Could companies twist contract law to their benefit?
Could companies twist contract law to their benefit?
Posted Jan 12, 2026 15:30 UTC (Mon) by Wol (subscriber, #4433)In reply to: Could companies twist contract law to their benefit? by Deubeuliou
Parent article: SFC v. VIZIO: who can enforce the GPL?
NO. From the GPL "You are not allowed to add any further restrictions", and also the preamble about the four freedoms.
Okay, we have all this argument about whether customers are allowed to exercise the rights the GPL gives them, but it is quite clear that it is absolutely fundamental to the licence, that this is an inalienable right that the licence gives customers. I know that many copyright holders don't want to make a fuss, but this is such a clear breach of copyright, that SOMEONE is almost bound to take them to the cleaners over it. It's pretty much an indefensible violation of the GPL - so much so that some copyright holder or another is going to take a slam-dunk punt on a lawsuit - probably the SFC or the FSF at a minimum, and the Free Software world will be cheering them on.
Cheers,
Wol