Re: Licenses of .po files, and translations

[Claude Paroz <claude 2xlibre net>]

Le vendredi 12 septembre 2008 à 22:26 +0530, Gora Mohanty a écrit :
> Hi,
>   I need a clarification on the licensing of .po files.
> As per my understanding, both the .pot template files,
> and the .po files for individual languages, assert
> copyright, and licence restrictions, with the usual
> licensing terms being the same as for the package itself.
> 
>   Thus, as I see it, for an application licensed under
> the GPL, the .pot files, and the .po files are also
> GPL-licensed. Therefore, the following requirements
> ensue for a GPLed application:
> (a) A distribution with local-language translations of
>     the application is obliged to provide, upon request,
>     copies of the source .po file for each language.
> (b) Any modifications to existing .po file translations
>     for any language also automatically fall under the
>     GPL.
> I would like to hear whether people agree with this.

Yes, completely agree.
The sentence "This file is distributed under the same license as the
<package> package." is absolutely clear.

If you suspect license violation, your first approach should be to ask
friendly for correction and source publication.
Secondly, if you see no results, the case could be escalated to a higher
level. Our beloved Luis Villa (member of GNOME Board of Directors)
could be of some help in this situation. But legal action should be a
last resort solution.

HTH

Claude