Bradley M. Kuhn discusses the controversial and complex topic of copyright assignment in Free and Open Source software (FOSS) communities, particularly in projects like GCC and glibc. He highlights the common practice of contributors assigning copyright ownership to employers, rather than keeping it for themselves. Kuhn emphasizes the implications of this default arrangement, including the weakening of copyleft enforcement and potential conflicts of interest with for-profit corporations. He also addresses the challenges faced by organizations like FSF in enforcing GPL violations. Kuhn urges FOSS contributors to carefully consider copyright ownership policies and provides a list of recommendations for copylefted projects.
https://sfconservancy.org/blog/2021/jun/30/who-should-own-foss-copyrights/