It is my belief that the LGPL was designed to allow linking with any other code without that code being LGPL. So concerning your statement that it would be the end of LGPL, I don't agree.
Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S5. -------- Original message -------- From: "Wiedemann, Claus-Peter" <[email protected]> Date:21/10/2014 07:19 (GMT-03:00) To: Florian Weimer <[email protected]>, Kern Sibbald <[email protected]> Cc: [email protected] Subject: AW: Oracle vs Google: APIs are copyright; appeal decision > -----Ursprüngliche Nachricht----- > Von: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected] > violations.org] Im Auftrag von Florian Weimer > Gesendet: Dienstag, 21. Oktober 2014 08:54 > An: Kern Sibbald > Cc: [email protected] > Betreff: Re: Oracle vs Google: APIs are copyright; appeal decision > > * Kern Sibbald: > > > I am not taking any side, but could you be more specific on your > > comment "the result this would have on the GPL"? > > If copyright protection does not seep through APIs, you can link your > proprietary software against a library licensed under the GPL, and you would > only have to obey the GPL terms for the library (i.e., not your proprietary > application). Essentially, this would turn the GPL into the LGPL, which is > clearly against the FSF's interests (because they view the LGPL as the lesser > license of the two). I don't think that this is (necessarily) a matter if APIs being copyrightable. It is a matter of your work becoming a derived work of the library by linking with it. FSF says "yes", others say "no". If APIs were to be copyrightable, it would have a huge impact, especially for the C/C++/Linux world. In that universe, APIs are usually defined in header files containing type definitions (data structures) and function signatures. In order to use software (e.g. a library) with such API, you will have to include the header file into your code. If the API is copyrightable and the library+header file are licensed, say, under LGPL, your code would need to be licensed under (L)GPL, too. This would be the end of proprietary applications using LGPL libraries. Best regards Claus-Peter ________________________________ BearingPoint GmbH Geschäftsführer: Marcel Nickler (Vorsitzender), Hans-Werner Wurzel (stellv. Vorsitzender), Kiumars Hamidian, Matthias Loebich, Kai Wächter, Dr. Robert Wagner Vorsitzender des Aufsichtsrats: Beat Leimbacher Sitz: Frankfurt am Main Registergericht: Amtsgericht Frankfurt am Main HRB 55490 The information in this email is confidential and may be legally privileged. If you are not the intended recipient of this message, any review, disclosure, copying, distribution, retention, or any action taken or omitted to be taken in reliance on it is prohibited and may be unlawful. If you are not the intended recipient, please reply to or forward a copy of this message to the sender and delete the message, any attachments, and any copies thereof from your system.
