<![CDATA[Thinking about FOSS, legal advice, and pro bono legal support.]]>Thinking about FOSS, legal advice, and pro bono legal support.

What if there was a fund - be that from a funding body, or donations, or whatever - which paid (at reasonable rates, not Big Law Firm Prices) some lawyers to support FOSS projects.

So that it was free at point of use for those projects, but did not rely on lawyers working for free.

All outputs (subject to sorting issues to do with privilege) would be licensed under suitably open terms, with a goal of maximising re-use.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/topic/bb5e0e00-0b32-4c67-ac89-fac92b4454a6/thinking-about-foss-legal-advice-and-pro-bono-legal-support.RSS for NodeFri, 15 May 2026 05:17:00 GMTWed, 29 Apr 2026 09:01:17 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to Thinking about FOSS, legal advice, and pro bono legal support. on Wed, 29 Apr 2026 13:53:47 GMT]]>@neil
Do you see it working like a FLOSS legal grant fund or more of an organisation that has lawyers on staff that work for the various projects that apply for help?
@simonzerafa

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://en.osm.town/users/InsertUser/statuses/116488328132664108https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://en.osm.town/users/InsertUser/statuses/116488328132664108Wed, 29 Apr 2026 13:53:47 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Thinking about FOSS, legal advice, and pro bono legal support. on Wed, 29 Apr 2026 11:41:13 GMT]]>@neil Of course not, legal advice is meant to be for everybody, but speaking from experience, most legal matters flew over our heads before we got (more or less 😅) organized into an org. The project was really just a github repo and an amount of people working on it but not really legally responsible nor willing to be. But maybe indeed that's a grey zone that would do better if some support or consultancy was available

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/yorik/statuses/116487806876670937https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/yorik/statuses/116487806876670937Wed, 29 Apr 2026 11:41:13 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Thinking about FOSS, legal advice, and pro bono legal support. on Wed, 29 Apr 2026 11:35:59 GMT]]>@annehargreaves @mikarv Law clinics are amazing, and take a lot of supervision!

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.neilzone.co.uk/users/neil/statuses/116487786297133232https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.neilzone.co.uk/users/neil/statuses/116487786297133232Wed, 29 Apr 2026 11:35:59 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Thinking about FOSS, legal advice, and pro bono legal support. on Wed, 29 Apr 2026 11:25:54 GMT]]>@yorik

Yes, sure, finding specialist lawyers can be challenging.

We do exist, but there are not a lot of us.

I help a range of projects, of different sizes, and I don't agree that only big projects can benefit from legal advice.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.neilzone.co.uk/users/neil/statuses/116487746639018051https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.neilzone.co.uk/users/neil/statuses/116487746639018051Wed, 29 Apr 2026 11:25:54 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Thinking about FOSS, legal advice, and pro bono legal support. on Wed, 29 Apr 2026 11:20:45 GMT]]>@neil speaking as a @freecad maintainer, our problem is not really money. We have enough to pay a lawyer in case we need it, and smaller projects are much less likely to need a lawyer (you do that basically for heavier problems that involve money). Our main problem is actually to find local lawyers who know about FOSS and are willing to work in that context. The few that do are mostly expensive international firms...

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/yorik/statuses/116487726403704201https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/yorik/statuses/116487726403704201Wed, 29 Apr 2026 11:20:45 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Thinking about FOSS, legal advice, and pro bono legal support. on Wed, 29 Apr 2026 11:20:36 GMT]]>@neil Linkup with student lawyers on CS/data/ip couses for lawyers? Paging @mikarv ??
cf law clinics by students

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://ioc.exchange/users/annehargreaves/statuses/116487725806114636https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://ioc.exchange/users/annehargreaves/statuses/116487725806114636Wed, 29 Apr 2026 11:20:36 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Thinking about FOSS, legal advice, and pro bono legal support. on Wed, 29 Apr 2026 11:05:18 GMT]]>@josh I doubt it too, but that's no reason not to think about such things.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.neilzone.co.uk/users/neil/statuses/116487665645315111https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.neilzone.co.uk/users/neil/statuses/116487665645315111Wed, 29 Apr 2026 11:05:18 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Thinking about FOSS, legal advice, and pro bono legal support. on Wed, 29 Apr 2026 10:21:57 GMT]]>@simonzerafa

It would depend on how many projects wanted how much legal advice, really!

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.neilzone.co.uk/users/neil/statuses/116487495200806656https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.neilzone.co.uk/users/neil/statuses/116487495200806656Wed, 29 Apr 2026 10:21:57 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Thinking about FOSS, legal advice, and pro bono legal support. on Wed, 29 Apr 2026 10:16:17 GMT]]>@neil

What sort of funding level would this need?

Just wondering were we might be able to get funding from 😉

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://infosec.exchange/users/simonzerafa/statuses/116487472890255683https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://infosec.exchange/users/simonzerafa/statuses/116487472890255683Wed, 29 Apr 2026 10:16:17 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Thinking about FOSS, legal advice, and pro bono legal support. on Wed, 29 Apr 2026 10:15:49 GMT]]>@neil you should reach out to the STA and/or the brand new Digital Commons EDIC (https://digital-commons-edic.eu) to see if they are interested, that would be very useful

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://oisaur.com/users/renchap/statuses/116487471066216847https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://oisaur.com/users/renchap/statuses/116487471066216847Wed, 29 Apr 2026 10:15:49 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Thinking about FOSS, legal advice, and pro bono legal support. on Wed, 29 Apr 2026 09:25:43 GMT]]>@neil pro bono or bro bono? what ever it is, it's a wonderful idea!

