On Tue, Mar 04, 2003 at 08:46:49PM +0100, Joop Stakenborg wrote: > One of my applications (twlog) uses this widget in a new version and > before asking a RFP or packaging it myself, I want to make sure the > license is okay. Here it is: > > ------------------------------------------------------------------- > # > # $Date: 1999/09/02 23:18:06 $ > # $Id: COPYING,v 1.2 1999/09/02 23:18:06 danny Exp $ > > Copyright (c) 1991, 1992 Bell Communications Research, Inc. (Bellcore) > Copyright (c) 1995-99 Andrew Lister > All Rights Reserved. > > > Permission to use, copy, modify and distribute this material for any > purpose and without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above > copyright notices and this permission notice appear in all copies, and > that the name of any author not be used in advertising or publicity > pertaining to this material without the specific, prior written > permission of an authorized representative of Bellcore and current > maintainer. > > BELLCORE AND OTHER CONTRIBUTORS MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS AND EXTEND NO > WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, WITH RESPECT TO THE INFORMATION, > INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF > MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR ANY PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND THE > WARRANTY AGAINST INFRINGEMENT OF PATENTS OR OTHER INTELLECTUAL > PROPERTY RIGHTS. THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", AND IN NO EVENT > SHALL ANY AUTHOR OR ANY OF THEIR AFFILIATES BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES, > INCLUDING ANY LOST PROFITS OR OTHER INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL > DAMAGES RELATING TO THE INFORMATION. > --------------------------------------------------------------------- This looks like a typical MIT/X11-style license, which means it also closely resembles the 3-clause BSD license in its effect. > The Xbae FAQ at http://xbae.sourceforge.net/FAQ.html explains this > license as follows: > > - Nobody promises that this software works. > - You can use this software for whatever you want. > - You may not pretend that you wrote this software. I'm with them so far. > - If you use it in a commercial program, you have to acknowledge that > you've used the Xbae code in your documentation and include the > copyright notice in the LICENSE file of the distribution being used. I don't see that as following from the above. The license makes no mention of the licensing or purpose of programs that use it; there is no mention of "commercial programs" or special conditions that attach when this code is used with "commercial programs". > I am a bit worried about the line: 'that the name of any author not be > used in advertising or publicity bla bla'. That's not a problem. Individual publicity rights are typically not granted with copyright licenses (indeed, they fall outside the scope of copyright altogether). As I understand it, such a clause is not even necessary, and would not be governed by copyright law if it came to court. > Do you think this license looks reasonable? It might be wise to get a clarification on that "commercial program" business. The traditional interpretation of these license terms is easily DFSG-free, but if the Xbae folks interpret it non-traditionally, we need to understand how. -- G. Branden Robinson | Organized religion is a sham and a Debian GNU/Linux | crutch for weak-minded people who branden@debian.org | need strength in numbers. http://people.debian.org/~branden/ | -- Jesse Ventura
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