Questions tagged [gpl]

GNU General Public License

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Faked GPL license

Lots of software is licensed under the GPL license. It is very well known and well understood. Like most legal documents the license is itself copyrighted, and while the license can be freely copied ...
gnasher729's user avatar
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2 answers
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Can a company that releases code as GPL, use it privately?

If a company has a Github repo under GPL license, can they, as the owners of the original code, distribute closed-source copies of it, i.e do they have a different right over the code ?
Mah Neh's user avatar
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2 votes
2 answers
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Firmware code written under GPLv3 was modified. What should be published? [closed]

The firmware for an embedded device (e.g., a toaster) is modified significantly. Algorithms are rewritten from scratch, the code is made compatible with different hardware, etc. The end (hardware) ...
Harry Zalessky's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
96 views

How does GPL affect a Makefile-only modification?

As a continuation of this question, does a Makefile modification when building GPL source mean my own program becomes GPL also ? For example, if some third-party GPL'd source contains exit(), and I ...
Jeff Brower's user avatar
-1 votes
1 answer
53 views

GPL: distribute compiled binary [closed]

Is it legal to modify GPL v3.0 content and distribute a binary of the remixed content without disclosing the modified source code?
Test's user avatar
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-1 votes
1 answer
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Nokia G10 Android kernel source code availability and GPL request procedure [closed]

I'm thinking about doing a LineageOS port for the Nokia G10. One part of doing the port is getting access to the Android kernel sources. Since the Android kernel is GPL 2, HMD - the company behind the ...
k_o_'s user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
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Can the permission to implement a specification be restricted?

Let's say I invent a new image file format and release the specification to the public. Is it possible to only allow GPL projects to implement this specification? Or is this not possible in the U.S.? (...
zomega's user avatar
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0 votes
1 answer
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Theft as Distribution of Software

I recently posed a hypothetical to a lawyer who deals with software licensing (His role is to protect a company from accidentally misusing FOSS software) and got a startling response. My hypothetical ...
Gus's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
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Separate license on documentation and code?

I'm currently writing an article for school in literate Haskell, which is basically a file format/syntax that's a LaTeX document but for anything written in \begin{code}...\end{code} is code that ...
Andrew.Wolphoe's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
76 views

Can I include EULA-licensed IP core in GPL codebase?

I work on little hardware project in Verilog. It would be published on GitLab and would be available for Open Source community. It is licensed as GPL 3. I want to include external IP component in my ...
НЕВСКИЙ БЛЯДИНА's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
494 views

Can software with an GPL3-0 license be sold as a product after it has been modified?

I have a project which uses yolov5. I modified the yolov5 and implemented it into my own project (I don't just use the modified version of yolov5 as project. It is just a part of my project.). I read ...
Ali Eren's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
151 views

How is the GNU Unifont and other bitmap fonts public domain?

The U.S. doesn't recognize type design as a copyrightable thing, only vectorized fonts, but what does that really mean? Is a bitmap font made in the United States public domain abroad? Are only the ...
Tada Fireworks's user avatar
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0 answers
50 views

What license would be correct for an online version of a proprietary board Game?

For a student project we created on online version of "The Game" and now we have to decide which open source license (MIT License, GPL, Apache License, etc.) would be the most suitable for ...
Jan Kreischer's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
113 views

Proprietary software using hardware Arduino with firmware GPLv3

Currently, we have developed proprietary (non-open source) software that runs on Windows, MacOS, and Linux using the Qt library (LGPL license). This software is using an external hardware through the ...
giggy's user avatar
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0 votes
2 answers
311 views

May I use FFmpeg in my program and what do they mean by making the source code available?

I am currently building a video streaming platform for my school. Because I want to serve videos in different resolutions, I use ffmpeg-static and fluent-ffmpeg. I recently checked the licenses and ...
Green_Lab's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
314 views

Is there a license like AGPL for datasets and machine learning models?

The GNU Affero General Public License is a modified version of the ordinary GNU GPL version 3. It has one added requirement: if you run a modified program on a server and let other users communicate ...
Jacob Valdez's user avatar
1 vote
3 answers
220 views

Does AGPL apply to products created by the software, or just the software?

I'm a 3D modeler by trade, and in the past I've used some software to create a base mesh for humanoid renders. I'm seeing now that, while it used to be AGPL and CC0, it's now entirely AGPL, and by ...
Michael Macha's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
39 views

If a paper under the CC BY-SA 4.0 describes & designs a software X & its implications, does said software must be under a compatible license?

