[Bf-committers] GPL or (c) infringement?

[Martin Dickopp]

Ton Roosendaal <ton at blender.org> writes:

> For the License diehards out here; a while ago we discovered a
> "company" reselling Blender and Gimp under its own name;
>
> http://www.luxuriousity.com/3d.htm
>
> He's advertising and selling on ebay.com with this as well. Just today
> I received a mail from a victim of this spoof, telling Luxuriosity
> didn't give refunds.

Warning: I am not a lawyer.

Can you ask the victim if the CD contains the complete source code and a
copy of the GPL? If it doesn't, that would be an obvious GPL violation.

> does GPL allow you to fully rebrand and repackage a product

Yes, the GPL allows that (as long as the terms of the GPL are obeyed, of
course).

> without crediting the origins?

No, Section 2a of the GPL forbits this.

However, the fact that they don't mention Blender on their webpage is
not a GPL violation per se. Somebody should get hold of the CD and
carefully examine it - that is the only way to determine for sure how
the GPL has been violated.

Martin