Question:
If I release a program under the LGPL, can I charge for the sourcecode?
The idea is sell the program, and who wants can buy the source, too, at an additional price.
views:
127answers:
3
+3
A:
If I release a program under the LGPL, can I charge for the sourcecode?
If you release under the GPL (or LGPL), anyone you supply your program to must be able to get a copy of the source.
And they also have the right to redistribute your program and source code to anyone they want to as well.
Anon.
2010-02-21 20:03:22
What he can do and might be interested in is dual licensing - this way, he would supply LGPL'd source code to the public for free but also sell it under entirely different license terms (non-LGPL). This might get a bit complicated if he wants other people to contribute their source code. Recommended reading: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-licensing
Lukas Pokorny
2010-02-21 20:11:13
Nevertheless, neither the GPL nor the LGPL have any restrictions on charging for the program. You can charge whatever you like. (But yes, the source code must also be available upon request to your customers for a reasonable price)
nos
2010-02-21 21:01:39
Nothing stops him from "non-LGPL"ing a future version though as long as nobody else has contributed to that version but him. Just because he releases a bunch of files under a license, means he's lost the copyright to his version of the source. He can't "undo" the released files, but he is free to release any future version under whatever he likes, right? I'm no man of the law though so maybe I don't have a clue :)
Skurmedel
2010-02-21 21:31:04
@Skurmedel: That is correct. You hold full copyright to your original source code - it's only people you supply it to that are bound by the (L)GPL. Of course, if someone provides you changes to that source under the (L)GPL, you can't use their changes under a more permissive license.
Anon.
2010-02-21 23:11:07
Okay... good to know :)
Skurmedel
2010-02-21 23:16:16
+1
A:
Question: If I release a program under the LGPL, can I charge for the sourcecode?
yes. it's just that everybody that has a copy of the source under the terms of the LGPL is free to re-distribute that source code to others too, either with or without charging for it. And of course, the LGPL would grant them other freedoms too, such as the freedom to modify the code, copy it, etc.
Read the license.
EDIT: as is pointed out in the comments, you can sell the program under LGPL (which automatically implies giving the source code too) but not for an addititonal charge.
Roland Bouman
2010-02-21 20:18:09
This is incorrect. Under the terms of LGPL, anyone who has the binaries must also be able to get the source for free. You can't charge them for this. That's one of the main points of LGPL.
Lukas Pokorny
2010-02-21 20:23:41
This is right there in the 5th paragraph of the Preamble at http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-3.0.txt (applies for both GPL and LGPL): "if you distribute copies of such a program, whethergratis or for a fee ... you must make sure that they, too, receiveor can get the source code"
Lukas Pokorny
2010-02-21 20:33:27
@Lukas, no. The price of the source code cannot be more of that of the binary form. GPL restricts that (and LGPL doesn't lessen that restriction). You can charge $10 for binaries, you can charge at most $10 ofr source. You charge nothing for binaries, you don't charge for source either.
iconiK
2010-02-21 20:36:03
Lukas, the text you are citing seems to explicitly allow one charging for it.
Roland Bouman
2010-02-21 20:47:47
You can't really charge additionally for the source. Section 6b of the GPL allows you to charge "a price no more than your reasonable cost of physically performing this conveying of source" for physical copies, and section 6d mandates "at no further charge" over the cost of the object code for other distribution.
Anon.
2010-02-21 20:53:10
@iconiK, actually, GPL/LGPL distinguishes between "selling the program" and a "distribution fee". And unless I'm mistaken, the "distribution fee" can't be arbitrarily large, grossly exceeding any distribution costs. More information: http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#DoesTheGPLAllowMoney and also this: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=911181 (I was unable to actually read and understand that myself :-)
Lukas Pokorny
2010-02-21 20:56:14
@Roland, you are right, I should not have said "for free". He can charge the "distribution fee" (see above).
Lukas Pokorny
2010-02-21 20:59:49
OK guys, you win! In "GPL Law Issue 1: What is the limit to distribution fees?" (http://jamesbarger.com/sites/JB/docs/GPL_Law_by_James_Barger.pdf), Stallman himself is quoted as saying that you can charge a billion dollar distribution fee. :-)
Lukas Pokorny
2010-02-21 21:09:35
+5
A:
The idea is sell the program, and who wants can buy the source, too, at an additional price.
You can sell the program, but you can't treat the source as a separate optional package that's given only at an additional price.
Update:
On the other hand, if you wrote the program, (as in, you're the copyright holder), then you can sell the source separately under the terms of the LGPL license.
Just bear in mind that whoever receives it will be able to re-distribute it how ever he wants without ever having to consult you.
hasen j
2010-02-21 20:23:45
But anyone who buys a LGPL'd program would also get the right to release it to the public for free, so this isn't very practical.
Lukas Pokorny
2010-02-21 20:36:13