Copyright problems for the opensource reimplementation of a closed-source library (ITP #679504)
Hi,
I am the author of an opensource library that reimplements a
closed-source library.
I want the libary to be a fully compatible runtime and compile-time
replacement for the closed-source one, so I have no choice but to use
the exact same symbol names in my header. What I do is I take the
header of the closed-source library, wipe out the comments and
elaborated macros, and then implement all the functions of the exposed
API in a .c file. As a consequence, there is very little actual
difference between my header and the one of the closed-source library.
The question is: what copyright issues could I possibly be exposed to?
I've been asking the question to wine developpers [1], who have to
deal with the same kind of issues, but since I intent to package my
work for debian, I would be more comfortable if someone confirmed me
it is ok to do what I do, and if it is not, how I can fix it.
PS: the project in question is more a "proxy" towards the closed
source library than a real reimplementation, but technically I
actually reimplement every function of their header. If you are
interested, it is hosted here [2].
Cheers,
Christophe-Marie
[1]: http://www.winehq.org/pipermail/wine-devel/2012-June/095854.html
[2]: http://code.google.com/p/lazylpsolverlibs/
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