469:
combined derivative) and regarding compatibility (since no derivative could be licensed under another license, which may create incompatibilities). The EUPL vision that is depending on the EU law is all the contrary: linking makes no derivatives and when merging source code licensed differently is a necessity, the resulting derivative can be licensed under a compatible license. For some of those, the copyleft is known to be âweakerâ (i.e. the MPL), but this has no impact because according to the EUPL the compatible license will prevail when its provisions conflict with those of the EUPL. Since none of the compatible license prohibits the strong reciprocity implemented by the EUPL (obligation to publish and share the source code of derivatives, even distributed through a network) the copyleft resulting from the EUPL can be considered as strong. For this reason, the German lawyer Niklas Plutte created for the EUPL the new category of "Interoperable copyleft licence".
537:
1132:
171:
451:. Recital 10 of this Directive defines interoperability and recital 15 states that for making two programs interoperable, the code needed can be copied, translated or adapted. For example, take program A (new original code just written) and program B (a program licensed by a third party), the developer/licensor of A, who is also a legitimate holder or recipient of B may reproduce in A the needed code from B (e.g. the
29:
459:
Unlike the "articles", the directive "recitals" are not transposed as such in national laws. However, recitals are part of
European law: they are serving for understanding the scope and rationale of the law, and will be used by the court for interpreting the law, as the case may be. While recitals in
455:
or the needed data structures from program B) without copyright infringement and without authorization from the copyright holder of B. The licensor of A can do and distribute this without being bonded by conditions or limitations imposed by a licence of program B. This must stay compatible with the
424:
According to the EUPL v.1.1, the
European Commission may publish other linguistic versions and/or new versions of the EUPL, so far this is required and reasonable, without reducing the scope of the rights granted by the Licence. Future upgrades will not be applicable automatically when software was
435:
An important characteristic of the EUPL v1.2 is that, unlike the GPL, it is compatible with all other reciprocal licenses listed in the EUPL appendix. Compatibility means that after merging the covered code with code covered by a compatible license, the resulting (combined) derivative work can be
265:
EUPL is the first open source licence to be released by an international governing body. A goal of this licence is to create an open-source licence available into 23 official languages of the
European Union, and that is sure to conform to the existing copyright laws of the Member States of the
468:
It is important to make a distinction between the various flavours of the âStrong
Copyleftâ concept. According to the GPL/AGPL licensor vision, this means some restrictions and conditions regarding interoperability (due to the theory that linking other software with the covered code creates a
460:
EU Directives and
Regulations are not considered to have independent legal value, they can expand an ambiguous provision's scope. They cannot restrict an unambiguous provision's scope, but they can be used to determine the nature of a provision, or to adapt it to new circumstances.
420:
The EUPL v1.2 was prepared as from June 2013 its decision process started in 2016 and released on 19 May 2017. A principal objective of the EUPL v1.2 is to update the appendix of compatible licences to cover newer popular licences such as the GNU GPLv3 and AGPLv3.
477:
In
November 2023, a discussion paper, "The seven pillars of wisdom", published in the framework of the adoption of the Interoperable Europe Act, was proposed for discussion by the writing author of the EUPL-1.2 and explains the philosophy behind the EUPL text.
486:
As from 2010, EU member states adopt or revise policies aimed to encourage â when appropriate â the open source distribution of public sector applications. The EUPL is formally mentioned in some of these policies:
269:
The licence was developed with other open-source licences in mind and specifically authorizes covered works to be re-released under the following licences, when combined with their covered code in larger works:
195:. The licence is available in 23 official languages of the European Union. All linguistic versions have the same validity. Its latest version, EUPL v1.2, was published in May 2017. Revised documentation for
393:
In 2020, the
European Commission publishes its Joinup Licensing Assistant, which makes possible the selection and comparison of more than 50 licences, with access to their SPDX identifier and full text.
1229:
146:
Yes, as it depends on the applicable copyright law in the
European Union country where the Licensor resides or has his or her registered office for defining what qualifies as a derivative work.
222:
programme, given its generic scope it was also suitable for use by any software developer. Its main goal is its focusing on being consistent with the copyright law in the Member States of the
550:
555:
111:
98:
1185:
The
European Union Public Licence (by Patrice-Emmanuel Schmitz) - A legal analysis in the IFOSSLR (International Free and Open Source Software Law Review), Vol. 5 n°2 (2013)
1063:
1219:
969:
1209:
387:
Many other OSI-approved licences are compatible with the EUPL: JOINUP publish a general compatibility matrix between all OSI-approved licences and the EUPL.
432:
loophole of software distribution: Distribution and/or
Communication (of software) includes providing on-line "access to its essential functionalities".
