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Can open source software be patented?
Patenting Open Source Software. A common misconception is that open source software cannot be patented. This is simply not true. The reality is that even if software is licensed under an OSS license, it can be patented, if it otherwise meets the conditions of patentability.
Is open source work copyrighted?
By default, when you contribute source code to an open source project, you are agreeing to license the code under the terms of that project, but you still retain the copyright. In some cases, this is fine. Thus the fact that the copyright has been assigned to an individual entity does not make the code any less open.
Can open-source software violate patents?
At present, software patents appear to pose the greatest risk for adopters of open source software, at least in the United States. A study conducted by Open Source Risk Management in 2004 suggested that the Linux kernel might violate some 283 registered patents.
Can I modify and sell open source software?
Yes – as long as you make your modified source code freely available, under the same license, you’re allowed to sell the software (for example in binary form).
Can a GPL license be used to distribute binary?
The GPL gives you a few options for how to distribute source code. Typically, you distribute source at the time you distribute the binary. However, section 3 (b) of the GPLv2 allows you to distribute a work based on another GPL-licensed work, in binary form, as long as you also
What happens if you never publish a source code?
If you never publish it, you have no obligations whatsoever. If there is a commercial distributor of the software, you can point everyone to that distributor to get the source code. This doesn’t apply in your case, since no commercial distributor has the source code.
Do you have to give the source code?
You only ever distribute the software together with the source code. Once you distribute one version, as you plan, you have to supply the source code for that version to anyone who wants it, unless you only ever distribute application and source code together.
When do I need to provide a GPL licensed source?
And GPL would require you to provide the sources for download a certain time (as far as I understand correctly: three years) after you delivered the binaries (unless you deliver your program together with the sources). So if you provided the sources by request, you still have to provide them three years after the last download.