All Questions
Tagged with derivative-works gpl
46 questions
17
votes
5
answers
3k
views
Why would the GPL be "viral", while EUPL isn't, according to the EUPL authors?
So, according to the FSF, any work that links to a GPL licensed work is considered a derivative work, and thus also needs to be covered by the GPL.
The EUPL also demands derivative works to become ...
- 461
5
votes
1
answer
959
views
Best practices for relicensing what was once a derivative work
I forked a project which had the MIT license. I made substantial changes to it, rewriting it in a different language (from C++ to C) and now only a few small vestiges of the original are left in the ...
0
votes
1
answer
253
views
GNU General Public License v3.0 Embedded Web Program Question
Say I have a program named X. If I edit X, I have to make the source code of X open source.
If I have another program (say a web application) and I write my own code Y (which is closed source) and I ...
- 3
3
votes
1
answer
222
views
Is it legitimate to access a Wordpress-based or Wordpress-powered Web site via the Startpage service’s Anonymous View feature?
The Web site for the Wordpress software indicates that the software is licensed under the GNU General Public License (GPL) v2 (or any later version of the GPL) from what I can tell. A thought that ...
- 39
1
vote
2
answers
251
views
Automatically converted code from one language to another changes the license of a code?
I have code in a language and want to convert it automatically using a tool to another language.
Is it considered a derivative work and should I follow the same license?
Does it matter if it is MIT ...
- 113
8
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Why don't open source licenses give a more specific definition of "derivative works" to reduce ambiguity?
The Free Software Foundation is of the opinion that a program that links a library is a derivative work of that library, so a program that links to a GPL-licensed library would need to be distributed ...
- 743
5
votes
1
answer
482
views
How should I mark a source file (with GPLv2) as a derivative work from multiple files?
In a sense this question is an extension to How should I mark a source file with GPLv2 as a derivative work?.
I would like to publish a project where it frequently occurs that files are drived works ...
- 183
2
votes
0
answers
49
views
If the original author updates their program, is it now a modified work? [duplicate]
Lets say programmer Ed has made program foo and the program is licensed under the GPL license. If Ed updates his program, is that now a derivative or modified work? What if John contributes to ...
- 21
4
votes
1
answer
756
views
GPL and original author's copyright text in completely rewritten code
I'm about to release my first "big" project on Github, and although I want it to remain open-source and I have no plan of selling it, I want to try to make this licensing stuff right for my ...
- 43
3
votes
1
answer
76
views
Can original author transfer rights for GPLv3 project to other person?
Let's have one guy who have been working on game and published it as GPL open source project.
After some time, community forks popped out, while original author got increasingly tired of his project ...
- 133
0
votes
0
answers
36
views
Do significant changes to code allow a license change from 3-BSD to something else? [duplicate]
Suppose person X writes some library foolib, licensing it under the 3-BSD license.
Person Y now takes the foolib sources and develops it further, making significant changes: More functionality, ...
- 325
2
votes
1
answer
143
views
Is an installer/build script a GPL3 derivative work?
I'm currently creating installers/builders which will allow a specific Linux distro to be installed in a bunch of different container frameworks (Such as Docker). The distro is licensed under GPL3. Do ...
- 183
6
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Can my paid WordPress plugin have a proprietary license?
WordPress is licensed under (GPLv2 or later). WordPress states that all plugins hosted under the WordPress Plugin Directory must be licensed under GPL.
We have a Free version of our plugin that is ...
- 157
8
votes
3
answers
779
views
Source-only distribution of MIT-licensed project which depends on GPL library
I'm trying to understand exactly when a work becomes a "derivative work," and how it affects licensing of my project. In my situation, we have a scientific code that we have written which is ...
- 183
4
votes
1
answer
85
views
Combined distribution of open source binaries when used as program in a CLI-Script
I am planning on creating a rather small repo on github but I am not sure which license should I use. The project is basically a collection of bash, batch and powershell scripts. Those scripts invoke ...
- 143
3
votes
0
answers
187
views
GPL3 "code" in css and html templates: Implications for books hosted on the web
Bookdown is a commonly used package for authoring reports, books etc. in the R language (but can just be used for writing anything, if you know Markdown, and you want a way to produce HTML, PDF, ePub ...
