Enforceability Of Open Source Software Licenses - Legal Analysis

There's been an interesting academic argument going around in certain legal and open source circles about how to make sure that our software licenses are enforceable. Most open source licenses you'll find at https://opensource.org/ and all proprietary software licenses you'll . . . There's been an interesting academic argument going around in certain legal and open source circles about how to make sure that our software licenses are enforceable. Most open source licenses you'll find at https://opensource.org/ and all proprietary software licenses you'll find anywhere are to be interpreted under contract law. They can be enforced, like other contracts are enforced, against both a licensor and a licensee.

Contracts can almost always be enforced against a licensor. If a licensor promises you the source code or promises not to interfere with your lawful uses of the software, he is bound by those promises as long as you reasonably relied on those promises when you accepted the contract. The general rule is that the author of a contract is bound by his own words.

In most jurisdictions, contracts can be enforced against a licensee only if the licensee agreed to be bound to the contract.

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