[License-discuss] Is Web application including GPL libraries covered under GPL?

[Kuno Woudt]

On 12-05-13 08:08, MURAKAMI, Keiko wrote:
> Hi everyone,
>
> We've been developing an application on Eclipse Framework with libararies
> covered under LGPL, GPL and Apache licenses.
> These libraries are jxl.jar(LGPL), servlet-api.jar(GPL v2) and
> stepcounter(Apache) and so on.
> When we deliver our application just as Web application, by using but not
> distributing the libraries, should we distribute it under GPL?
> Should we be ready to show the complete source code to any user?
> The application is not static linked.

Depending on who you ask, linking to servlet-api.jar means you need
to license your web application under the GPL.  If you run this web
application on your own servers and users connect to it, you would not
be obligated to give those users the source code, because you are not
distributing the web application to them -- you are merely providing a
service.

If your application makes use of non-trivial chunks of javascript, then
be aware that you are distributing that code to your users.  If that
javascript is tightly interwoven with the rest of your web application
so as to form a single creative work, I would argue that you ARE
distributing parts of your web application to your users and should
therefore comply with the conditions of the GPL -- and make the full
source code available to those users.

I am not a lawyer.  I am also not aware of any cases which would
provide some guidance on when client-side and server-side code are
sufficiently entangled to be considered a single creative work.

-- warp.