VLC was temporarily removed from the App Store in 2011 due to an unresolvable conflict between its open-source GNU General Public License (GPL) and Apple's App Store terms, which include a proprietary digital rights management (DRM) layer.
The removal was triggered by a formal copyright infringement complaint filed by a core VLC developer, Rémi Denis-Courmont, who argued that Applidium, the third-party company that ported the app, and Apple were violating the terms of the GPL.
The dispute was a high-profile case that highlighted the fundamental clash between open-source principles and Apple's tightly controlled ecosystem. VLC was later able to return to the App Store in 2013 by re-licensing its code under a new, more permissive license that is compatible with Apple's terms.
The core of the licensing conflict
The controversy stemmed from two conflicting licensing frameworks:
- VLC's original GPLv2 license: This is a "copyleft" license, meaning any software that incorporates or is a derivative of GPL-licensed code must also be released under the GPL. A core principle of the GPL is that users must have the freedom to redistribute and modify the software without restrictions.
- Apple's App Store terms: Apple's terms and conditions add a layer of digital rights management (DRM) to all apps distributed through the App Store. This DRM effectively restricts a user's ability to freely distribute the software, which directly contradicts a central tenet of the GPL.
A formal complaint forces Apple's hand
While Apple had previously allowed some open-source apps under the GPL, the situation came to a head when core VLC developer Rémi Denis-Courmont filed a formal complaint. In October 2010, Denis-Courmont notified Apple that distributing the iOS version of VLC through the App Store was a violation of the GPL. The issue was not with the app's functionality but with the licensing constraints imposed by Apple's platform.
This action created a schism within the VLC development community. Applidium, the company that had done the port, believed that offering the app for free on the App Store was in the spirit of open-source software and benefited users. Denis-Courmont and others in the open-source community, supported by organizations like the Free Software Foundation, saw the App Store's restrictions as a violation of the GPL's core freedoms, regardless of the app's price.
Apple's decision and the developer backlash
Faced with the formal complaint, Apple was forced to make a decision. After two months of deliberation, Apple removed the VLC app from the App Store in January 2011. This move eliminated the legal conflict by ceasing the distribution of the GPL-licensed code under incompatible terms.
The removal caused frustration among users and drew criticism from segments of the open-source community. The incident reinforced the perception among many open-source advocates that Apple's tightly controlled ecosystem was fundamentally incompatible with open-source licenses like the GPL.
How VLC returned to the App Store
For VLC to return to the App Store, the licensing issue had to be resolved. The VideoLAN project addressed this by re-licensing the VLC code under a "dual-license" model. The new version for iOS was released under two licenses:
- Mozilla Public License v2 (MPLv2): This more permissive open-source license allows for distribution through a platform with terms like Apple's App Store.
- GNU General Public License v2 (GPLv2): This license still governs the rest of the VLC project, but the specific implementation for iOS was adapted to comply with App Store rules.
With this change, VLC made its triumphant return to the App Store in July 2013, over two and a half years after its removal. The new version was a complete rewrite from the ground up to ensure it was fully compatible with the new licensing structure.