518:
930:
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203:
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542:
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719:
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85:
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74:
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207:
202:
Software, mainly produced by European administrations, has been licensed under the EUPL since the launch of the European
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973:
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448:
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231:
665:
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95:
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EUPL was originally intended to be used for the distribution of software developed in the framework of the
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339:
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108:
1199:
560:
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188:
141:
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Estonia: Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, Department of State Information Systems.
456:
normal use of program B and cannot prejudice the legitimate interest of the copyright holder of B.
192:
39:
444:
390:
An overview of the EUPL licence and on what makes it different has been published in OSS-Watch.
1204:
1019:
See Article 1 of the EUPL 1.2 last subpoint, definition of âDistributionâ and âCommunicationâ.
707:
365:
361:
699:
243:
999:
815:
640:
1159:
1131:
170:
239:
223:
121:
59:
860:
The EUPL - An Overview by Rowan Wilson, last updated 9 September 2012 (EUPL v1.1 only)
804:
737:
1193:
1184:
440:
227:
1148:
Legal context and milestones of the elaboration of the EUPL (by Severine Dusollier)
826:
793:
405:
EUPL v1.1 was approved by the European Commission on 9 January 2009. EUPL v1.1 is
1147:
1179:
1154:
Article of professor Severine Dusollier with a particular reference to the EUPL
502:
698:. Brussels, Belgium: Directorate-General for Informatics, European Commission.
532:
412:
EUPL v1.2 was published in May 2017. EUPL v1.2 is OSI certified in July 2017.
54:
696:
European Union Public Licence (EUPL) Guidelines July 2021 â NO-08-21-281-EN-N
519:
Code of Relations between the Public and the Administration, Article D323-2-1
439:
Another characteristic of the EUPL is that it is interoperable, without any "
762:
1170:"The European Union can show off with its own, free, open source license"
131:
859:
447:. This currently depends on European and national law, according to the
1163:
891:
782:
28:
1099:
1071:
328:
1160:"Speech of Neelie Kroes, Vice President of the European Commission"
1173:
703:
219:
1029:
License compatibility in the case of static and dynamic linking.
350:
945:"Public Consultation on the draft EUPL v 1.2 has been fruitful"
1141:
1041:"Open Source Software Recht: GroĂe FAQ mit vielen Praxistipps"
452:
250:
449:
Computer Programs Directive (Directive 91/250 EEC or 2009/24)
611:"European Union Public License v. 1.2 added to license list"
126:
Yes, by licensing derivatives that include GPL covered code
645:
The GNU Operating System and the Free Software Movement
964:
962:
901:
899:
261:
Comparison to other open source/free software licences
1230:
Information technology organizations based in Europe
556:
Comparison of free and open-source software licences
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140:
130:
120:
107:
94:
84:
73:
65:
53:
45:
35:
234:. The first IDABC software packages mentioned are
931:"Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2017/863"
551:Software using the European Union Public Licence
425:expressly released "under the EUPL v.1.1 only".
694:Schmitz, Patrice-Emmanuel (30 September 2021).
604:
602:
600:
1062:Schmitz, Patrice-Emmanuel (23 November 2023).
635:
633:
631:
1093:Schmitz, Patrice-Emmanuel (3 December 2021).
226:, while retaining compatibility with popular
8:
970:"Public Consultation on the draft EUPL v1.2"
21:
996:"Understanding the EUPL v1.2 | Joinup"
907:"Introduction to the EUPL licence | Joinup"
1130:
641:"Various Licenses and Comments about Them"
436:distributed under the compatible license.
402:EUPL v1.0 was approved on 9 January 2007.
169:
142:Linking from code with a different licence
27:
1095:"The EUPL is a 'Legal Licence' in France"
892:EUPL v1.0 was published on 9 January 2007
272:
580:"ausweisapp2 in Debian Package Tracker"
571:
1220:Free and open-source software licenses
204:Open Source Observatory and Repository
69:January 2007 (v 1.0), May 2017 (v 1.2)
20:
191:that was written and approved by the
7:
1180:EUPL - An overview (by Rowan Wilson)
543:Free and open-source software portal
206:(OSOR) in October 2008, now part of
1210:Copyright law of the European Union
849:Matrix of EUPL compatible licences
14:
609:Donald Robertson (26 June 2018).
517:of 1 December 2021, amending the
503:Information Society Yearbook 2009
376:GNU Affero General Public License
166:/eupl-guidelines-faq-infographics
1138:Full English text of the licence
666:OSI approval published on Joinup
535:
199:was issued in late‑2021.
838:- European Union Public License
783:Overview of the IDABC project.
409:certified as from March 2009.
