[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
Re: LGPL question
From: |
Alfred M. Szmidt |
Subject: |
Re: LGPL question |
Date: |
Sun, 20 Nov 2005 10:30:03 +0100 |
> If my company, let's call it "Bony Corporation", decides to
> release a music CD "Get Right with the DRM" with a rootkit that
> contains copyrighted music and LGPL-licensed software, is it
> required to distribute the *music* source code under the LGPL or
> GPL? What *is* the source code to music? A non-DRM'd,
> non-encrypted copy of the music?
I think it would irrelevant. Let's say that the disk contained
copyrighted software rather than music, with DRM to control access
to the software. IMO the GPL would still not require the
copyrighted software to be released under the GPL simply because
the DRM software was protected under the GPL.
To clarify, since the music on the CD does not share code at all in
thise particular case with the Lesser GNU GPL or GNU GPL licensed
software, the license does not come into effect.
>From the GPL FAQ:
What is the difference between "mere aggregation" and "combining two
modules into one program"?
Mere aggregation of two programs means putting them side by side on
the same CD-ROM or hard disk. We use this term in the case where they
are separate programs, not parts of a single program. In this case,
if one of the programs is covered by the GPL, it has no effect on the
other program.
Combining two modules means connecting them together so that they
form a single larger program. If either part is covered by the GPL,
the whole combination must also be released under the GPL--if you
can't, or won't, do that, you may not combine them.
What constitutes combining two parts into one program? This is a
legal question, which ultimately judges will decide. We believe that
a proper criterion depends both on the mechanism of communication
(exec, pipes, rpc, function calls within a shared address space,
etc.) and the semantics of the communication (what kinds of
information are interchanged).
If the modules are included in the same executable file, they are
definitely combined in one program. If modules are designed to run
linked together in a shared address space, that almost surely means
combining them into one program.
By contrast, pipes, sockets and command-line arguments are
communication mechanisms normally used between two separate
programs. So when they are used for communication, the modules
normally are separate programs. But if the semantics of the
communication are intimate enough, exchanging complex internal data
structures, that too could be a basis to consider the two parts as
combined into a larger program.