Software Freedom Conservancy
More info
- Released
- Type
- Nonprofit
- Website
- sfconservancy.org
A New York nonprofit that gives free software projects a legal home and, more than anyone else, actually takes GPL violators to court.
Conservancy was founded in 2006 as a fiscal sponsor: small projects such as Git, Inkscape and BusyBox can accept donations, hold trademarks and sign contracts without setting up a foundation of their own. Conservancy does the paperwork; the projects write the code.
The more contentious half is enforcement. Conservancy pursued the BusyBox cases against electronics makers around 2007–2009, backed Christoph Hellwig's suit against VMware in Germany, and in 2021 sued TV maker Vizio on a novel theory: that anyone who buys a device containing GPL code can demand the source, not just the copyright holders. Karen Sandler has been executive director since 2014. That a licence is only as strong as someone's willingness to defend it is a lesson most foundations would rather let someone else learn.