Consider this code:

class A 
{
public:
  A();

private:
  A(const A&);   // private copy ctor
};

A makeA(void);
void foo(const A&);

void bar(void)
{
  foo(A());       // error, copy ctor is not accessible
  foo(makeA());   // error, copy ctor is not accessible

  A a1;
  foo(a1);        // OK, a1 is a lvalue
}

Starting with GCC 3.4.0, binding an rvalue to a const reference requires an accessible copy constructor. This might be surprising at first sight, especially since most popular compilers do not correctly implement this rule.

The C++ Standard says that a temporary object should be created in this context and its contents filled with a copy of the object we are trying to bind to the reference; it also says that the temporary copy can be elided, but the semantic constraints (eg. accessibility) of the copy constructor still have to be checked.

For further information, you can consult the following paragraphs of the C++ standard: [dcl.init.ref]/5, bullet 2, sub-bullet 1, and [class.temporary]/2.

Starting with GCC 4.3.0, GCC no longer gives an error for this case. This change is based on the intent of the C++ language committee. As of 2010-05-28, the final proposed draft of the C++0x standard permits this code without error.