Upgrade to GPL 3 for Koha 3.4 - 150 word advocacy

This page is reserved only for an 150 word summary advocating GPL 3, invoked with an or later version option, for Koha 3.4. The summary is part of a ballot process for inclusion in a ballot on the question of upgrading the Koha copyright license.

Please use the Upgrade to GPL 3 for Koha 3.4 - Advocacy wiki page for more detailed advocacy linked from the summary.

Please use the Koha GPL 3 option wiki page or the Koha mailing list for open comment.

Summary (150 words at most)

• A lengthy open, even if imperfect, comment period for multiple drafts before the license was finalised.

• Substantially the same copyleft license as GPL 2 with protection for users over issues identified subsequent to the 1991 publication of GPL 2 and greater clarity of language.

• Greater international legal compatibility for terminology and aspects of software copyright law.

• Greater compatibility with other free software licenses allowing more code from other projects to enhance Koha. Compatibility includes GPL 2, invoked with an or later version option; code from newer projects using GPL 3 and LGPL3; and greater compatibility with other non-GPL free software licenses.

• Attribution rights for contributing authors even when not copyright holders.

• Other protections including greater protection from aggressive use of patents, controlled by modifiers and conveyors of the software, covering some aspect of the software functionality.

• Still upgradable.

See http://wiki.koha-community.org/wiki/Upgrade_to_GPL_3_for_Koha_3.4_-_Advocacy for more detail.