2009/11/19 Brian Vuyk <brian@brianvuyk.com>

Larry,

I don't believe that discussion of the GPL2, it's application, and related subjects are off-topic for the development list. After all, it's the license we are *all* releasing code under, and it is critical that it is properly understood by the Drupal development community.

Brian

larry@garfieldtech.com wrote:

Please follow up in the mentioned thread then, not here.

--Larry Garfield

Brian Vuyk wrote:

Nowhere did I claim selling a module was wrong. Of course they can sell a GPL module.

The problem here is the code is not being released under the GPL.

Brian

larry@garfieldtech.com wrote:

*sigh*

There is nothing in the GPL that says you cannot sell a module. The module author is free to charge $1 million dollars a copy if he wants to... provided that the code is then licensed to buyers under the GPL, which means the buyer could redistribute it for free if they felt like it. So just charging for a module does not constitute a GPL violation. We've been over this, and the dev list is not the place to be rehashing it.

I've already replied to that effect to the mentioned thread.

--Larry Garfield
Director of Legal Affairs
Drupal Association

Brian Vuyk wrote:

There are several long-running discussions on g.d.o over whether or not a module constitutes a derivative of Drupal. Unfortunately, there isn't much in the way of legal precedent to give definition to the term 'derivative' in the context of the GPL.

While it is the Drupal Association's interpretation that a module *is* derivative code, this is a somewhat legal grey area.

If a module is considered to not be a derivative, then it doesn't automatically gain the GPL, and there is nothing wrong with selling it, and prosecuting anyone who redistributes it.

If it is indeed a derivative (the stance I take), then modules automatically assume the full protection / freedom of the GPL. In which case this developer is violating the GPL.

In short, someone should purchase the module, and exercise their GPL freedom to post it to D.org, or take over maintainership of the module.

Brian

Naheem Zaffar wrote:

2009/11/19 Alex Barth <alex@developmentseed.org <mailto:alex@developmentseed.org>>

This may have come up before, but
http://integrationservic.es/drupal.php launched on Nov 12 and
appears to be violating drupal's GPL2 by charging 33 $ for a
module download.

The GPL does not say that the module has to be for free. However once the module has been "distributed" to other individuals, no additional restrictions above the GPL can be added, so if the person has clause that the purchasers cannot sell/pass the module onto others, that would be a problem, otherwise, no it wouldn't.

IANAL, but that is my understanding.