Questions tagged [derivative-works]
For questions about works that derive their core from another open work.
223 questions
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Do physical assets created directly from GPLed, copyleft digital designs (not programs or libraries) acquire the same license?
Situation: I use LGPL licensed software to create some digital assets that contain original designs. I don't modify the original LGPL software in the process; I just use it. The primary use of the ...
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Confusion about derived works from an MIT License
I am confused by copyright licenses. Specifically whether or not I am permitted to use derived code from W3Schools in my production code base.
To give a bit of context I have a contract to build a ...
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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.
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DMCA Takedown Notice received for distributing software licensed under Apache 2.0
A browser plugin was removed from one of the app stores last year as it had stopped working, and the author was no longer maintaining it in favor of their standalone desktop apps. I preferred using ...
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Can I fork and sell a modified Apache 2.0 licensed project? [duplicate]
There is a nice Apache 2.0-licensed project that already implements the foundation of a way more elaborate product that I intend to sell as proprietary.
Something like the 70% of the code will be ...
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Does programmatically looping a song in a game qualify as a derivative work?
If I want to put a song licensed under a Creative Commons license that does not allow derivatives (such as CC BY-NC-ND 3.0), am I allowed to programmatically loop (or apply effects) to the song when ...
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Does OSL 3.0 require user access to source if I sell access to it as SAAS?
We are a small group of developers who are looking to base a product we have in development on a OSL 3.0 licensed Project (OroCRM). I have been having trouble understanding the exact terms of the OSL ...
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Do I have full rights over derived works of my CC BY works?
Suppose I publish a product under a CC-BY license. Someone takes my product and remakes it into a slightly different product and publishes that under another license.
Even though a version of my ...
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AGPL and Node.js
Supposed I have written a server in Node.js that I licensed under AGPLv3. Now, if somebody takes my code and modifies it, this is a derivative work. So far, so good.
Supposed my server has the ...
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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 ...
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GPL v2 and proprietary extensions
I am trying to understand when do the GPLv2 spreads from a program to its extensions and vice versa.
Everything I've read seems to say that if you use a module (shared library or any other "tightly ...
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Are there examples of proprietary software that functionally depends on copylefted software?
This question is a follow-up on: Are there examples of proprietary software that functionally depends on free software?
Please note that this is not a duplicate, as "copylefted" (and some more, see ...
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Is code generated from an interface definition file a derivative work?
Is stub code generated from an IDL file or a protobuf definition file a derivative work?
This has come up recently in a developer discussion between several partner companies.
Background:
We use a ...
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Relicensing MIT Work [duplicate]
There's a web app released under the MIT license that I am forking. If I were to still keep it under the MIT from what I understand I would change the notice to something like:
Copyright (c) 2015 [...
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Can I take a few classes out of a library and use it in my project or should I always use the entire library?
Let's say I need a piece of functionality and there is a library on GitHub, licensed under Apache 2.0, that provides that funcionality.
There are a couple of use cases that can occur that I would ...
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If I create a derivative work of code that follows a protocol, am I still bound by its license?
I'm giving myself a headache just thinking about this, so would appreciate anyone else with an opinion.
First, off, a note:
I'm absolutely aware that my current code is a 'derivative work' - That's ...
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MIT license ambiguity about copyright?
I asked this question in softwareengineering.stackexchange.com but it was pointed out to me that it is better suited to be posted here. I deleted the original thread in the other subforum.
So the ...
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Is linking a correct proxy for derivative work determination in (copyleft) FOSS licenses?
I tend to use these simple tests to determine if the copyleft terms of a third-party project apply to the calling/reusing code:
if the calling code is linking (statically or dynamically) with GPL-...
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Does the mutilation clause make CC-BY and CC-BY-SA non-free?
This clause is section 4(c) in CC-BY 3.0 Unported and 4(d) in CC-BY-SA 3.0 Unported:
Except as otherwise agreed in writing by the Licensor or as may be otherwise permitted by applicable law, if You ...
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Re-implementing MIT licensed software in another language
I have re-implemented a library in Golang which was originally in Python.
The original Python library carries an MIT license, which gives me "without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge,...
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Include Eclipse 2.0-licensed software in commercial closed source software
It is not clear for me if it is possible to include software licensed under Eclipse Public License (EPL) 2.0 in commercial closed software.
I have found some related questions (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) that ...
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How should I mark a source file with GPLv2 as a derivative work?
