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Originally Posted by user_none
It is possible. The GPL does allow for these types of exceptions. GCC and Bison both have them.
To make any license changes Kovid would need to get permission from all copyright holders. This is a limited number of people and if KDE can do it with thousands of people then Kovid can do it with 30ish(?).
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He can do it for any of the contributor's code, but calibre uses other GPL code, too. My point was that it's not possible to write an exception that strips all GPL from input simply because the exception says that calibre output is not GPL. I agree that it's possible to write an exception for any GPL code added to the input as a byproduct of the conversion process. (formatting code, etc.)
It would even be possible to write an exception that would strip GPL from calibre code, but it's not something I think anyone here wants or supports. Personally, I think it's a bogus issue, for the reasons I stated, and wouldn't bother with it. It's not a real issue and I'd hate to see anyone waste time on it. If an exception was written, it would require care to write correctly.
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It is 0. The FSF holds not copyright over any calibre code so they have no rights toward filing a lawsuit or enforcing the terms. Only a copyright holder can assert those rights. The FSF is the author of the GPL but that does not give the FSF rights over projects using the license.
The FSF is the assinged rights holder for most GNU software. So they have right to and do enforce the terms of the GPL over a large amount of GNU software.
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I understood that FSF would sometimes act on behalf of the copyright owner, when requested to do so by the rights holder, and that they had procedures for accepting a transfer of rights to allow them to do that. I was speaking loosely when I referred to the FSF, and you are correct, the copyright owner holds the right to enforce the GPL applied to his work, not the FSF directly, unless some transfer has been made.