- 131
2
votes
0
answers
110
views
Does a web application avoid becoming a "derivative work" if it loads in an unmodified GPL-2 javascript library?
Say I have a web page:
...
<!-- A custom javascript library -->
<script src="myCustomScript.js"></script>
<!-- A GPL2 javascript library -->
<script src="...
- 121
2
votes
2
answers
330
views
A license to protect the core, but allow proprietary extensions
I like the GPL. I like that it keeps FOSS free and open. I like that if my software is re-distributed, users know where to file bug reports, buy feature requests, and know where it came from.
...
- 153
2
votes
0
answers
153
views
What are my obligations if I convey software that calls GPL code (specifically via python import), but I do NOT convey the GPL software itself?
Party A writes some software; perhaps intending to distribute it under the MIT or some other permissive license. THe software uses some GPL'd software. Party A conveys the software to party B, without ...
- 29
2
votes
0
answers
406
views
Linking to libtorch/CUDA from a GPL program
I have modified a GPLv3 program to link to libtorch (part of PyTorch). PyTorch is licensed under the BSD-3 clause license. I would like to convey my changes to the original GPLv3 program and the ...
- 31
3
votes
5
answers
979
views
Who is the copyright holder when GPLv2 project API is used?
I've read a lot of articles and still can't find the answer to the following question.
There is a project that uses GNU General Public License version 2 license, developed by CompanyX. We (...
3
votes
3
answers
629
views
Selling GPL derived source code
I modified a GPL opensource project and distributed the binary free of charge on Google Play. I'm planning to release source code per request via email only.
My question is if someone ask for the ...
- 33
0
votes
1
answer
114
views
GNU GPL license for my camera Linux driver
My company manufactured a MIPI CSI2 camera and I have developed a camera driver for that camera. The driver is based on the NXP camera driver.
I have changed all the function names and variable names ...
- 11
3
votes
2
answers
1k
views
learning from GPL infects code
Does learning some advanced, non-trivial coding technique from exiting GPL code (or code with viral license in general) turn my own work into a derivative work?
Are there any widely accepted ...
- 173
5
votes
2
answers
531
views
What stops anyone from taking a derivative of a derivative of a GPLv2-licensed work closed-source?
What prevents the following situation?
Alice writes Alice's Great Open-Source Program and releases it under the GPL.
Bob creates the derivative work Bob's Great Open-Source Program With Racing ...
- 157
3
votes
1
answer
324
views
Are Amx Mod X plugins under GPL v3 license?
The Amx Mod X is:
AMX Mod X is a versatile Half-Life metamod plugin which is targetted toward server administration.
It has a wide array of scripting capabilities so people can write "plugins", ...
- 295
2
votes
1
answer
149
views
Licensing a project which uses numerous other modified projects under different licenses
I am using multiple libraries in a project I plan to release and distribute in both source and binary form. In my project, I use a few other open-source projects, and modified the source-code in a few ...
- 123
5
votes
3
answers
1k
views
Software is under GNU/GPLv3, which licence to chose for pictures taken from it?
So, I recently released a FOSS software with a GNU/GPLv3 licence and just realized that the software can be used to produce pictures.
I want the pictures to be free (as in freedom) in any case and ...
- 281
3
votes
1
answer
559
views
Can I rewrite the Linux kernel by hand and modify it to escape it from the GPL? [duplicate]
If I took the linux kernel, rewrite it and changed the order and file names and some other stuff, and destroy the original linux kernel, will the new kernel be subject to the terms of the GPL?
tl;dr: ...
1
vote
1
answer
211
views
Can I sell my own CMS based on another CMS (e.g. WordPress) and encrypt the source code?
Can I recode WordPress or another CMS and then sell it as my own?
Can I encrypt the source code?
- 39
5
votes
1
answer
935
views
If software requires a modified (linux) kernel to function, is it considered a derivative work of the linux kernel?
I'm writing a userspace driver which requires some modifications to the Linux kernel to function. The modifications expose new functionality by the sysfs interface. I understand that the ...
