GNU Free Documentation License
Enable an AI agent to identify the GNU Free Documentation License, resolve its application to a work, and assess the conditions and evidence needed for a proposed reuse.
Bundle → Layer → Finding → Questions Filled
7 bundles · 13 layers · 20 findings · 32 questions
License and grant resolution Record the operative text and its attachment to a document.
Release identification
Separate the registered license family from a selected release.
Operative text
Capture the inspected text and clause locations; version 1.3 is available in [SPDX's license-text record](https://spdx.org/licenses/GFDL-1.3-only.html).
- Which published release does the supplied text match, and where was that text inspected? provenance
- Is the artifact the license text, a document license notice, or a translation of either? definition
Document attachment
Connect the grant to an identified document edition.
Notice and version choice
Record notice scope, declaring authority, and the evidence supporting release selection.
- Which notice applies to this edition and its included components, and who placed it? provenance
- What notice wording or proxy statement supports choosing the proposed GNU FDL version? action
Invariants and cover declarations Record document-specific restrictions on sections and cover passages.
Section designations
Connect declared titles to actual document sections.
Invariant Section assessment
Record designation evidence, section content, and unresolved qualification issues.
- Which exact titles does the notice designate as invariant, and where are their corresponding sections? provenance
- Does each designated section qualify as a Secondary Section under the selected release? boundary
Cover passages
Track the wording and origin of each required cover passage.
Cover Text inventory
Record side, sequence, word count, and permission evidence for proposed changes.
- What Front-Cover and Back-Cover Texts are declared, and what is each passage's word count? measurement
- Who added each passage, and what permits its proposed addition or replacement? action
Copying and Transparent access Assess a particular distribution package and delivery arrangement.
Distribution package
Inspect the actual copies and accompanying material.
Copying conditions
Record notice inclusion, restrictions, copy counts, and cover treatment.
- Do the copies carry the required license and notices, and do delivery terms or technical controls introduce restrictions? boundary
- How many copies are planned in each medium, and which quantity or cover conditions does that trigger? measurement
Editable-copy access
Assess representation and any continuing access obligation.
Transparent-copy evidence
Record editability tests, delivery method, and availability dates.
- What inspection demonstrates that the proposed Transparent copy is complete and straightforward to revise? measurement
- If Transparent-copy provision is required, how will it be delivered and through what date must network access be maintained? action
Modification and translation Assess an edited or translated document against its source edition.
Modified edition record
Track the proposed edition's title, credits, notices, and history.
Editorial obligation check
Record a clause-linked comparison between source and output.
- Which title, authorship, publisher, copyright, licensing, and History changes are needed for this modified edition? action
- How are acknowledgements, dedications, disclaimers, endorsements, and prior Transparent-copy locations treated? boundary
Translation permissions
Distinguish translated document content from translated protected material and legal notices.
Translation treatment
Record original-language retention and any special permission relied upon.
- Does the translation retain or replace any Invariant Section, and what permission supports replacement? action
- Which original license, notice, and disclaimer texts accompany their translations? provenance
Combination and license boundaries Assess reuse alongside other documents and under alternative grants.
Assembly classification
Identify how source documents participate in the resulting work.
Combination, collection, or aggregate
Record the assembly classification and resulting document-level obligations.
- What evidence supports treating the output as a combined document, collection, aggregate, or extraction? boundary
- How will the output handle incompatible version choices, colliding invariant titles, histories, and license-copy placement? action
Alternative license route
Separate additional grants from historical GNU FDL relicensing claims.
Relicensing evidence
Record the exact authority, dates, and material covered by any alternative-license claim.
- Is the alternative license supported by a separate rights-holder grant or a claimed version 1.3 MMC relicensing event? provenance
- For an MMC claim, what evidence establishes eligibility, incorporation dates, and republication within the historical deadline? boundary
Permission continuity and cure Track whether an actor can rely on the grant for a proposed operation.
