On January 20 and 21, 2004, the Free Software Foundation (FSF) will offer two day-long seminars on Free Software Licensing and the GNU GPL at Columbia Law School in New York. The two days will provide a detailed study and analysis of the GPL, review a few case studies and look at legal ethics in Free Software Licensing. The seminars will be co-led by Daniel Ravicher, Senior Counsel to FSF and Bradley M. Kuhn, Executive Director of FSF.
These follow on the first FSF seminar, co-sponsored by CIS and held at Stanford Law School on August 8, 2003.
Detailed Study and Analysis of GPL and LGPL, the seminar on January 20, will give a section-by-section explanation of the most popular Free Software copyright license, the GNU General Public License (GNU GPL), and will educate lawyers, software developers, managers and business people on how to use the GPL (and GPL'd software) successfully in a new Free Software business and in existing, successful enterprises.
On January 21, FSF will offer GPL Compliance Case Studies and Legal Ethics in Free Software Licensing. Also a day-long seminar, which will present the details of five different GPL compliance cases handled by FSF's GPL Compliance Laboratory. Each case offers unique insights into problems that can arise when the terms of GPL are not properly followed, and how diplomatic negotiation between the violator and the copyright holder can yield positive results for both parties. This course also includes a unit on the ethical considerations for attorneys who want to represent clients that make use of or sell Free Software products.
Both days of the seminar will be held at Columbia Law School in New York. Directions will be sent following registration. To register or obtain more information, please contact Ravi Khanna, FSF's Director of Communication at ravi[at]fsf.org or by calling 1+617-620-9640.