- 297
5
votes
1
answer
118
views
Does GNU Classpath exception allow me to take parts of the library, link with them and distribute the resulting executable on my terms?
GNU Classpath exception says I can link this library with independent modules to produce an executable, regardless of the license terms of these independent modules, and to copy and distribute the ...
- 335
7
votes
1
answer
654
views
For Software based on GPL library should I have to release software under GPL license or can I use MIT
I am currently building a generic rest framework and using Jersey and Grizzly as frameworks to build upon. Originally I planned to release (for commercial or public/private use) it under MIT license ...
- 173
18
votes
7
answers
2k
views
GPL-Licensed LaTeX template - implications for resulting work?
I'm currently writing my master thesis, and the classicthesis template we're supposed to use is licensed GPLv2+.
As I understand the GPL, this makes my written thesis a derivative work, and would ...
- 355
2
votes
2
answers
495
views
GNU GPL question: Do I need to open source my entire app?
I am using the Telegram API (licensed under GNU GPL) to integrate chat services within my own application. The developer of Telegram asks to -
"Please remember to publish your code too in order to ...
- 29
4
votes
2
answers
211
views
Does modifying and using a GPL program on a single hardware makes all the project GPL?
I had a bit of a chat at work concerning an ongoing project and I wanted to ask about it to a community who knows about GPL. I’m far from being an IT specialist (and a licensing specialist also) so ...
- 49
8
votes
2
answers
720
views
Using GPL-ed library from code with more permissive license (MPL-2)
I'm writing a library and a tool on top of it, and I would like to release both under MPL-2. However, the library has an optional dependency, another library which is released under GPL (not LGPL).
I ...
- 446
19
votes
2
answers
5k
views
Can I license Python project under 3-clause BSD while it has GPL-based dependencies
I'm working on an open source Python project and we have plans to use GPLv2-licensed library python3-xlib, but we will not distribute it with our library. So user can install it by pip install our-lib ...
- 291
15
votes
4
answers
1k
views
Does using GNU Unifont in a game make the game GPL?
GNU Unifont is a fontface licensed under the GNU GPLv2 or later with this exception:
The license for the compiled fonts is covered by the above GPL terms
with the GNU font embedding exception, as ...
- 12.1k
56
votes
7
answers
5k
views
Is requiring a license a violation of the GPL? Can I get around it?
At work, we use a version of GCC provided by a vendor of a proprietary OS. The vendor has modified gcc so that it will only run if it successfully acquires one of a limited number of licenses we've ...
- 663
14
votes
1
answer
692
views
GPL - Does "internal use" apply for a public gameserver?
While reading through the GPL FAQ I found some relevant points to the question, however it is still unclear to me if this fully applies to a public gameserver.
I'll try to keep it short:
There is a ...
norad
16
votes
3
answers
10k
views
When is my project a derivative work in an interpreted language?
With compiled languages, I understand when a work is considered derivative of another and thus, a license such as the GNU GPL covers the whole work.
However, with interpreted languages such as PHP or ...
- 665
7
votes
2
answers
471
views
Does sharing a file format make two programs either a combined or derived work?
This is a follow on from Does a file format constitute an API?
This is an attempt to break down: Does a host application's license apply to plug-ins written for it? into the underlying questions.
...
- 7,037
32
votes
5
answers
3k
views
What are the arguments for considering dynamic links not to constitute derivative works?
The status of programs which are dynamically linked with Copyleft licensed binaries (such as a .dll) is contentious. I have created two questions for each side of the debate. The other can be found ...
- 7,972
22
votes
4
answers
3k
views
What are the arguments for considering dynamic links to constitute derivative works?
The status of programs which are dynamically linked with Copyleft licensed binaries (such as a .dll) is contentious. I have created two questions for each side of the debate. The other can be found ...
- 7,972
17
votes
2
answers
6k
views
Do I have to release my code as GPL when a Java Library is GPL
I have found a Java library that can be used under the GPL licence (not the LGPL licence).
Can I embed the library in my program without the requirement of using the GPL licence?
I have no ...
- 576