Re: GPL licenced Java application using non GPL jars (libraries)

[Stefaan A Eeckels]

On Mon, 22 May 2006 17:59:17 +0200
Alexander Terekhov <terekhov@web.de> wrote:

> 
> Stefaan A Eeckels wrote:
> [...]
> > Your source code is yours to license as you please. The fact that it
> > uses the Java mechanisms to call library code does not make it a
> > derivative work of these libraries. 
> 
> Unless you happen to live in the GNU Republic.
> 
> http://www.gnu.org/licenses/lgpl.txt
> 
> "When a program is linked with a library, whether statically or using
> a shared library, the combination of the two is legally speaking a
> combined work, a derivative of the original library. "

The source code is not linked with the libraries. The combination of
the (compiled) source code and whatever library it uses occurs in the
system running the program.

As it is extremely difficult to distribute a running program, this
clause would pertain to linked programs that contain both a
transformation of the source code (the object) and all or part of the
libraries (where we could argue ad nauseam whether the instructions
needed to do dynamic linking are enough to make a dynamically linked
program a derivative work of the library or not). But it doesn't matter
because we're talking about source code, which most certainly is not a
derivative work of the libraries unless it happens to contain source
code copied from said libraries.

Take care,

-- 
Stefaan A Eeckels
-- 
"What is stated clearly conceives easily."  -- Inspired sales droid