I want to include a file with GPLv2 license in my project (which is also GPL, so there are no worries there). The file starts with a copyright line, and the license information.
I'll be making ...
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At which point does your work stop being a derivative of a seed project?
Seed projects, in my understanding, are commonly meant to help quick-start an application development by taking away the boilerplate, redundant work, and maybe provide an initial architectural ...
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License for Python module derived from standard library module
I'm creating a short module, which is directly based on the netrc module in the Python standard library. It's the same module, with some alterations and extensions.
Is my understanding correct that I ...
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Redistribution of derived works under MSR-SSLA
The Microsoft Research Shared Source License Agreement (MSR-SSLA) is a odd kind of "Open Source" licenses. FSF considers in "nonfree" as it does not allow commercial use.
I would like to ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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Can I sell closed source software which uses some CC BY-NC-SA code?
Can I sell software which uses someone else's code which is licensed under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported?
The software is closed source, and aside from the borrowed code, is ...
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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 ...
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Can I use Oracle's JDBC driver in an MIT licenced project?
I have decided to make a project of mine free and open source under the MIT licence. This project uses Oracle's JDBC driver. My question is am I able to include ojdbc in my Github project and if so, ...
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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 ...
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Combining Apache 2.0 with closed source
I want to use a third party software C-library "A" commerially in a product "P" (in fact a firmware, running on a device).
The third party product "A" is subject to Apache 2 license.
That means, I ...
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When does a dependency imply a derivative work?
I'm building a program which gets certain info off the net, makes calculations, then sends the info to the net again. I don't program the 'taking off the net' and 'sending to the net' parts though; ...
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Translate Apache 2.0 licensed code to another language (keeping license)
I want to convert library, which is licensed under Apache 2.0, to another programming language. The port will be initially pretty straightforward, i.e. I'll keep classes hierarchy and identifier names....
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BSD 3-clause: how to update with modifications?
Let's say I start with code that is (c) 2014 Struvious Featherstone and licensed according to the BSD 3-clause license.
Now I make some changes for my employer Zippety Duda, Inc. and I want to ...
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Licensing a code based on a research paper
I have recently ran into a research paper which explains a technique of image-processing. Now, the paper just explains the process and is not based on any specific coding-language, but we can say that ...
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Do I have to include the PSF's notice of copyright?
I have a class which inherits from one in the standard library of Python 2.7.6.
I would like to meet the conditions of the license of that code, which is the PSF LICENSE AGREEMENT FOR PYTHON 2.7.6 ...
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Distributing BSD-3 code under the Apache license v2 only
Alice and Bob write a piece of source code (call it Source1) and publish it under the BSD 3-clause license. Later, Bob and Charlie are working on a software project, licensed under AL2 (Apache License ...
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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 ...
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Does using an AGPLv3-licensed library prevent me from dual-licensing my own source code?
I wrote some software (a simple command-line utility) and released the source code under the following zlib-style open source license:
Permission is granted to anyone to use this software for any ...
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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 ...
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Is it allowed to statically link to a library licensed under Eclipse Public License 2.0 without publishing the source code of linked software?
Let's say I've developed a library and licensed it under EPL 2.0.
If somebody statically links his/her software to my library, is that software considered a derivative/modified work?
Does s/he has to ...
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Can derivatives of CC BY-SA works be licensed under CC BY-NC-SA?
Does the CC BY-SA license prevent additional restrictions being placed on derivatives?
I'm wondering, if I release a work under BY-SA, can someone else create a derivative and license it under BY-NC-...
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Is License Zero compatible with other open source licenses like GNU, MIT or BSD licenses for example?
I am currently developing a small open source project and would like to make sure I got the licensing right. I am pretty new to the open source model. I have benefited from it on a personal level for ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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Can an open source/free alternative put a company at risk? Has this ever happened?
There is a very nice quote by Alberto Vázquez-Figueroa (Spanish writer and inventor) which reads:
"El éxito o el fracaso de un invento no depende de a quien beneficia,
sino de a quien perjudica."
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Can I force additional notices in my open source project?
Answering a question here put me in a drawback.
In Open Source projects, it's clear that copyright notices shall be retained, especially when they contain copyleft and share alike clauses. However, ...
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Changing the binary/project name under BSD 3-clause license
Can I change the name of the BSD 3-clause project and its binary name?
To be specific, I have forked EACopy with a BSD 3-clause license. Its project name and binary name are the same, EACopy. I ...
