[License-discuss] GPL and proprietary WebAPIs

[John Cowan]

Clark C. Evans scripsit:

> My question involves 3 works, not 2.  We have a original 
> work O, a "derived" work D (O + a shim/adapter), and an 
> independent proprietary work P; where D derived from O 
> under copyright law, D relies upon P for its operation, 
> and where P has no substitutes.  I am assuming that by 
> copyright law the author of O can restrict the distribution 
> of D.  Let's further assume that P has no substitutes, so
> that its functionality is not available under a license
> compatible with the GPLv3.  So, my question is if the GPLv3 
> would restrict the distribution of D due to its dependence 
> on this independent and proprietary work P.

As a worst case, the behavior of P can be reverse engineered,
since it is communicating openly with D in a way that can be
analyzed.

If you don't know about the Affero GPL3, you should look into it.

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