ChessBase GmbH and the Stockfish team reach an agreement and end their legal dispute
Information was released that the stockfish project, (a popular open source UCI chess engine for multiple platforms that originates from another GPL engine called Glaurung) announced that it had settled a lawsuit with ChessBase.
The problem stems from the fact that ChessBase is accused of violating the GPLv3 license by including code from the Stockfish chess engine in its proprietary products Fat Fritz 2 and Houdini 6 without opening the source code of derivative works and without informing customers about the use of the GPL code.
Over a year ago, the main developers of the Stockfish chess engine, Tord Romstad and Stéphane Nicolet, with broad support from the developer community, filed a lawsuit against ChessBase GmbH at the Munich I District Court (Az. 42 0 9765/21) to enforce the termination provision of the GNU General Public License v3 (GPL), alleging ChessBase's repeated violation of the license terms with its products Fat Fritz 2 and Houdini 6.
We are pleased to announce that we have reached an agreement that strengthens the Stockfish project in its goal to offer the world's #1 chess engine as free software and allows ChessBase to distribute our software in the future.
As part of the agreement reached, ChessBase will stop selling chess programs that use the Stockfish engine and will notify customers by posting information on its website.
Existing customers will be able to continue using the programs they already purchased and they will also be able to download copies they have already purchased if ChessBase adjusts the download process to GPL requirements.
One year later of the signing of the agreement, the developers ofe Stockfish will revoke the GPL license and allow ChessBase to use their code, that it has recognized the value and potential of free software and has pledged to respect its principles.
The GPL provides for the possibility of revoking the infringer's license and terminate all rights of the licensee granting you this license. According to the license termination rules adopted in GPLv3, if violations are detected for the first time and removed within 30 days from the date of notification, the license rights are restored and the license is not revoked. completely (the contract remains intact).
Rights are returned immediately also in case of removal of violations, if the copyright holder has not notified the violation within 60 days. If the deadlines have expired, then the violation of the license can be interpreted as a violation of the contract, for which sanctions can be obtained from the court.
However, within a year, Tord and Stéphane will reinstate the ChessBase license. We feel that this is in the spirit of Free Software and for the benefit of the community.
ChessBase has now recognized the value and potential of open source software, and Stockfish in particular, and has made a clear commitment to uphold the principles of free software. To prevent future violations, ChessBase will create the position of Free Software Compliance Officer and maintain a domain [foss.chessbase.com] that lists its products containing Free and Open Source Software (FOSS).
To avoid possible infringements in the future, ChessBase will appoint an independent person who will monitor compliance with the GPL requirements. The company will also create a website, foss.chessbase.com, which will post information on open source products.
In addition, ChessBase will open under the GPL or a license compatible implementation of neural networks provided for use with Stockfish. The agreement does not contemplate financial compensation or damages, since the Stockfish project team represents a non-profit community that has sought to comply with the GPL and its rights.
The agreement provides for the revocation of ChessBase's GPL license for the Stockfish code and allows ChessBase to distribute its software.
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