AGPL as hindrance for App Store submission

[Letterus]

Steps to reproduce

You plan to switch licensing of the Element apps to GNU AGPL.

At @luki-ev we are fine with the license itself, but we are providing the white-label fork "Synod.im" to users within German churches via Apple's App Store. We are doing that in our spare time as a non-profit.

There are opinions that the GNU GPL and the AGPL do not allow to distribute programs compiled from licensed sources via Apple's App Store, because Apple's EULA " imposes further restrictions on the recipients' exercise" which contradicts the (A)GPL.[1][2]

[1] https://www.fsf.org/blogs/licensing/more-about-the-app-store-gpl-enforcement
[2] https://opensource.stackexchange.com/questions/2114/are-there-any-gpl-like-licenses-for-apple-app-store

Outcome

Switching to AGPL thus could mean we are not allowed to distribute our white-label fork anymore. Is this what you intend to do?

Otherwise we kindly ask you to add an app store exception to the AGPL/license you provide to allow us to further distribute our friendly white-label fork to our users. Thanks in advance!

Your phone model

No response

Operating system version

No response

Application version

No response

Homeserver

No response

Will you send logs?

No

[neilisfragile]

@Letterus Thanks for getting in touch, we want you to be able to continue submitting your app (others are in the same position). Please can you contact licensing@element.io so we can figure out the best way to handle it?

Closing an issue for now. Potentially, we'll need an FAQ for this sort of question.

[carolinalarramendy]

Discussed with the lawyers today. They will do some research on the options we have and we will have another call with them on Friday.