How should I use this piece of open-source code with the BSD License attached?

Question

I just found some nice open-source code at The Code Project and it's attached with the BSD License. Well, the article states in the end that the code is licensed under the BSD License. But none of the source code files had any reference to the license, they have some copyright text though. The download also didn't come with some kind of "LICENSE.txt" file nor anything.

The way I intend to use this piece of code is by adding a new project to my solution (it's .NET project) and that means a .dll will be compiled and referenced in my application. I will not distribute my application's source code (at least for now) nor the code for the library I'm using (the license doesn't require it anyway).

My question is, how should I honor the BSD License for the library I'll be using in my application? I already distribute my application binaries with a "LICENSE.txt" but it's basically the terms of use and not exactly a license license.

So, what's your suggestions to honor the BSD License of some library I'll be including with my application's binaries?

Answer 1

Given the original explicit statement on the project that it is available under the BSD licence I think that you're free to go with that in the absence of anything to the contrary in the files.

Simply including a note in you own licence.txt to the effect that you used this code (and a link to same) is polite though. I would also include comment in every source file you bring in that it was originally supplied under a BSD license and where this came from in case anyone else comes to your source later)

I am most emphatically not a lawyer, this is very much subjective (I'd tag my own answer that if I could)

Answer 2

If this is commercial work, the answer is "ask your lawyer/legal department".

If just a personal project, as you're intending to make a binary distribution, the following clause of the license would be operative

Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.

So long as you can supply the when and the who in Copyright (c) <YEAR>, <OWNER> (in a "contains code Copyright (c) ..." that would be following the spirit of the indicated license.

Ob disclaimer - IANAL