if it owned/controlled by A? Or by B if it is owned/controlled by B? Or by neither in any case?
Further to the second understanding: should a contributor grant his patent in regard to contribution made by his upstream developer? For example, if B holds a patent claim which is infringed only by contribution made by A, does B grant such claim to C under this License?
4. Re HOW TO APPLY THESE TERMS TO YOUR NEW PROGRAMS: “You should also get your employer (if you work as a programmer) or school, if any, to sign a “copyright disclaimer” for the program, if necessary.”
Question: Two types of “copyright disclaimer” could be relevant: 1) the employer disclaims that it has no copyright/interest in the contribution while such contribution is purely personally made by the employee, and 2) the employer disclaims its copyright in the contribution while the contribution may belong to “work made for hire” and copyrighted by the employer in default. We wonder if the phrase “copyright disclaimer” should cover type 1) , 2) or both?
We deeply appreciate your time and help! Please feel free to contact us if you have any comments or suggestions.
Sincerely yours,
Lotus Wang
Vanessa Guo
Contransus™ Project
OPENATOM FOUNDATION
