Euro-Office, a new web-based office suite supported by European companies, has already become the center of a licensing dispute with ONLYOFFICE, the project on which it is based. Here is a brief summary of the story.
Nextcloud, IONOS, and other European partners introduced Euro-Office a few days ago as an independent option for collaborative document editing. A technical preview is out now, and the first stable version is expected in summer 2026.
However, Euro-Office uses the ONLYOFFICE codebase, which is released under the GNU Affero General Public License version 3 (AGPLv3). Soon after Euro-Office was announced, ONLYOFFICE claimed that the project breaks its license terms and infringes on its intellectual property.
ONLYOFFICE says its software includes additional rules regarding branding, credit, and license notices. The company insists these rules must stay in place when the software is shared or changed.
In addition, ONLYOFFICE also claims Euro-Office ignored or removed some of these requirements, which it believes breaks the license and ends the right to redistribute the software.
On the contrary, Euro-Office argues that some of ONLYOFFICE’s extra license terms cannot be enforced, especially if they conflict with the AGPL rules. The main issue is whether these extra conditions are allowed under the license and if a project like Euro-Office can remove them.
This disagreement is part of a bigger debate in open-source licensing about how to interpret ‘additional terms.’ Here’s the case: AGPLv3 lets projects add some extra rules in certain cases, but it also bans restrictions that go beyond the license.
The conflict also shows the tension between original software creators and projects that build on their work. Euro-Office is described as a group-led project that supports European digital independence, while ONLYOFFICE says its license rules decide how its code can be used and shared.
As of now, neither side has announced any legal action. The dispute is still just a matter of public statements, with no sign that it will go beyond arguments over the license. As always, if there are any further developments, I will keep you updated.
Maria. Tom