276:Explicit license compatibility
1:
1064:"The seven pillars of wisdom"
181:European Union Public Licence
22:European Union Public Licence
872:"Joinup Licensing Assistant"
430:Application service provider
80:EUPL-1.0, EUPL-1.1, EUPL-1.2
1246:
1225:Copyleft software licenses
805:IPM technical architecture
445:static and dynamic linking
290:GPL v3 added in EUPL v1.2
285:GNU General Public License
232:GNU General Public License
428:New provisions cover the
26:
615:Free Software Foundation
257:specification software.
210:collaborative platform.
584:Debian Package Tracker
482:Member states policies
340:Mozilla Public License
318:Eclipse Public License
287:(GPL) v. 2 & v. 3
1215:Free content licenses
561:GPL linking exception
307:Common Public License
296:Open Software License
230:licences such as the
189:free software licence
86:Debian FSG compatible
16:Free software license
298:(OSL) v. 2.1, v. 3.0
976:on 24 December 2015
911:joinup.ec.europa.eu
759:"Osor.eu migration"
515:Décret n° 2021-1559
193:European Commission
40:European Commission
23:
1043:. 10 November 2019
331:v. 2.0 & V 2.1
713:978-92-76-41527-5
385:
384:
279:Added in version
177:
176:
1237:
1134:
1129:
1128:
1126:Official website
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998:. Archived from
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972:. Archived from
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761:. Archived from
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736:. Archived from
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947:. 20 March 2013
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794:CIRCA groupware
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1118:External links
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734:"Joinup forge"
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647:. 26 June 2018
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46:Latest version
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1002:on 2017-12-01
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765:on 2012-06-10
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740:on 2016-04-04
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353:v2.1 & V3
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1200:Computer law
1104:. Retrieved
1098:
1088:
1076:. Retrieved
1070:
1057:
1045:. Retrieved
1035:
1024:
1015:
1004:. Retrieved
1000:the original
990:
978:. Retrieved
974:the original
949:. Retrieved
939:
925:
914:. Retrieved
910:
887:
875:. Retrieved
866:
855:
844:
833:
822:
811:
800:
789:
778:
767:. Retrieved
763:the original
753:
742:. Retrieved
738:the original
728:
720:Landing page
695:
689:
672:
661:
649:. Retrieved
644:
618:. Retrieved
614:
587:. Retrieved
583:
574:
522:
485:
476:
467:
458:
441:viral effect
438:
434:
427:
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411:
404:
401:
392:
389:
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268:
264:
217:
201:
184:
180:
178:
18:
416:Version 1.2
378:(AGPL) v. 3
238:groupware,
1194:Categories
1106:6 December
1006:2017-11-27
980:3 December
951:3 December
916:2017-11-20
769:2012-06-13
744:2016-04-04
678:"EUPL 1.1"
567:References
473:Philosophy
381:EUPL v1.2
370:EUPL v1.2
356:EUPL v1.2
345:EUPL v1.2
334:EUPL v1.0
323:EUPL v1.0
312:EUPL v1.0
301:EUPL v1.0
77:identifier
589:3 January
66:Published
55:Publisher
1205:Copyleft
1176:magazine
1078:25 March
1047:31 March
877:31 March
816:IPM EUPL
651:2 August
620:2 August
529:See also
513:France:
509:Slovakia
398:Versions
366:LiLIQ-R+
242:and the
132:Copyleft
112:approved
99:approved
1164:YouTube
523:et seq.
362:LiLIQ-R
214:History
187:) is a
160:.europa
151:Website
1100:Joinup
1072:Joinup
710:
364:&
329:CeCILL
320:v. 1.0
309:v. 1.0
208:Joinup
156:joinup
36:Author
1174:Linux
1166:video
1156:(PDF)
1150:(PDF)
1067:(PDF)
827:eLink
681:(PDF)
497:Spain
492:Malta
244:eLink
236:CIRCA
220:IDABC
164:/page
1108:2021
1080:2024
1049:2020
982:2015
953:2015
879:2020
708:ISBN
653:2018
622:2018
591:2020
453:APIs
351:LGPL
342:v. 2
197:v1.2
185:EUPL
179:The
75:SPDX
1142:PDF
700:doi
407:OSI
255:G2B
251:G2C
247:G2G
240:IPM
162:.eu
158:.ec
136:Yes
116:Yes
109:OSI
103:Yes
96:FSF
90:Yes
49:1.2
1196::
1172:,
1162:,
1097:.
1069:.
961:^
909:.
898:^
706:.
643:.
630:^
613:.
599:^
582:.
521:,
253:,
249:,
1144:)
1140:(
1110:.
1082:.
1051:.
1009:.
984:.
955:.
933:.
919:.
881:.
772:.
747:.
723:.
716:.
702::
683:.
655:.
624:.
593:.
505:.
183:(
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
