[License-discuss] TCPDF license: LGPLv3 + a special clause: is this still considered "Open Source"?

[Clark C. Evans]

On Wed, Feb 1, 2012, at 01:55 AM, Chris Travers wrote:
> Does the GPL v3 give you the permission to drop legitimate
> copyright notices from software or accompanying documentation? 

As you note, the GPLv3 7b provides the right to require 
the preservation of legal notices and author attributions
in the material that an author has copyright for; and any
derivative works of that material.  

> I would add further that the requirement for attribution/copyright
> notice seems entirely in line with the 7b attribution terms.  I don't
> see why you have to see this as a new license.

This requirement was completely different.  It was an
attribution in dynamically generated content, the 
generated PDF, which is not their copyrighted material
but instead the output of their program. 

That said, programs that include boilerplate copyrighted
material in their output (Bison) might require that the
output itself be released under the GPLv3.  However, it 
is traditional for the FSF to provide an exception for 
this case.  Even in this case though, if the output might
be considered a work "based on" the processor itself, it
not be an interactive user interface, so I'm not sure if
7b would apply.

Best,

Clark