Date: Sun, 11 Apr 2004 11:06:32 +0930 From: "Paul A. Hoadley" <paulh@logicsquad.net> To: "Gary W. Swearingen" <underway@comcast.net> Cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: GPL: implications for FreeBSD-on-hardware for sale? Message-ID: <20040411013632.GC92584@grover.logicsquad.net> In-Reply-To: <l3lll3ogjl.ll3@mail.comcast.net> References: <20040410074515.GS85168@grover.logicsquad.net> <20040410084629.GB8301@happy-idiot-talk.infracaninophile.co.uk> <20040410102653.GA92584@grover.logicsquad.net> <l3lll3ogjl.ll3@mail.comcast.net>
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--Pk6IbRAofICFmK5e Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable On Sat, Apr 10, 2004 at 11:04:46AM -0700, Gary W. Swearingen wrote: > We all use loose language like that, but a "software seller" should > keep in mind that usually he's really doing two things: publishing > (or at least distributing) copies of the software and licensing use > of the software. The GPL seems to permit charging anything for the > publishing (but see clause 3b for an exception) while prohibiting > any charge for the licensing (but see the clauses which require fees > in the form of cross-licensing some derivative works). I have no > idea how it's legally permissible to say that your one "bundle" > price only applies to the publishing and not the licensing, but I've > never heard that any publishers or licensors worry about it. Now this is more like the kind of complexity I was expecting. :-) > Also remember that not only the chunks of software like "readline" > carry licensed and sub-licensable copyrights, but that your > arrangment of the chunks as the collection that you publish (your > product) is copyrightable, and a careful buyer will want a license > for that too, which must (per the GPL) be compatible with the GPL. > (The GPL does, of course, allow distribution with closed-source > software. I think the GPL's "further restrictions" clause should be > a problem here, but I'm not aware that any GPL licensor has > complained about any "further restrictions" in such kinds of GPL > derivatives as your product will be.) Maybe some more specifics would be helpful. The application is a web application. It may or may not end up open source, but it will be for sale, and I don't want it to inherit a restrictive license. It uses some PHP (Open Publication License), is served by Apache (Apache Software License), and is backed by PostgreSQL (BSD license). Currently I'm using a PHP template engine called Smarty (LGPL). Here, my application would be a 'work that uses the library'. So I don't think my application is a derivative work of any of these. > > Would it be arguable that I was, in fact, selling only the > > hardware and my own software application, and giving away the > > (GPL- and BSD-licensed) open source software for free? >=20 > I'll have to refer you to a lawyer. Maybe it depends upon what the > sales contract says. Maybe not. Or maybe if you have no right to > sell licenses for a fee, then it's implied that you're not selling > it. I'll have to look into it further. > But it's easy to get too wrapped up in worrying about technicalities > that most people seem happy to ignore. Excellent point. :-) (But, then, I don't want to be a test case either. :-) > Good question; I've not seen this bundling issued discussed before. It must have arisen somewhere---people have done this before. I'll search harder... Thanks for the input, Gary. --=20 Paul. mailto:paulh@logicsquad.net --Pk6IbRAofICFmK5e Content-Type: application/pgp-signature Content-Disposition: inline -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.2.4 (FreeBSD) iD8DBQFAeKEg730Z/jysbzIRAtEtAJ9ODkln+uGV+l0kncRIc8q6KPLICgCfUG57 6N687cj0GrKPPnUdo/YEQr0= =OvY1 -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- --Pk6IbRAofICFmK5e--
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