[FFmpeg-devel] [PATCH 1/2] LICENSE: Complete GPL'd external libraries list

[Timothy Gu]

On Jun 7, 2013 8:59 PM, "Carl Eugen Hoyos" <cehoyos at ag.or.at> wrote:
>
> Timothy Gu <timothygu99 <at> gmail.com> writes:
>
> > The first paragraph of FTL is the same as clause 3
> > of the 3-clause BSD license, and the second
> > paragraph said "suggest, but do not require", so
> > it doesn't really matter.
> >
> > I don't think providing a warning is necessary
> > because we don't do that with 3-clause BSD, and
> > the advertisement clause is basically the same as
> > BSD, with the 2nd paragraph that doesn't matter.
>
> I completely misunderstand this email because I
> don't understand how 3-clause bsd is related to
> The FreeType Project license (so I mixed up with
> 4-clause bsd license and thought your were
> referring to that paragraph).
>
> The relevant sentence - imo - is:
>
>       If you use
>       it, or  only parts of it,  in a program,  you must acknowledge
>       somewhere  in  your  documentation  that  you  have  used  the
>       FreeType code. (`credits')

That is the same as the second clause in 3- or 2-clause BSD.

>
> I believe it is possible to fulfill this with
> FFmpeg libraries compiled under LGPL and linked
> to a commercial program (and libfreetype) but I
> don't think we can test this in configure.

Again, the credits clause is not the problem, as it appears in 2-clause
BSD, and 2-clause BSD is still (L)GPL compatible. The Freetype (not
4-clause BSD) advertisement clause is the problem. It is included in
3-clause BSD and there is not evidence that 3-clause BSD is LGPL compatible.

>
> IANAL, Carl Eugen

In conclusion:
1. The credit clause is not an issue for us, it is for the companies to
worry about.
2. The advertisement clause included in FTL and 3-clause BSD might cause it
to be non-LGPL v2.1-compatible, but is needed to be confirmed.
3. I don't see any difference between 3-clause BSD and FTL, but is needed
to be confirmed.

BTW, I have sent an email to freetype mailing list regarding issue 2 and 3.
No response yet.

Timothy