[theme-reviewers] GPL and limiting usage

[Trent Lapinski]

> If the copyright holder says that the terms are GPL, then the terms
> are GPL. Period. No magic coding trickery can make it "incompatible"
> with those terms.

Just because you claim something is GPL does not make it true.

There are plenty of people who release code under the GPL and violate the terms, and there have been several lawsuits on this matter. http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-violation.html

The GPL is not the same as copyright, there is no inherent law granting you the right. If you release something under the GPL that is not GPL compatible, it is a GPL violation and you lose the privilege to claim your code is GPL compatible.

If you look at the violations page, one of the questions to determine if there is a violation is: "Is the available source code complete, or is it designed for linking in other non-free modules?"

This is exactly what we're discussing. 

PageLines is releasing a supposedly GPL compatible theme linking to a plugin that forces users to pay a subscription validated through the use of a priority API to use supposedly GPL compatible code. This is a violation of the GPL and renders both the theme and plugin as non-compatible with the GPL, and WPORG policy.

When it comes to policy on .org, the question is do we allow themes or plugins to upsell priority non-GPL themes and plugins? The answer as I understood it was a resounding no. You yourself said this is not allowed, so I'm not sure why you're claiming this situation is different then what it is.

> Now, the review requirements go far beyond GPL, and that's fair
> enough. But there is no real case where you would ever need to "modify
> a pro theme heavily" to be GPL-Compatible. Whoever told you that this
> was the reason was mistaken.

Actually they weren't wrong. This has been WPORG policy for over 3 years now as Chip mentioned.

--Trent Lapinski
=============
CEO of CyberChimps Inc

On Sep 20, 2013, at 1:01 PM, Otto <otto at ottodestruct.com> wrote:

> 
> If the copyright holder says that the terms are GPL, then the terms
> are GPL. Period. No magic coding trickery can make it "incompatible"
> with those terms.
> 
> -Otto
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