Re: compatibility of bsd and gpl

[Arnoud Engelfriet <arnoud@engelfriet.net>]

Matthew Wala wrote:
> >And people can copy&paste
> >that code out of your project and reuse it elsewhere under
> >the original (BSD) terms.
> Doesn't section 2b say that projects reusing BSD code from a GPL'd
> project have to be GPL'd?

The GPL applies to the combination of the old BSD code and the
newly added GPL code. The GPL cannot change the license terms
of the BSD parts. So when you remove all GPL parts, there no
longer is an obligation to treat the BSD code the same way as
the GPL parts.

The FSF addresses this in their GPL FAQ for the case that the
other code is public domain:
"If a program combines public-domain code with GPL-covered code, can I
take the public-domain part and use it as public domain code?
    You can do that, if you can figure out which part is the public
    domain part and separate it from the rest. If code was put in the
    public domain by its developer, it is in the public domain no matter
    where it has been."
    http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#CombinePublicDomainWithGPL

I don't see a reason why this answer would be different for BSD
licensed code as opposed to public domain code.

Arnoud

-- 
Arnoud Engelfriet, Dutch & European patent attorney - Speaking only for myself
Patents, copyright and IPR explained for techies: http://www.iusmentis.com/