Hey Richard, > -----Original Message----- > From: Richard Fontana <[email protected]> > (cc'ing Jilayne Lovejoy in case she doesn't get these) > > On Fri, May 22, 2026 at 8:14 PM Tim Bird <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > Many bluetooth source files are missing SPDX-License-Identifier > > lines. Add appropriate IDs to these files, and remove other > > license lines from the headers. > > So the subset of patches I've quoted below, most but not all of which > seem to be associated with Maxim Krasnyansky <[email protected]>, all > feature warranty disclaimer language that includes a disclaimer of > warranty of "NONINFRINGEMENT OF THIRD PARTY RIGHTS" (and furthermore > states "ALL LIABILITY, INCLUDING LIABILITY FOR INFRINGEMENT OF ANY > PATENTS, COPYRIGHTS, TRADEMARKS OR OTHER RIGHTS, RELATING TO USE OF > THIS SOFTWARE IS DISCLAIMED."). The GPLv2 warranty disclaimer > language, and the abbreviated warranty disclaimer language in the > FSF/GPLv2 "standard" notice often seen in kernel source files, itself > does not refer to the warranty of noninfringement (disclaimers of > which I believe did not become common in software industry licenses > until well after the advent of GPLv2 and its predecessors).
Good catch. I didn't notice the warranty disclaimer difference (which is a bit embarrassing on my part). I'll redo this patch, leaving this different warranty language intact. > > Several years ago, when this effort to replace bespoke license notices > with SPDX-License-Identifier strings got started, an issue was raised > around what to do about license notices that included disclaimers of > warranties going beyond what's recited in GPLv2, or those GPLv2 > standard notices. There's an argument that it would be inappropriate, > and contrary to the licensor intent, to delete them, as you propose to > do here (without permission from the authors/copyright owners). I agree with this stance (that it's inappropriate to remove them) In the next version of this patch I'll leave these "extended" disclaimers. > I seem > to remember Jilayne making an effort to gather views from lawyers in > the field about this topic but I'm not sure what if anything became of > that. It would be nice to get a legal opinion. There are two different issues, IMHO. Issue 1: Is it legitimate to apply an additional level of legal disclaimer to the GPL 2.0 license itself? The language in section 1 of GPL v2 says "you may copy and distribute...[stuff].. provided that you conspicuously and appropriately publish on each copy an appropriate copyright notice and disclaimer of warranty. It say "an appropriate ... disclaimer of warranty". *"an"* It doesn't say "the specific disclaimer of warranty contained herein" or anything else like that. But 2b GPL v2 also does say "You must cause any work ... [derived from the Program] .. to be licensed as a whole at no charge ... under the terms of this License." And sections 11 and 12 contain "the official" disclaimer of warranty for GPL v2. (And actually, I think the official disclaimer wording: "WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO" is rather all-encompassing, and legally also covers the extra issues explicitly mentioned in these Bluetooth header warranty disclaimers). Unless I hear otherwise, I'm going to assume that It's legally OK to apply/retain another level of warranty disclaimer, without creating a legal contradiction here. If there *is* a contradiction by these extra disclaimers, then likely we would have to get Qualcomm legal to agree to some resolution. A lot of this code was contributed in 2001 and 2002, so at least the patent concerns (for those parts) may be mostly eliminated by now. Issue 2: if there is no legal contradiction, is it satisfactory to just leave the "extra" warranty disclaimer, along with the SPDX-License-Identifier, without further explanatory text? I believe so. But still - I may put a little notice on the warranty disclaimer left in these files to explain that there are now multiple disclaimers in force (the GPL 2.0 one, and this one). I actually think these two disclaimers are legally equivalent, but obviously some lawyers disagree, or they wouldn't have written a new disclaimer and put it on here. Do you have any opinion on adding a little note about this in these files (to go along with the leftover disclaimers)? > It's fairly likely that such language in other source files has > just gotten deleted since then without anyone noticing the issue. Yeah, probably. I'll add this to my list of things to double-check to avoid any contribution by me to this issue in the future. Thanks! -- Tim > > diff --git a/include/net/bluetooth/bluetooth.h > > b/include/net/bluetooth/bluetooth.h > > index 3faea66b1979..e921ade2f61b 100644 > > --- a/include/net/bluetooth/bluetooth.h > > +++ b/include/net/bluetooth/bluetooth.h > > @@ -1,26 +1,10 @@ > > +/* SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 */ > > /* > > BlueZ - Bluetooth protocol stack for Linux > > Copyright (C) 2000-2001 Qualcomm Incorporated > > Copyright 2023 NXP > > > > Written 2000,2001 by Maxim Krasnyansky <[email protected]> > > - > > - This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify > > - it under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2 as > > - published by the Free Software Foundation; > > - > > - THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS > > - OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF > > MERCHANTABILITY, > > - FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT OF THIRD PARTY > > RIGHTS. > > - IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER(S) AND AUTHOR(S) BE LIABLE FOR > > ANY > > - CLAIM, OR ANY SPECIAL INDIRECT OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, OR ANY DAMAGES > > - WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER IN AN > > - ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF > > - OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE. > > - > > - ALL LIABILITY, INCLUDING LIABILITY FOR INFRINGEMENT OF ANY PATENTS, > > - COPYRIGHTS, TRADEMARKS OR OTHER RIGHTS, RELATING TO USE OF THIS > > - SOFTWARE IS DISCLAIMED. > > */ > > > > #ifndef __BLUETOOTH_H ...