Operation assessment
Bind the decision to an actor, edition, operation, and release.
Permission basis
Separate evidenced satisfaction of conditions from incomplete assessment.
- Which selected-release clauses support this actor's proposed copying, modification, or distribution? action
- Which conditions are evidenced, unmet, or still unresolved for that operation? boundary
Termination and reinstatement
Record violation and cure evidence for each relevant rights holder.
Rights-state timeline
Track dated events without importing reinstatement rules from another release.
- What evidence dates the violation, cessation, notification, cure, and any final termination? provenance
- Under the selected release, what supports provisional or permanent reinstatement for each rights holder? action
Evidence and external alignment What the world already says about this thing, gathered so the model can be checked against it.
Reported evidence
Findings from the breadth pass, kept separate from the structural claims.
Kinds and varieties
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- Which of these kinds and varieties hold for the sense of GNU Free Documentation License this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Identifiers and schemes
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- Which of these identifiers and schemes hold for the sense of GNU Free Documentation License this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Standards and regulation
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- Which of these standards and regulation hold for the sense of GNU Free Documentation License this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Real-world use
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- Which of these real-world use hold for the sense of GNU Free Documentation License this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Typical measurements
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- Which of these typical measurements hold for the sense of GNU Free Documentation License this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Failure modes and hazards
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- Which of these failure modes and hazards hold for the sense of GNU Free Documentation License this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Regional variation
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- Which of these regional variation hold for the sense of GNU Free Documentation License this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- Which of these neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart hold for the sense of GNU Free Documentation License this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Classifiers Filled
- Family
- Thing Registry
- Category
- Information and virtual systems
- Entry kind
- thing
- Plane
- INF
- Domain
- INF.MED
What it is Filled
The GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) is a copyleft license for manuals, textbooks, and other functional or useful documents, issued by the Free Software Foundation, that grants anyone permission to copy, redistribute, and modify a work subject to its conditions, including continued licensing under the GFDL, preservation of designated Invariant Sections and required Cover Texts, and preservation of the title of any Acknowledgements section and the substance and tone of its acknowledgements.
In scope
- License text identity and permitted version selection
- Evidence that a particular document invokes the license
- Invariant Sections and required Cover Text declarations
- Copying, modification, translation, and combination conditions
- Transparent-copy provision and distribution obligations
- Termination, reinstatement, and historical relicensing assessments
Out of scope
- The substantive content and editorial quality of licensed documents
- Ownership disputes and general copyright-law exceptions
- Software licensing under the GNU GPL
- Independent models of Creative Commons licenses
- Publisher identity, business operations, and hosting infrastructure
Why it exists Filled
Enable an AI agent to identify the GNU Free Documentation License, resolve its application to a work, and assess the conditions and evidence needed for a proposed reuse.
Distinguishing features Filled
- Match the operative text to a GNU FDL release rather than identifying it from a generic free-documentation label.
- Check for document-specific Invariant Section and Cover Text declarations, which distinguish its application from ordinary attribution-only licensing.
- Check whether reuse invokes Transparent and Opaque copy categories rather than software source and executable categories.
- Distinguish permission to modify a licensed document from permission to alter the license text itself.
- Treat a claimed migration to CC BY-SA as a separately evidenced historical route, not general license equivalence.
What robots and AI may and may not do Filled
Must not
- Remove licence notices or invariant sections from licensed documents.
- Present GFDL works as public domain.
- Give legal advice on a specific case.
Only with a human decision
- Relicensing works.
May
- Explain the licence's terms and how to comply with them.
- Check a document's licence notice for required elements.
Moral aspects Filled
- Licences protect creators' and readers' freedoms.
- Errors in compliance can expose people to legal risk.
Who is affected
- Authors
- Readers
- Publishers
Owners Filled
Steward
The issuing foundation publishes the licence; authors choose it for their works.
