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A comment on FFmpeg has issued a DMCA takedown on GitHub. Parent comment

Re:FFmpeg has issued a DMCA takedown on GitHub by helterskelter on Friday December 26, 2025 @07:54PM (#46398069)
My understanding is that the GPL doesn't have fucktons of precedent behind it in court. You bet the house on a big case and lose, the precedent will stick with GPL and may even weaken all copyleft licenses.

Also, it's better to gently apply pressure and set a track record of violators taking corrective measures so when you end up in court one day you've got a list of people and corporate entities which do comply because they believed that the terms were clear enough, which would lend weight to your argument.

Saying this as a GPL hardliner myself.

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Re:FFmpeg has issued a DMCA takedown on GitHub by fl0id on Saturday December 27, 2025 @03:45AM (#46400249)
AFAIK it has enough precedent (also depending a bit on jurisdiction, but you only need one) but the interpretations of what that/the license should cover differ. Like f e if you wanted to argue driver devs would have to open-source their firmware blobs or their proprietary driver loaded by a kernel shim you will have a tough time and prob lose
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Re:FFmpeg has issued a DMCA takedown on GitHub by LeoWattenberg on Saturday December 27, 2025 @06:54AM (#46401175)
Most licenses, EULAs, contracts and so on don't have much precedent in court. There's no reason to believe that GPL would fold once subjected to sufficiently crafty lawyers.
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Re:FFmpeg has issued a DMCA takedown on GitHub by Conan_Kudo on Saturday December 27, 2025 @07:23AM (#46401351)
It definitely does have precedent in multiple jurisdictions. Heck, SFC just won against Vizio enforcing the GPL's terms in the US, and there have been previous wins in France and Germany.
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