[FFmpeg-devel] Legal Advice Was: [POLL][RFC] Merge vs Cherry pick for integration of changes

[Michael Niedermayer]

Hi Kieran

On Sun, Aug 24, 2025 at 07:53:45AM +0100, Kieran Kunhya via ffmpeg-devel wrote:
> On Sat, 23 Aug 2025, 21:33 Michael Niedermayer via ffmpeg-devel, <
> ffmpeg-devel at ffmpeg.org> wrote:
> 
> > Hi
> >
> > Here is the legal advice that i was given.
> > The GA has the full text and that is much more detailed.
> > Iam posting the relevant parts so the whole community can see it.
> >
> > "a claim that there is GPLv2 code in a file of
> >  FFmpeg origin that has the LGPLv2.1 license would be a breach of the
> > FFmpeg's
> >  LGPLv2.1 license. While section 3 of the LGPLv2.1 would have allowed him
> > to
> >  take the original FFmpeg files and change the license for them to GPLv2,
> > he
> >  didn't follow the necessary steps to effectively change the license. So
> > the
> >  original code he is building from is still under LGPLv2.1. Since code
> >  contributions to a copyleft work have to be under the /same /license as
> > the
> >  code you are contributing to (Section 2(c), "You must cause the whole of
> > the
> >  work to be licensed at no charge to all third parties under the terms of
> > this
> >  License"), Paul's contributions to LGPLv2.1 files are under the LGPLv2.1
> >  license because he didn't exercise the option to change them to GPLv2
> > first. A
> >  claim otherwise would be admitting he is in breach of the FFmpeg license."
> >
> > "You can safely assume that any new file he created with a license
> >  identifier in the file of LGPLv.2.1 is under the LGPLv2.1 license."
> >
> > "Paul's response to your use of his code may be to relicense his code under
> >  the AGPL,* but he cannot change the license retroactively - you would
> > have to
> >  accommodate the AGPL license for any later changes you adopt, but not for
> > any
> >  code you are using from before a license change."
> >
> > thx
> >
> > [...]
> >
> 
> Can you confirm the FFlabs lawyer said something different?

I cannot confirm this. I dont remember ever seeing the reply or the question.

My communication with the FFlabs lawyer was through a intermediary developer,
who was very busy and the mails where also terse

IIRC i also had to ask multiple times to get any awnser


> And so you went
> to another one until you got the answer you wanted?


[...]
-- 
Michael     GnuPG fingerprint: 9FF2128B147EF6730BADF133611EC787040B0FAB

No human being will ever know the Truth, for even if they happen to say it
by chance, they would not even known they had done so. -- Xenophanes
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