The GNU General Public License GNU GPL or simply GPL is a copyright license for free software created by Richard Stallman of the Free Software Foundation.

The GPL was originally created by Stallman for the GNU project which was an attempt to develop a free operating system as well the associated utilities, as a complete alternative to proprietary software. Stallman developed the GPL because early versions of GNU project utilities had a separate, and mutually incompatible license, for each program, which meant that the programs could not share code.

Open Source software is distributed under a variety of licenses each of which usually permits licensee to distribute and modify the software, provided that the licensee complies with a specified set of terms and conditions.

A question that can therefore arise, is a licensee legally permitted to create modifications which combine elements of two (or more) different existing works into a single work, and distribute the result?

The answer is that these types of combinations are generally only legally permitted if the licensee can comply with all the pertinent terms and conditions of all the licenses.

Only a Newsboy,
One of a countless throng,
Only a waif on the tide of life,
That restless flows along.
Only a newsboy.

Lyrics from the song: Only a Newsboy, 1898.
Words by Arthur J. Lamb, Music by John S. May

(Though actual names are not disclosed, the facts contained in this piece are taken from a casefile in our office, and have not been altered in any way. The case is an active one in the office, well it was until last motion day.)

On April 19, 2007, the Michigan Court of Appeals issued an unpublished opinion in the case of Hernandez v Studio Plus Properties, Inc. and D and R Property Maintenance, LLC (No. 272658). Just another in the continuing series of terse, “Open and Obvious” decisions coming out of Michigan courts of review over the past dozen years. A little less than two and one-half pages in length, a little less than anything in the way of legal analysis. Recite a few facts, add some boilerplate, slap on the Open and Obvious tag and affirm the Circuit Court’s Summary Disposition Order. Ho-Hum.