Messages in this thread | | | Subject | Re: Dual-Licensing Linux Kernel with GPL V2 and GPL V3 | From | Sanjoy Mahajan <> | Date | 16 Jun 2007 04:00:32 +0100 |
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>> "version 2 or higher"
> That phrase exists outside the license
That's true. But sec. 9 of the GPLv2 says:
If the Program does not specify a version number of this License, you may choose any version ever published by the Free Software Foundation.
So, by making the COPYING contain the v2 text, is the author specifying a particular version? If yes, then the sec. 9 provision would be meaningless, since there would be no way to not specify a version number.
My understanding is that courts would presume that a license term has a meaning, if it has a plausible reading. And there such a reading: that to specify a version, there needs to be (e.g. in the source files) a statement like, "This file [or work] is licensed under the GNU GPLv2."
Corrections, flames, etc. are welcome.
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