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As opposed to a proprietary software, which is usually created for the purpose of its distribution in exchange for money and is strictly tied up by the authors who keep almost all the rights exclusive to themselves, there is also software, which is quite different. The main difference lies in the fact the authors do not keep all the rights exclusive to themselves, thus allowing other developers to use parts of their software in their own works, to change their software, distribute it, etc. That is why such software is usually being called as "free".

The Idea of Free Software

 

Proprietary software, according to opinions of many, has one major flaw, which is its absolute compliance with the "all rights reserved" system of intellectual property protection regime. It means that the rightful owner of software copy has only minimum rights in utilising it. He usually can use software for its primary function, i. e. text editor to create and edit various texts, operating system to maintain functions of the computer, etc. But the user is strictly forbidden to distribute the software, change it, or to use its part to create his own software. The main idea of the free software is to grant these rights to the owner of the copy of software. This approach is sometimes being referred to as "copyleft" as an opposite to "copyright". The free software does not necesserily have to be free of charge, altough it often is.

Wikipedia article on free software.	Quite an extensive definition of free software.

 
To understand the concept, you should think of free as in free speech, not as in free beer.

Richard Stallman on the idea of free software.

 

Free Software Foundation

 

Free software movement is informal social movement attempting to promote free software. There are many organisations as well as unofficial groups endorsing the policy of free software movement, among which we should mention at least Richard Stallman's Free Software Foundation that has been strongly influencing movement's policy. The organisation focuses on maintaining the free software definition, sponsoring the GNU project, holding copyright on a large proportion of the GNU operating system, and other free software, publishing the GNU General Public License, and campaining for free software adoption.

Benjamin Mako Hill talks about the Free Software Foundation.	Georg Greve, chairman of the Free Software Foundation Europe explains priorities and strategies of the FSFEurope.

 

GNU GPL

 

The GNU General Public License, in its version 3 nowadays, is the most widely used free software license. The license uses the "copyleft" approach to ensure subordination of the software under the free software regime proclaimed by the Free Software Foundation. Anyone is free to use the license for his or her software.

GNU General Public License version 3 text.	A Quick Guide to GNU General Public License version 3.

 "When we speak of free software, we are referring to freedom, not price. Our General Public Licenses are designed to make sure that you have the freedom to distribute copies of free software (and charge for them if you wish), that you receive source code or can get it if you want it, that you can change the software or use pieces of it in new free programs, and that you know you can do these things."

 

Legislation

 

 Copyright Laws:

• Title 17 of the United States Code, Copyright Act of 1976 (USA)
• Council Directive 24/2009/EC on the legal protection of computer programs (Codified version) (EU)
• Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (International)
• Law No. 121/2000 Coll. on Copyright, Rights Related to Copyright and on the Amendment of Certain Laws (CZ)

Case Law

Further recommended reading

 

Zittrain, J., 2004. Normative Principles for Evaluating Free and Proprietary Software. The University of Chicago Law Review, 71, pp. 265 - 288. (pages 268 - 273)

Jaeger, Till, Enforcement of the GNU GPL in Germany and Europe, 1 (2010) JIPITEC 34, para. 1.

 

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