BSD License and Web Applications

Question

Hi,

I have a question the BSD license and web applications. After reading the license, it seems to me possible to use bsd licensed libraries in web applications without following under any of the conditions, is my conclusion correct?

Interestingly... Condition 1 states that redistributions of source code must retain the copyright notice but a web application does not distribute code. Condition 2 states that redistributions in binary form must retain the copyright notice but a web application definitely doesn't have a binary form to distribute.

Wouldn't I be able to use bsd licensed libraries without mentioning anything about the libraries?

Answer 1

IANAL,

Yes, you can use pretty much whatever code you want behind a server. BSD (and even GPL!) allow this. The only license I know of that doesn't allow this is the Affero GPL.

Answer 2

If the source code and the binary for your web application follow the licens requirements, then yes, you are correct. The BSD license is very permissive. Note that even if you were providing an ordinary app, there is no requirement to display the copyright - you merely need to reproduce it in some form in the distribution.

Answer 3

The consensus seems to be that if you are not distributing the code, you are not in breach. But IANAL.

Answer 4

Standard caveat: I'm not a lawyer and this answer does not qualify as legal advice.

The standard source clause:

    Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, 
    this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.

Would seem to apply to any licensed JavaScript files that are downloaded to the client and so should still contain the notice.

The standard binary source clause:

    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.

Would not seem to apply in this situation, so you should be OK. If you wanted to be extra careful, you could always include the notice in an "About" box or something of that nature.