On 2/6/2024 7:39 AM, Stefano Maffulli wrote:
Question for the wider group: Can you point me to a document (legal or
otherwise) that argues the unenforceability of ethical clauses, like
these ones?
I don't know that there is such a document, at least not under US law.
We take a very liberal attitude towards what type of obligations parties
can agree to. In the US, contracts are only rarely unenforceable, such
as a contract for criminal activity, unconscionability, or impossiblity.
It is perfectly fine in the US to impose ethics terms in a license.
Instead I think it's a practical problem. Licenses are not
self-enforcing, someone has to bring a legal claim for enforcement. Only
the licensor can enforce the contract (unless the license has a third
party beneficiary, in which case the third party can enforce it only
insofar as that party's interest is impacted). Is the licensor going to
become the ethics police of the world, committing resources to go after
every use that breaches the ethics provision?
Pam
Pamela S. Chestek
Chestek Legal
300 Fayetteville Street
Unit 2492
Raleigh, NC 27602
pam...@chesteklegal.com
(919) 800-8033
www.chesteklegal.com
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