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/sturmsucht/statuses/116487274048790756https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/sturmsucht/statuses/116487274048790756Wed, 29 Apr 2026 09:25:43 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Thinking about FOSS, legal advice, and pro bono legal support. on Wed, 29 Apr 2026 09:19:46 GMT]]>Part of this pondering came from the Sovereign Tech Fund "Fellowship" scheme:

Link Preview Image
Sovereign Tech Fellowship | Sovereign Tech Agency

favicon

Sovereign Tech Agency (www.sovereign.tech)

Where the focus is not on a particular technical deliverable, but on supporting FOSS more broadly, recognising that there's more to it than just lines of code.

This just seems like common sense to me 🙂

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.neilzone.co.uk/users/neil/statuses/116487250642811304https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.neilzone.co.uk/users/neil/statuses/116487250642811304Wed, 29 Apr 2026 09:19:46 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Thinking about FOSS, legal advice, and pro bono legal support. on Wed, 29 Apr 2026 09:17:39 GMT]]>@eighthave Yes, exactly. Different organisations touch on this (often in quite jurisdiction-specific ways), but not quite what I have in mind.

But there might be reasons why none do quite what I have in mind...

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.neilzone.co.uk/users/neil/statuses/116487242355823849https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.neilzone.co.uk/users/neil/statuses/116487242355823849Wed, 29 Apr 2026 09:17:39 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Thinking about FOSS, legal advice, and pro bono legal support. on Wed, 29 Apr 2026 09:16:35 GMT]]>@neil I like it! Anyway to get more resources out there. I know that EFF, ACLU, FSF, FSFE, etc do this to some degree, but they have very few resources to offer.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://social.librem.one/users/eighthave/statuses/116487238119177468https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://social.librem.one/users/eighthave/statuses/116487238119177468Wed, 29 Apr 2026 09:16:35 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Thinking about FOSS, legal advice, and pro bono legal support. on Wed, 29 Apr 2026 09:10:54 GMT]]>@david_chisnall Some overlaps with SFLC, perhaps, but also not.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.neilzone.co.uk/users/neil/statuses/116487215778147252https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.neilzone.co.uk/users/neil/statuses/116487215778147252Wed, 29 Apr 2026 09:10:54 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Thinking about FOSS, legal advice, and pro bono legal support. on Wed, 29 Apr 2026 09:09:38 GMT]]>@philcowans Yes, exactly!

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.neilzone.co.uk/users/neil/statuses/116487210822850854https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.neilzone.co.uk/users/neil/statuses/116487210822850854Wed, 29 Apr 2026 09:09:38 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Thinking about FOSS, legal advice, and pro bono legal support. on Wed, 29 Apr 2026 09:09:15 GMT]]>@simonzerafa Not as it stands, no. I'm not aware of anyone doing quite what I have in mind (UK or elsewhere).

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.neilzone.co.uk/users/neil/statuses/116487209296107614https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.neilzone.co.uk/users/neil/statuses/116487209296107614Wed, 29 Apr 2026 09:09:15 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Thinking about FOSS, legal advice, and pro bono legal support. on Wed, 29 Apr 2026 09:09:12 GMT]]>@pwaring @neil
I disagree. Paying for legal services seems pretty reasonable, particularly in the way that you framed it: legal aid for FOSS.

And really, the donations (or otherwise) would be funding FOSS projects’ access to legal counsel and representation, not simply “giving to lawyers”.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://cupoftea.social/users/robtherunt/statuses/116487209105731302https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://cupoftea.social/users/robtherunt/statuses/116487209105731302Wed, 29 Apr 2026 09:09:12 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Thinking about FOSS, legal advice, and pro bono legal support. on Wed, 29 Apr 2026 09:08:43 GMT]]>@pwaring Yes, sort of, perhaps, ish.

I'm not massively familiar with legal aid here - aside from what I've read in the legal press, about the myriad problems - but perhaps a similar kind of output.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.neilzone.co.uk/users/neil/statuses/116487207233769728https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.neilzone.co.uk/users/neil/statuses/116487207233769728Wed, 29 Apr 2026 09:08:43 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Thinking about FOSS, legal advice, and pro bono legal support. on Wed, 29 Apr 2026 09:06:56 GMT]]>@neil

You mean some sort of ‘law center’ for supporting software freedom?

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://infosec.exchange/users/david_chisnall/statuses/116487200187476911https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://infosec.exchange/users/david_chisnall/statuses/116487200187476911Wed, 29 Apr 2026 09:06:56 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Thinking about FOSS, legal advice, and pro bono legal support. on Wed, 29 Apr 2026 09:04:16 GMT]]>@neil

Would the ORG have anything in place for this? 🤔🙂🤷‍♂️

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://infosec.exchange/users/simonzerafa/statuses/116487189745779565https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://infosec.exchange/users/simonzerafa/statuses/116487189745779565Wed, 29 Apr 2026 09:04:16 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Thinking about FOSS, legal advice, and pro bono legal support. on Wed, 29 Apr 2026 09:02:53 GMT]]>@neil Basically Legal Aid for FOSS? I think it's a good idea, though I don't know if people would be willing to donate (giving to lawyers feels like a hard sell!)

edit: you said reasonable rates so probably quite a bit more than Legal Aid from my experience...

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://social.xk7.net/users/pwaring/statuses/116487184282762507https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://social.xk7.net/users/pwaring/statuses/116487184282762507Wed, 29 Apr 2026 09:02:53 GMT