EOLE means European Opensource & free sofware Law Event.
The annual conference is organized by a group of lawyers from various European countries. Each year, we place particular emphasis on various aspects of the use and development of FOSS.
Who We Are
EOLE is an international event that aims to promote the sharing and dissemination of legal knowledge on Free & Open Source Software (FOSS) licenses, as well as the development and promotion of good practices in the field.
It takes the form of a conference cycle, organized every year with a different topic: Open Innovation, free software licenses, public sector, research, cloud, etc. The event takes place in a different location every year (Paris, Brussels, Barcelona, etc.), in order to disseminate these topics and good practices as broadly as possible. EOLE tends to be organized during major events dedicated to Open Source like the Paris Open Source Summit or the Open World Forum, with the aim to bring them this legal dimension.
EOLE is organized by volunteers lawyers from the Open Source field and/or very interested by Open Source (see our team). The organization team is open to everyone, so everyone can feel free to join the team.
Our History
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2016
The 8th edition of EOLE was organized in close connexion with the Paris Open Source Summit on the Open Innovation topic, to highlight legal practices to offer, when possible, hints of solutions.
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2015
The definition of Free and Open Source Software is based on the freedoms and rights that are shared with the users and possible contributors. Increasingly relied on in the industrial sector, it allows any actor to benefit from proven and standardized solutions; and to take part to a mutualized endeavor by bringing contributions within an existing community or by creating its own project. The software will then remain free and Open Source as long as the project is open to new contributors and as the building material (source code, installation scripts, etc.) and as the corresponding intellectual property rights are shared.
From a competition point of view, free and open source software are a unique tool that enables and reinforces openness and freedom in the markets, by relying on traditional bases such as intellectual property and contract law. By a subversive use of the latter, it profoundly modifies the relationships between the stakeholders: competitors and partners, employers and employees, buyers and suppliers, outsourcers and editors, etc… FOSS’ effects are positive and companies benefit from fostering its use. Defining the rules between the actors and stakeholders is essential, and on this regards, the legal aspects are as essential and as the governance structure and the technical aspects of the project.
However, the participation in the movement by an increasing number of industrial actors (including even the biggest software editors which showed several degrees of antagonism) lead to the development of alternative positions that somehow deviate from the initial mutualization objectives. To their more extreme extent, these positions lead to deviant use of rights (asymmetrical licenses, additional restrictions, contradictory use of industrial rights such as patents or trademarks, non-reasonable use of exceptions, etc.) or to unfair or abusive commercial practices.
The objective of this 8th iteration of EOLE is to make an assessment of the current usages or practices that can encumber the openness of the Free and Open Source Software, and to analyze their impact on the market and on the adoption of Free and Open Source Software and/or together with proprietary software, as well as their compliance with the trade practices and competition rules.
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2014
The 7th edition of EOLE, organized on October 31, 2014, combined two Open World Forum's sessions: "Legal and licensing aspects of open source" – co-organized by Martin Michlmayr (Hewlett-Packard) and Philippe Laurent (MVVP) – and "Open Source & software supply chain" – co-organized by Claus-Peter Wiedemann (BearingPoint GmbH) and Benjamin Jean (inno³).
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2013
For its 6th edition, it was time to analyze the impact of the cloud on free & open source software and its legal consequences, in terms of licensing and compliance. Friday, December 6, 2013 at Bruxelles.
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2012
The 5th edition was in Paris, October 12th and 13th 2012 : a whole day of conferences hosted by the Open Word Forum day for conferences and a one-day Legal bar camp by La Cantine.
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2011
The fourth edition was in Barcelona, in November 4th 2011, with speakers from industry, academic and enterprise research and public sectors.
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2010
The third edition was organized in November 29th 2010 and hosted by the Piemont Region (Italia) with two days of conference, more than 30 speakers from the whole world (Brazil, USA, Ecuador, India, Europe, etc.).
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2009
The second edition was held on December 9th 2009 in Brussels, hosted by the European Parliament with more than 20 speakers from USA, India, Europe, etc.
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2008
The first edition, in 2008 during the event « Paris Capitale du Libre » at Paris was a great success with more than 20 speakers from the USA and Europe.