translate GPL when distributing softtware in Brazil

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As I intend to distribute some utilities of mine, I have these doubts:

The English version of the GPL is valid in non-English-speaking countries ?

I need to translate the GPL by including it in my software ?

On the official website is the following:

There are translations of the GPL into other languages?

It would be useful to have translations of the GPL in languages other than English. People have even made translations and sent them to us. But it carries a risk so great that we dare not accept it

Moreover:

An unapproved translation has no legal force, and it should say so explicitly

So I was in doubt, I don’t know if a license in English would be valid, and by the way a license in Portuguese needs to be approved by the GNU people before having any kind of validde.

What to do in this case ?

I found this question: How software licensing works in Brazil

But she doesn’t answer my question.

license gpl

  • It puts both, a translated saying explicitly that it is a translation and that it can contain errors, and the original to have legal validity. Note: the GNU people will not approve translations to avoid getting involved with resulting problems

  • 1

    The GPL is written in English and currently no translation is accepted as valid by the Free Software Foundation, with the argument[1] that there is a risk of introducing translation errors that could misrepresent the meaning of the license. Thus, any translation of the GPL is unofficial and merely informative, while the obligation remains to distribute the official English text with the programs. I removed that text from Wikipedia

  • I already knew that, and it’s even in the text of the question.

2 answers

2

The Debian distro presents the following:

This is an unofficial translation of the GNU General Public License ("GNU GPL") into Brazilian Portuguese ("Brazilian Portuguese"). It was not published by the Free Software Foundation, and it does not legally state the terms of software distribution that uses the GNU GPL - only the original text of the GNU GPL does so. However, we hope this translation will help those who speak Brazilian Portuguese ("Brazilian Portuguese") to better understand the GNU GPL.

That is, legally the GPL only applies when used in English.

Source: http://www.debian.org/releases/etch/arm/apf.html.pt_BR

On the UNB website:

Unb Fonts are distributed under a dual license. This means that the font distribution maintains the original English use license for Liberation (Gplv2) fonts and includes an alternative version of the Portuguese license (Unb Fonts Public License). This version in Portuguese was created because, for Brazilian law, official documents are only valid if written in Portuguese.

Source: http://www.marca.unb.br/licensa.php

That said, no need to worry, the Brazilian Government already has an official version translated:

  • www.softwarelivre.Gov.br/Licencas/gnu-Lesser-general-public-License

1

The creation of Free Software in Brazil was regulated (I don’t know if the term is appropriate) in a Presidential Decree:

https://presrepublica.jusbrasil.com.br/legislacao/1025410/decreto-7325-10?ref=topic_feed

The objective of this Memorandum of Understanding is to contribute to the reduction of the digital gap by promoting, in developing countries, the effective use of free and open software. This will be achieved by supporting open-source training initiatives in developing countries.

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