Links to other meta-models Filled
parent
- Q196294 - registry parent class
What else AI and robots need to interact with it Filled
Identity and identifiers required Filled
- Vercy registry: vr.tr.gnu-free-documentation-license
- Wikidata: Q22169 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q22169)
Direct properties not applicable Not applicable
- Operative release: Verified published GNU FDL version; unresolved
- Version-selection basis: Specified version only; later-version option; unspecified version; authorized proxy; unresolved
- Application evidence: Document edition -> license notice -> declaring rights holder -> captured evidence
- Preservation declarations: Verified declarations; verified none; incomplete evidence; conflicting declarations
- Copy representation: Transparent; Opaque; unresolved, with assessment evidence
- Distribution quantity: Number of copies, tied to edition, medium, distributor, and assessment period
- Availability commitment: Required-through date and observed availability dates
- Permission assessment: Conditions evidenced; conditions unmet; evidence insufficient; rights terminated; reinstatement under assessment
Plane INF: no invented physical properties.
Recognition not applicable Not applicable
Not applicable
A license is an intangible legal instrument whose identity and applicability require reading its text and the relevant licensing notice.
Capabilities and actions required Filled
- Resolve a document's license notice to an evidenced GNU FDL release and selection basis.
- Extract preservation declarations and flag conflicting or incomplete notices.
- Construct an operation-specific checklist for copying, editing, translating, or combining documents.
- Assess a distribution package and its Transparent-copy arrangements.
- Identify missing permissions or evidence before proceeding with reuse.
- Trace a termination, cure, or historical relicensing claim to dated supporting records.
Hazards and failure modes required Filled
- Failure to meet applicable license conditions can leave copying or distribution without the required copyright permission.
- Combining material under incompatible licenses can prevent lawful distribution of the resulting document.
- Overlooking designated invariant sections or cover texts can cause a modified edition to violate preservation requirements.
- Assuming every component of a document shares its stated license can lead to unauthorized reuse of separately licensed material.
Standards and interfaces required Filled
- GNU Free Documentation License, Free Software Foundation.
Context of use required Filled
- This license is applied to manuals, textbooks and other useful documents intended to permit copying, redistribution and modification.
- It is encountered when assessing reuse permissions, attribution requirements and the conditions attached to distributing modified documentation.
Sources Filled
- GNU Free Documentation License, version 1.3 - Canonical license text, definition of the work, invariant sections, cover texts, copyleft conditions, and the 1.3 relicensing clause.
- Why publishers should use the GNU FDL - FSF rationale: the license is for documentation of free software and other useful documents, and how invariant sections are meant to be used.
- Wikimedia Foundation licensing update / GFDL and CC BY-SA dual licensing - Real-world mass use on Wikipedia; the 2008-2009 move from GFDL-only to dual GFDL / CC BY-SA 3.0, which motivated GFDL 1.3.
- SPDX License List - GNU Free Documentation License identifiers - Stable machine identifiers GFDL-1.1, GFDL-1.2, GFDL-1.3 and the -invariants / -no-invariants variants used in software and documentation packaging.
- Wikidata item Q22169: GNU Free Documentation License - identity and sense of the item
- Wikipedia: GNU Free Documentation License - general description of the item
Open questions
- Does an existing Vercy world model already own this license concept, requiring a registry link instead of a separate publication?
- Which earlier GNU FDL releases require explicit clause comparisons before this draft can support version-specific decisions beyond version 1.3?
- What review criteria should resolve disputed Secondary Section designations and ambiguous Transparent-copy representations?
- How should copy quantities and continuing availability obligations be assessed across digital editions, mirrors, retailers, and repeated distribution runs?
- What evidence standard should establish historical MMC relicensing eligibility or holder-specific reinstatement when notices and archives are incomplete?
Machine files
Provenance
thing registry research (pass 2) · unreviewed
Built from: models/things/publications/thing-q22169/spec.json