Best way to add a branding requirement.

[Smith, McCoy]

You probably want to read up on the history of the "obnoxious
advertising clause" of the old BSD.  There is a summary here.
http://www.fsf.org/licensing/essays/bsd.html


-----Original Message-----
From: Peter Urbanec [mailto:opensource at urbanec.net] 
Sent: Thursday, September 08, 2005 8:29 PM
To: license-discuss at opensource.org
Subject: Best way to add a branding requirement.

Hi all,

I have been trying to convince my client to Open Source a large chunk of

technology that they developed. They have spent considerable amount of 
time and money in research and development and are in early stages of 
commercialising this.

They are quite happy to make the source code available under the terms 
of the GPL, however they would also like to stipulate a branding 
requirement. Effectively, they would like any product that makes use of 
their code to display a "Powered by X" logo in the user interface and 
any promotional literature. They would also like the documentation to 
carry the same branding information and a technology notice.

What is the best way to accommodate this? Are there any existing 
licenses to use as a guide?

Can my client release the source under GPL and add special clauses to 
add the branding requirement? My guess is no, since this is a further 
restriction of rights from the view point of the GPL, but perhaps I am 
wrong here.

I am going to try to convince my client to go for OSI approved 
licensing. Assuming that there are no existing licenses that will 
suffice, what are your recommendations for the fastest and easiest way 
to get OSI approval that will satisfy the needs of my client?

Thanks in advance for any help you can give. It's not very often that 
companies are receptive to Open Sourcing their R&D efforts this early, 
so I'd like to give my client the good news ASAP.

Best regards,

    Peter Urbanec