this post was submitted on 06 Aug 2023
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Thoughts on a GPL4?
Many examples indicate an even stronger license is needed, I will list a few
The current RedHat debacle
MuseScore's closed source Musehub (after being acquired by Ultimatw Guitar)
Google commiting copyright infringement by combining free (as in freedom) software with code under Apache license for Android
We clearly need a stronger, more all encompassing license.
I'm not too familiar with it, but I'm always open to moving to stronger copyleft-licenses, if the AGPLv3 is proving inadequate.
does lemmy have a CLA to make changing licenses less of a headache? or did is project AGPLv3-or-later?
I'm no legal expert, so I don't know what updating the license entails, and why you wouldn't as the creator be able to change the license freely as you see fit.
every contributor has independently licensed the portion of the code they contributed under the current license. so most larger FOSS projects require a Contributor License Assignment to the org managing that project such that changes like these are legally feasible. otherwise you have to track down every person who made a one line change or risk getting sued for copyright infringement.
when you work for a corporation this license assignment is a standard part of the employment contract for this exact reason. our copyright system is deeply broken.
theres no gpl4 yet the idea has been floated around
Really? Well that sucks.