Let's say I wrote a paper which describes & designs a software and its implications, and I license it under the CC BY-SA 4.0. If some else (or me) writes said software, does it need to be in a ...
8ybw83yg8y's user avatar
-2 votes
1 answer
247 views

Any licensing issues with an AGPL Docker container used for integration testing? [closed]

Consider a proprietary software service consisting of micro-services that use Amazon S3 for storage. For integration testing I would like to put together a docker-compose file that consists of ...
Bogdan Calmac's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
95 views

GPL-2 and LGPL sources in youtube video

Suppose that a developer D wants to a make youtube video about a text editor that D has created. D wants to use some real world source code segments as examples, which D will show and edit in the ...
quantumfoam's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
150 views

Enforcing the GPL license on software

I published a software project under the GNU Affero General Public License version 3.0. I have written the code behind it, hence I am the copyright holder. According to the AGPL license, anyone who ...
LCZ's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
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Using code snippets contributed by you in a library/project with restrictive license

Years ago I contributed some code snippets to a C++ library released with GPL license. Currently I am working on some closed-source commercial project where these snippets could be very helpful. ...
lackadaisical's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
295 views

MIT and GPL-3.0 conflicting licence

I am creating a project for myself based off of two different GitHub projects. Code from each of the two projects are used in my project, and I am planning on releasing it to the public. The conflict ...
Greenreader9's user avatar
16 votes
1 answer
2k views

How long does a GPL licencee have to respond to a source code request before it becomes a GPL violation?

I have requested source code for a product that contains software licensed under GPL 2. The product includes a written offer to provide source code if you send a written request by email. The offer is ...
Богдан Туренко's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
52 views

What are the implications if I include third party logos in the acknowledgements section of my copyrighted book?

I am writing a book on my recent research. I am going to register a copyright for this work and publish the book through a major publishing house (Springer). My editor and I have agreed in our ...
Jarred's user avatar
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9 votes
3 answers
5k views

GPLv3-licensed project on Github seems to try to restrict commercial use

I found an interesting project (tool for numerical simulations) on Github with the following paragraph in its README: You can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General ...
UweD's user avatar
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0 votes
0 answers
63 views

GPL-v3 using along with closed source via rest api

I want to use CMS distributed under GPL-v3 licenses. I am building a web application with closed code and my app invokes via REST API backend under GPL-v3. Question: is it legal to use GPL-v3 along ...
user2779840's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
87 views

GPLv3 modifications without distribution

I'm curious about the boundaries of GPLv3. I understand you can't distribute a binary of modified GPLv3-licensed code without releasing the source. I would assume you can modify GPLv3-licensed code, ...
mas's user avatar
  • 137
2 votes
1 answer
321 views

What public evidence suggests that AWS violated the AGPL by deploying MongoDB?

A few years ago (2018), the software package MongoDB, freely available including source code, was relicensed. The original license was the infamous AGPL, which required anybody offering modified ...
Corbin's user avatar
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0 votes
1 answer
131 views

Use of gplv2 licensed code in server

Suppose that someone develops a web application, and found a piece of code that they would like to add to their server. But that code is licensed under the GPLv2 license. Does that mean that if they ...
rafael's user avatar
  • 13
7 votes
3 answers
847 views

Who can publish GPLv4?

I was thinking about the or later part that is often used in licensing software. When reading https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-3.0.html, I've found this: The Free Software Foundation may publish ...
graywolf's user avatar
  • 173
27 votes
8 answers
12k views

Do I really have to Open Source my project?

I'm currently working on a software which uses another software under the GPL version 3 license: https://github.com/ViaVersion/ViaVersion/blob/dev/LICENSE Now someone just came to me and said I have ...
Daniel's user avatar
  • 279
0 votes
1 answer
53 views

Licensing a code which imports other module

I made a discord bot using discord.py...and want to publish it in GitHub but what license do I publish it in? the discord.py is licensed under MIT and it states that "the distributors include the ...
Shaun's user avatar
  • 3
1 vote
0 answers
93 views

Propagation of GPLv3 licensed software

"0. Definitions" section of GPLv3 says that: To “convey” a work means any kind of propagation that enables other parties to make or receive copies. Is it also included to "any kind of ...
arastirma hesap's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
549 views

Does Fat Fritz 2 violate GPL?

