[OSM-legal-talk] Are the Contributor Terms Irrevocable?

[80n]

On Mon, Aug 23, 2010 at 8:25 PM, Francis Davey <fjmd1a at gmail.com> wrote:

> On 23 August 2010 19:58, 80n <80n80n at gmail.com> wrote:
> > I'm curious about the meaning of the word "irrevocable" in the
> contributor
> > terms.
> >
> > Having examined a number of licenses that grant a similar range of rights
> > (worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive, perpetual) none of them include
> > irrevocability.  They also all contain a termination section that is
> usually
> > engineered to allow termination in the event of a breach.
> >
> > Am I right in thinking that if OSMF committed a material breach of the
> CTs
> > then contributors would not be able to revoke their grant of rights?
> Does
> > the common law right to repudiate trump the inclusion of an
> irrevocability
> > clause?
>
> I assume you mean "fundamental breach"


Yes, that was the term I was searching for.


> since a material breach of
> contract may not be sufficiently serious to permit the other party to
> repudiate it. Off the top of my head I don't know any specific law on
> the subject, but if OSMF's conduct struck at the very root of the
> contract (i.e. it was a fundamental or repudiatory breach) then I
> cannot see any reason why the contractual element of the CT should not
> be revocable.
>
> I'm less sure about the licence element.
>
> --
> Francis Davey
>
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