Hi! First I have to mention that I am NOT a lawer, so my advice should be taken with care, and checked with your lawer.
My understanding is that, unfortunately, you will need to check the licenses of ALL software that you use in your product. This is in three categories: 1) Software that you use only to create the product (compilers, linkers, testing software, content creation software) but do not ship with the product. In general this should be NO problem, since this software is sold or provided specifically for the purpose of working with it. However, for some very specialized software tools, restrictions may apply on the artifacts they generate. I do not expect you will have a problem here. 2) The software you ship with your product. You will need to check each software package that is used on the product to make sure you have the necessary rights to use and redistribute it (in compiled form). Unfortunately for most software products this does mean that if you need A, and A uses B, and B uses C, you will need to check the licenses for A, B and C, since you will need to include all three in the product. Also, don't forget Fonts (Typefaces) here, most of which are also covered by copyright and licenses. 3) Finally, another thing you need to check is 'algorithms'/patents. For a DirectFB-related product this is probably for technologies like MPEG2, MPEG4, mp3, and similar codec technologies. These codecs are covered by patents owned by industry associations or companies, and they require license fees for products using these technologies. Often it is the case that Open Source projects provide implementations of these codecs WITHOUT having the required licenses for the patents they use. Sometimes it is the case that the Open Source project has an agreement with the patent holder permitting it to provide the software free of charge for non-commercial use. The companies usually ignore open source, non-commercial use of their patents, but will not ignore commercial products that use the patents. For you this means that you not only need to check the license for the software, but also the license for the patent. However, this is not the situation for most of the software you will use, only for things like codecs. The above sounds a lot worse than it is: for a linux-based system, almost all the software you will need will have an open source license that will not cause you any problems. After all, there are already very many commercial products based on linux. One possible option for you is to use the help of a linux 'distributor' (like RedHat, RedFlag, VALinux, etc...). These companies will sell you a linux distribution (version) for use in your product. Aside from the other benefits like having an expert technical partner and support, you can make the contract so that the distributor assumes responsibility for the licensing issues. You buy a linux version which is guaranteed by the distributor to be commercially useable, and the licensing issues for the software are his problem. Hope that helps, Regards from Vienna, Richard Unger -----Ursprüngliche Nachricht----- Von: Zhan Zhaohua [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Gesendet: Dienstag, 08. November 2005 02:32 An: Unger Richard Cc: [email protected]; [email protected] Betreff: Re: AW: [directfb-dev] Some Question about License Dear Richard, Thank you for your reply. And your advise is very helpful to us, we will engage the assistance of a patent/copyright lawer to get more information for the license. But we still want to make sure one thing. Does it mean if we start working, we are not concerned about the software which is additional actions required for DFB requirement? So it maybe hard to express, but it is first time for us to build so big project. We don't want to make a mistake at license, it will cause more trouble for our organization. For example: if we want want use A, the B is the requirement of A, and the C is requirement of B. When we get the license of A & B, should we get the license of C? Maybe the is quesiton is not suit DFB, But your advise will help for our work. Thanx again. Best regards Zhan Zhaohua 2005.11.8 --- Unger Richard <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Hi! > > The way I see it, you're ok for using DFB: > > Freetype is provided under the 'Freetype' License, a > BSD style license: > http://www.freetype.org/license.html > This means you can use the software in any way you > want without paying, but have to mention freetype in > the 'credits' for your software. > > LibJPEG62 is a little more complicated, but > according to their own copyright notice you should > be fine using their software provided you also > 'credit' its use. > http://packages.debian.org/changelogs/pool/main/libj/libjpeg6b/libjpeg6b_6b-10/copyright > > Libpng3 and Zlib have very similar licenses, both of > which allow you to use the software any way you want > at no charge. They do not even require you to > 'credit' the use of the software, although it would > be appreciated. http://www.libpng.org/pub/png/src/libpng-LICENSE.txt > http://www.zlib.net/zlib_license.html > > Providing 'credit' or acknowledgement means that you > mention that you used the software, and refer to the > authors and perhaps the home page of the software in > your Product Manual, the 'About' or 'Info' > page/screen of the Product and your Product Website. > > DirectFB itself is LGPL. This means you can use > DirectFB and the software it depends on as libraries > against which you can link your software for your > product. You do not need to publish the source code > for your software, and can include the libraries in > compiled form together with your product. > -> Basically you have exactly what you need! > > In theory, there are no additional actions required > for the licenses, there is no one that you have to > apply with or ask to send you the license. You can > just start working. > > Depending on your companys 'confidence' in this > situation I think there are a couple of ways to > proceed: > > 1) You could simply archive (copy) all license and > copyright documents included with the software (make > hard copies, consider having them certified by a > notary to guarantee originality) and then begin > work. > > 2) If you are less confident, you could write to the principal authors > of the different software packages, and ask them to send you written > confirmation that you can use the software in your > commercial product free of charge. Add their written > statements to the other copyright materials you > archive. > > 3) You could engage the assistance of a > patent/copyright lawer to handle this process for > you, and provide your company with a statement > indicating the 'compliance' to the various copyright licenses. > > > Hope this helps, > > Richard Unger > > _______________________________________________ > directfb-dev mailing list > [email protected] > http://mail.directfb.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/directfb-dev > __________________________________ Yahoo! FareChase: Search multiple travel sites in one click. http://farechase.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ directfb-users mailing list [email protected] http://mail.directfb.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/directfb-users
