> By the license and terms such copies are under.

Which clause of the GPL requires the receiver of GPL code to agree to the terms of the GPL before being allowed to receive the source code that they are entitled to under the license? Because that would expressly contradict the first sentence of section 9:

    You are not required to accept this License in order to receive or run a copy of the Program.

> If you copy the GPL code, and it inherits the license, as the terms say it

> does, then you must also copy the license.

> The GPL does not give you an unfettered right to copy, it comes with terms

> and conditions protecting it under contract law. Thus, you must follow the > contract.

I agree that the GPL does not give you an unfettered right to copy. But the GPL like all such licenses are still governed by copyright law. And "fair use" is an exception to the copyright laws that allow you to make copies that you are not otherwise authorized to make. No publisher can put additional terms in their book, even if they wrap it in shrinkwrap that denies you the right to use that book for various fair use purposes like quoting it for criticism or parody. The Sony terms and conditions for the Play Station very clearly forbid copying the BIOS or decompiling it. But those terms are null and void when you copy the BIOS and decompile it for making a new emulator (at least in the US) because the courts have already ruled that such use is fair use.

So it is with the GPL. By default you have no right to make copies of the software at all. The GPL then grants you additional rights you normally wouldn't have under copyright law, but only to the extent that when exercising those rights, you comply with the terms of the GPL. But "Fair Use" then goes beyond that and says that for certain purposes, certain types and amounts of copies can be made, regardless of what rights the publisher does or does not reserve. This would be why the GPL specifically says:

    This License acknowledges your rights of fair use or other equivalent, as provided by copyright law.

    Do I have “fair use” rights in using the source code of a GPL-covered program? (#GPLFairUse)
    Yes, you do. “Fair use” is use that is allowed without any special 
    permission. Since you don't need the developers' permission for such use, you 
    can do it regardless of what the developers said about it—in the license or 
    elsewhere, whether that license be the GNU GPL or any other free software 
    license.