Date: Sun, 23 Jul 2017 16:19:55 +0100 From: Matthew Seaman <matthew@FreeBSD.org> To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: BSD question Message-ID: <5779f579-9eb6-05ce-605b-5ba9766f0172@FreeBSD.org> In-Reply-To: <CAD%2BQYvDcUw8fLBg-p9nXm8=cWaQri-cN7b3=fDqP-ACRENEa5Q@mail.gmail.com> References: <CAD%2BQYvDcUw8fLBg-p9nXm8=cWaQri-cN7b3=fDqP-ACRENEa5Q@mail.gmail.com>
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This is an OpenPGP/MIME signed message (RFC 4880 and 3156) --nWT8Ixpptm5gsRx5USLuR7BgjtEs9UWMQ Content-Type: multipart/mixed; boundary="wr3GPwqOKOLwOqso8Br92oPAbmW78TAmC"; protected-headers="v1" From: Matthew Seaman <matthew@FreeBSD.org> To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Message-ID: <5779f579-9eb6-05ce-605b-5ba9766f0172@FreeBSD.org> Subject: Re: BSD question References: <CAD+QYvDcUw8fLBg-p9nXm8=cWaQri-cN7b3=fDqP-ACRENEa5Q@mail.gmail.com> In-Reply-To: <CAD+QYvDcUw8fLBg-p9nXm8=cWaQri-cN7b3=fDqP-ACRENEa5Q@mail.gmail.com> --wr3GPwqOKOLwOqso8Br92oPAbmW78TAmC Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 Content-Language: en-GB Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable On 23/07/2017 12:54, Anna Hall wrote: > I have read through all your information on your website, but still hav= e a > question that I am hoping someone can answer for me. >=20 > We currently have open source software with a BSD licence. The changes= we > want to make are as follows: >=20 > We still want anyone to access, downlaod, change, adapt the software > however they want. However, when they want to apply it to a commercial= > setting, then they need to buy a licence from us. The reason for this = is > that we are putting a lot of man-hours into improving the software. >=20 > Is it possible to maintain our BSD licence, but just include a > non-commercial clause/ "if you want to use this in a commercial setting= , > please email xxxx for a quote for a licence" You can't use the BSD license for that as the BSD license makes no exceptions for either commercial or non-commercial use[*]. However if you are starting from a BSD licensed code-base -- either one you've written yourselves or that you've inherited from elsewhere -- then you can issue a derived work under a different license, so long as you abide by the original BSD terms which are to acknowledge the copyright of the original authors and retain the original copyright notices. It is also possible to release software under a dual license where the end-user can choose whichever of the licenses suits them best. MySQL is a model that you might perhaps like to consider here. Their community edition is available under the GPL, but they also have a commercially licensed variant. Your situation is by no means unique. I'd advise you to study other Open Source projects that are the commercial property of a person or company and look at how they monetize their work. A fairly standard approach is to offer the software itself freely available as open source, but sell support contracts, consultancy, training and other peripheral services. (Sometimes a website will feature pages and pages of advertisements and enticements towards paying for services with only a very small and obscure link to where the source code may be obtained. That's usually not a particularly encouraging sign, as it raises the suspicion that the overbearing sales tactics are a reflection of lack of added value in the support offering.) Finally, seek qualified legal advice before trying to modify or change license terms. Getting it wrong can prove ruinously expensive. Cheers, Matthew [*] This is standard for Open Source Licenses. --wr3GPwqOKOLwOqso8Br92oPAbmW78TAmC-- --nWT8Ixpptm5gsRx5USLuR7BgjtEs9UWMQ Content-Type: application/pgp-signature; name="signature.asc" Content-Description: OpenPGP digital signature Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="signature.asc" -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- iQJ8BAEBCgBmBQJZdL6iXxSAAAAAAC4AKGlzc3Vlci1mcHJAbm90YXRpb25zLm9w ZW5wZ3AuZmlmdGhob3JzZW1hbi5uZXQ2NTNBNjhCOTEzQTRFNkNGM0UxRTEzMjZC QjIzQUY1MThFMUE0MDEzAAoJELsjr1GOGkATPNsP/3FtAVhWZ9jMkOw5Ivuk3ckG 87wqFXJoQNwHhXLeOw3+FMerJnReXzy70aBCpvxfdzhkSUdwIQ5hTpDAVXk1L5NX +jXpKIW+E0vLgOBl+J1E2p4Y9h3+SPLcR3aqakEnBjbgoYmqGothcXP64mUgxpRR hACIjp7JP6w+qDoOna3T2VM7yav5f8njvwAnR7S+1Z1oRrknw4qYiV1bVZwyB7t5 JzckWegY+XwwvmqD/qnoN8f8LahEi8RRJLecTnmBSl7KxRjTeG0HH9CDEYe9DYpz F9bbRmmwczbG+yy+KNvDd9O2ceXX4iCoGNYKHsN6TXb021xjwBgRgsFsu+HW4+Qz 6NvILLSQheaglkUk55gSnrJe9z+VhQQk/CqcCADX6BZJSaXHQ3mwZ1eMJ1kT9krp Z0WSkLEFL76dnu+VrqG4788BzTi4iiiq7eFv4OTA3JDwi8OdCC5epiVZwY2bZw99 JDjcxQox1cZ0L/w+GfpZIY3FNdaJrZekCGMuQxNG7EQjeiGZ4rSCZ9cK7DWdy5e4 dE9hjT5ZT3n7vIHlEpGNuyWgeo/ln4mi94cB3FLmRhl41rtpfD4Xl9rZ2mHGP3VZ FssS4Lw/9lbBoiHQxggKDK+aKavk1HbmdZtD46F0eKHvUjc3GxSD+1JtXv7sbdAy gLVlw9ya4xf6l5/xlxIb =Cgl2 -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- --nWT8Ixpptm5gsRx5USLuR7BgjtEs9UWMQ--
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