How can Phhusson GSI ROMs legally ship with Google apps?

[IverCoder]

@phhusson's GSIs have a gapps and gogapps variant. As far as I know, custom ROMs aren't supposed to ship with Google apps. But why does the GSIs preinstall those?

Sorry if I sound rude, I'm just curious ✌️

[phhusson]

Noone is supposed to ship Google apps except Google and OEMs who have a contract with Google, so it's a very gray area, BUT
At least in European union, OEMs actually buy the right to install Google apps (I mean with actual money, just like a Windows license), so in my opinion, it is okay for a user to flash a GSI with gapps on a device where the OEM paid for those gapps already.

But anyway, if I receive a DMCA, I'll definitely oblige from Google. (even though I'm not an US citizen)