[Foundation-l] GFDL and relicensing

[Robert Rohde]

On Nov 21, 2007 10:54 AM, Thomas Dalton <thomas.dalton at gmail.com> wrote:

> <snip>
>
 > This does leave the question of the recourse I have if
> > some_evil_person decides to use the content I produced under the new
> > license and thus bar it from further modifications or on the contrary
> > gets rid of all restrictions. Doesn't it? I mean my work is then
> > spread out there under conditions I might not agree to.
>
> I don't think some generic evil person could do that, just WMF, as
> they're the people with the "or later" clause. I'm not sure about
> that, though.
>
> Just as a point of clarification, Wikipedia text is already licensed GFDL
1.2 or any later version.  Anyone can exercise those "or later" rights, not
just the WMF.  Of course, it is the FSF that decides what those later
versions will say.  The most that the WMF/Wikipedia could do is decide to
adjust the license on future submissions, i.e. switching to "GFDL 2.0 or
later versions" or adopting a more restrictive stance like "GFDL 1.2 only".

-Robert Rohde