Fat Fritz 2 is a chess engine recently published and sold by Chessbase. Release article. It uses the Stockfish binary, and replaces the NNUE in Stockfish with its own. Stockfish itself is licensed ...
Allure's user avatar
  • 2,407
2 votes
1 answer
410 views

Does AGPL 3 requeired to give free services

I found the following lines about AGPL3 and I am not sure about the correct way to interpret it. Does AGPL3 oblige me to give my cloud services that connected to the app for free or is it only the ...
Guy Luz's user avatar
  • 145
0 votes
0 answers
21 views

Selling WordPress themes [duplicate]

I was wondering if I can sell a WordPress theme which is built on top of those themes that comes with WordPress when it's downloaded or download one for free, then modify it completely(I mean here, ...
Mila Rose's user avatar
-1 votes
1 answer
116 views

Can we use GPL3.0 software in our own software?

We're interested in a WordPress plugin available in the WordPress repository licensed with GPL3.0. We'd like to make some modifications, and then use it for a commercial project. Is this legal?
Insight's user avatar
  • 101
0 votes
1 answer
136 views

Can I relicense GPL software I make even if there are contributors?

I am about to release an open-source library (it's a derivative, but the original is MIT licensed). I'm considering releasing under GPLv3, especially since my understanding is that as the copyright ...
Yujiri's user avatar
  • 49
0 votes
2 answers
62 views

Could this interpretation of open source be compatible with GPL 2?

Supposing I made a fork of a project licensed under GPL 2 and made some modifications to it, could I then release source only by request, for only snapshots and not the stable build, without making ...
called2voyage's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
276 views

Stolen code in a GPL repo

Quite an odd thing has happened. A software author as released a repo under GPL 3.0 license But inside that repo is code that the author doesn't own in any way and has no license. Now when people fork ...
Dean Black's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
77 views

Ownership of sites and smart contracts

If I am an owner of a site, I can place restrictions on its usage even if the site software is licensed under an open source license such as GPL or AGPL, right? Which law allows me to place such ...
porton's user avatar
  • 257
0 votes
2 answers
226 views

I believe [program] violates GPL, do I need to sue the author before using its source code?

Let's say there's a program ("ABC") which is licensed under GPL. There's a similar program ("CAD") on the market, which I believe is a modified ABC. It is therefore in violation of ...
Allure's user avatar
  • 2,407
2 votes
2 answers
204 views

Do I have to adhere to my own software licences for them to remain enforceable?

I have written a software application and an accompanying software library. When users use this application, they will write code externally to it which also makes use of the software library. The ...
Toby Smith's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
284 views

Does the acceptance of a software licence constitute a contract? Can such a contract be closed without using said software?

This question revolves around the (unresolved) question in the open source community, whether "dynamic linking" against a GPL-licensed library requires your software to be GPL-licensed, as well. I ...
Lukas Barth's user avatar
7 votes
2 answers
3k views

Copyright in copyleft licence?

Is the copyright mentioned in GPL v3 used just for the sake of defining the word? (It's not copyrighted, but the word encompasses the same actions that would violate the copyright if it was ...
Martin's user avatar
  • 79
0 votes
1 answer
63 views

Can I get benefits of others' contributions to my GPL licensed software to use these contributions in my proprietary software?

I have my own code of a software, purely coded by me. I am intending to open source it, GPLv3 or Apache 2.0. Then I will add them to Github to let others get benefits of source code and contribute ...
MRAN's user avatar
  • 11
0 votes
2 answers
80 views

Can a company modify and use the source code of a GPLed library without selling it or releasing the modification?

I have a specific case here for which I could not find a clear answer here or on other pages. I am working for a company that is interested in using an open source code licensed under GPL v2.1. The ...
Yann's user avatar
  • 1
1 vote
1 answer
97 views

"GPL version N or later"-licensed code and publishing an EULA as GPL v4

Oftentimes source code is licensed as "GPL version N or later". But what stops some company from taking their EULA, publishing it as GPL version 4 and happily using whatever code they want to use in a ...
0xd34df00d's user avatar
-1 votes
1 answer
57 views

Selling second hand and copyright

If I sell a bit of GPL'ed software I am required to provide source code, or an offer of same. This is based on the "distribution" clause of the GPL. According to this question, if I sell GPL'ed ...
Dave's user avatar
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