[R] Making a new package: licence

[Spencer Graves]

On 7/8/2011 4:26 AM, Federico Calboli wrote:
> On 8 Jul 2011, at 12:06, Duncan Murdoch wrote:
>
>> On 11-07-08 6:20 AM, Federico Calboli wrote:
>>> HI All,
>>>
>>> I have written and succesfully uploaded a new package. The licence it is under is 'GPL' --no version. My assumption is, since all the code is written in R the licence R used for R would affect the code (hence my "GPL" stands for "whatever version of the GPL R is under")
>>>
>>> I am happy with the licencing I used, but I'd like to ask if there is any transitive propery of IP licencing or if I am mistaken.
>> I believe you are mistaken:  your package is your code, so the license someone else used is irrelevant.  I would interpret 'GPL' to mean 'whatever version of GPL the user finds to be convenient'.  So if GPL v1 (which I've never actually seen) or GPL v4 (which has not been released) contained some right that I liked, I would assume that you've granted me that right.
> Ok, thanks for that. I though that, since R in under GPL-v2, I can only release my code under GPL-v2 because the code is written in R and probably qualifies as a derivative work.

       Did you include someone else's GPL-vx code (possibly modified by 
you) as part of your code in a way that someone could claim that your 
code does NOT have a useful functionality and independent existence 
without that?  I'm not an attorney, but I have read the GPL and 
discussed it with attorneys, and it's my understanding that the 
definition of "derivative work" encompasses essentially what I just 
described.  Another example:  According to the Wikipedia article on 
Linux, the (first) GPL was written for the GNU Linux project.  In that 
context, you can NOT charge someone for Linux nor for any modification 
of it you may make, because such modifications would make it a 
derivative work.  However, if you can run your own code written in 
whatever language under Linux, because presumably your code has an 
existence independent of Linux and could theoretically run (with 
modifications) on some other operating system.


        Hope this helps.
       Spencer

>
> On uploading the new version (a matter of days), I will specify the GPL version.
>
> Bw
>
> Federico
>
>
>> Duncan Murdoch
>>
>>> bw
>>>
>>> Federico
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Federico C. F. Calboli
>>> Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics
>>> Imperial College, St. Mary's Campus
>>> Norfolk Place, London W2 1PG
>>>
>>> Tel +44 (0)20 75941602   Fax +44 (0)20 75943193
>>>
>>> f.calboli [.a.t] imperial.ac.uk
>>> f.calboli [.a.t] gmail.com
>>>
>>> ______________________________________________
>>> R-help at r-project.org mailing list
>>> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help
>>> PLEASE do read the posting guide http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html
>>> and provide commented, minimal, self-contained, reproducible code.
> --
> Federico C. F. Calboli
> Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics
> Imperial College, St. Mary's Campus
> Norfolk Place, London W2 1PG
>
> Tel +44 (0)20 75941602   Fax +44 (0)20 75943193
>
> f.calboli [.a.t] imperial.ac.uk
> f.calboli [.a.t] gmail.com
>
> ______________________________________________
> R-help at r-project.org mailing list
> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help
> PLEASE do read the posting guide http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html
> and provide commented, minimal, self-contained, reproducible code.


-- 
Spencer Graves, PE, PhD
President and Chief Operating Officer
Structure Inspection and Monitoring, Inc.
751 Emerson Ct.
San José, CA 95126
ph:  408-655-4567