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    It is copyright that allows the GPL to be enforced. Only the copyright holder can sue or demand enforcement of the GPL if the license is violated. Others have no standing. This is part of why many projects demand assignment of copyright. Commented Jun 28, 2013 at 5:26
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    Not only is it a requirement for the GPL, but it's also extremely common practice even among permissively licensed projects. For example, the common language of all BSD licenses assumes an "above copyright notice" that must be preserved in all redistributions. If you want a practical example of this, visit chrome://credits/ in the Chrome or Chromium browser -- I certainly don't think that those dozens of copyright notices "break the community-created feel"; I think it promotes it. Commented Jun 28, 2013 at 13:16