[consulting] Copyright

[Larry Garfield]

On Sunday 25 April 2010 10:18:44 am Eric Goldhagen wrote:

> Unless they have redistributed their changes, in which case they have
> a commitment to return their code to those that maintain the codebase
> they built on top of. Which is why my contracts specify that turning
> over a completed project is considered distribution.
> 
> --Eric

There is no requirement whatsoever that changes be redistributed "upstream".  
The only requirement of the GPL is that downstream receivers of the code 
receive it under the terms of the GPL.  That is, if you fork Drupal and start 
distributing it, you are under no obligation to give anything to Drupal.org; 
you just can't stop any of the people you give your fork to from doing so.

It's a good idea to contribute changes upstream for a variety of reasons in 
most cases, but it's not a legal requirement.

--Larry Garfield