-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 On Thu, Apr 05, 2007 at 01:21:37PM +0300, Ramagudi Naziir wrote: > I wanted to ask a hyptetical question about licenses > just to see I understand the GPL. > > If I write code, and the copyright is mine, > and I decide to release it under GPL - > > will I be able to give it to closed-source companies > under a different license as well ? Yes, if and only if you are the original author. The original author is allowed to choose the license(s) for distribution. > If i have the copyright - it means I can release > it under how many licenses I want ? without > any time limit ? (I can always change my mind > and re-release it under a different license ?) No. If you have first licensed it under the GPL and took contributions from other people, you will have to ask those contributors to agree with your relicensing. Only if all contributors agree, you can relicense. That clearly isn't the case with Linux: quite some major contributors (Alan Cox, for example) have publically expressed that they will not relicense their code under a different license. So even if Linus would like to relicense the kernel he will not able to do that. There are however licenses (like the NPL) that automatically grant the original author the right to relicense contributions. Anyway, IANAL, consult a lawyer if you require legal advice. If you think that's too expensive, then your code apparently isn't worth protecting and you shouldn't bother and license it just under GPL. Erik - -- They're all fools. Don't worry. Darwin may be slow, but he'll eventually get them. -- Matthew Lammers in alt.sysadmin.recovery -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.6 (GNU/Linux) iD8DBQFGFQyk/PlVHJtIto0RAi31AJwNpxa1bdZr3k+yJ70co0UY20VdEQCcCPfQ xcJms1fIyJOlYyTOcglcq7I= =kEtl -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- -- To unsubscribe from this list: send an email with "unsubscribe kernelnewbies" to ecartis@xxxxxxxxxxxx Please read the FAQ at http://kernelnewbies.org/FAQ
