Yandex.Direct and GPL license

In May of this year I decided to help one friend, made an advertisement for Yandex.Direct, sent it for moderation. And got an unexpected answer:

The advertised product relates to the objects of intellectual activity and can be advertised only subject to the provision of documents confirming the right to use it (for example, a contract) ...

The service is a php site that provides users with access to a certain service based on open source software. But Yandex has its own view on the GPL.



Expressing my disagreement, I inform you in a letter addressed to the support service that this is a free software that does not imply any restrictions in use. The answer is already more deployed.

In accordance with the Requirements for advertising materials ( link ), a citizen or a legal entity having the exclusive right to the result of intellectual activity (the right holder) has the right to use this result at its discretion in any way that does not contradict the law (Article 1270 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation), including or prohibit others from using the result of intellectual activity.

Other persons may not use the relevant result of intellectual activity or means of individualization without the consent of the copyright holder (Article 1229 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

Prior to the commencement of advertising (the object of advertising of which is the result of intellectual activity), Yandex has the right to request from the advertiser a document (copy) confirming the right to use the corresponding (advertised) result of intellectual activity.

Thus, please send a contract confirming your right to distribute the advertised software. The contract can be provided without specifying financial obligations.

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I go to the developers page of this software in the Licensing section.

(Program name) is licensed BSD and GPL, which means that you can download it. You are selling a service, not a program.

I give Yandex my almost literal translation:

(The name of the program) is released under the BSG / GPL license (as well as the Linux kernel for example), you can freely use it in a commercial hosting without deductions for authorship. You are selling a service, not a program.

And again I get a shocking answer from Yandex:

The legal status of the GNU GPL in the Russian Federation is not fully defined. Therefore, any GPL-program is an object protected by copyright.

Currently, the compliance of the GPL with the legislation of the Russian Federation is not yet fully defined. There are no legislative acts or explanations of arbitration courts on the applicability of this license in the territory of the Russian Federation and its compliance with the law. Especially in the transfer of rights and gratuitous basis of such transfer.

Thus, unfortunately, your advertising campaign cannot be accepted.

In an amicable way, even the GPL has nothing to do with it, the author of the software has made it clear that he is stating his position. I am writing another letter to Yandex, especially paying attention to the following phrases: “You are selling a service, not a program” (you are selling a service and not a program) and “You ’ll be free to use in commercial hosting without royalties ). The message has remained unanswered.



Following this logic, it is also necessary for Linus Torvalds to personally receive permission to use the Linux kernel as the operating system that serves the server for the site, if there is an intention to advertise on Yandex.Direct, of course :)