Frequent Misunderstandingsof OSS licenses V3This document summarizes misunderstandings which are frequently appeared in articles on
the internet and questions in seminars etc.
Contents are for beginners, general, and may be common to many companies.
If you have any comments about the contents of the FAQs, please join FAQ sub-WG.
◆You can freely use this document and make additions or modifications on this document, forthis document can be used under the CC0-1.0(Public Domain).
◆Please be advised that in no event shall the author and provider be liable with regard to thecontents of this document.
[Provided by OpenChain Japan WG (FAQ sub-WG)]【Coorperaton by OSS License Laboratory】

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0Index
1. (Index)
2. If not prohibited, can I use it?
3. What to do if my colleagues have used the same OSS?
4. Doesn’t OSS relate to patent infringement?
5. If I contribute to an OSS community, do I need to abandon my patent?
6. Is it kind to provide translated license document?
7. If I install on behalf of the customer, don’t I need to follow the license condition?
8. Can I modify the license?
9. If modified, do I need to provide the modified source?
10. Can I provide source code by indicating the developer’s URL?
11. Whom should I make the source code available for?
12. Which license should I apply when an OSS module consists of multiple components?
13. How should I deal with OSS components that adopt incompatible licenses?
14. Am I exempt from the T&Cs of nonfunctional OSS embedded in the product?
15. When auto-generated part of my program matches OSS, do I have to abide by itslicensing T&C?
16. How should I deal with dual license?
17. I downloaded another OSS to resolve OSS dependencies. Do I have to worry about
these OSS licenses?
18. Selling embedded devices that include OSS is not distributed, right?
19. Is the copyright owner's name enough to compose a copyright notice?
20. Can I use documents or diagrams on OSS for my product under the OSS license?
21. Can I change my OSS license?
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If not prohibited, can I use it?

Question

An program can be downloaded at an web site on the internet.
Because there is no license condition and commercial use is notprohibited, can I include the program into our product?

Answer No
 Even if downloadable for free, it is not necessarily an OSS.
 According to copyright laws, the rights to copy, modify, anddistribute are solely belong to the copyright holder.
 Without permission of these rights from the copyright holder,
you cannot use the program for your product.

#license #copyrightCC0-1.0（Public domain）

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What to do if my colleagues have used the same OSS ?

Question

Searching for a program that best suits my project'srequirements, I happened to come across the same OSS that
had been approved for use by a different project within mycompany. Can I assume I can follow the license conditions of
this OSS since my colleagues have had no problem in doing so?

Answer No

 Whether you can follow the license condition or not depends
on the object and methods of using the OSS. You need torefer to the license condition and confirm that your use of theOSS follows the condition.
 For example, when the OSS is used only in your company,the condition for distribute does not matter. But if you include
the OSS into your product, you need to follow the conditionof the distribution.

#license #track#recordCC0-1.0（Public domain）

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Doesn’t OSS relate to patent infringement?

Question

Because free use of OSS is permitted, can I think that the OSS
does not relate to patent infringement?

Answer No Although the OSS developer licensed his patent to the OSS
user, another person may have patents related to the OSS.
 Therefore, use of the OSS may constitute patent
infringement.

#patent #infringement#patent infringement

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If I contribute to an OSS community,
do I need to abandon my patent?

Question

When contributing a program to an OSS community, does thecontributor need to abandon his/her patent?

Answer No
 Contributor has no duty to abandon his/her patent.
 Contributor basically cannot exercise patent against the OSS
which were contributed on the premise that the contributor
permits free use. But the contributor can exercise the patent
against another product which is not related the OSS.
* “Exercise (the) patent” means request of injunction orcompensation for damage#patent #community #contributeCC0-1.0（Public domain）

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Is it kind to provide translated license document?

Question

An OSS license condition requires that the license document to
be included when the OSS is distributed. If the license iswritten in foreign language, is it sufficient to provide thecustomer with a translation of the license?

Answer No

 You need to include the original language license provided byOSS developer. If you provide a translation as a reference,
you need to clarify that the original language license is theofficial version.

#license #translation #JapaneseCC0-1.0（Public domain）

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If I install on behalf of the customer,don’t I need to follow the license condition?

Question

When I download an OSS and install it on behalf of a customer
on the customer’s request, do I need to care about the license
condition because I provide the OSS to the customer?

Answer Yes If you download the OSS in an office of your company andprovide it with your customer, please confirm the condition ofdistribution because you are distributing the OSS.

(FYI) There may be a license condition which does not regard
the provision as the “OSS distribution” in case that is thecustomer’s request.
#behalf #install

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Question

Can I modify the license?

The OSS license contains a condition that the customer
cannot follow. Can I delete the condition when I distribute theOSS?

Answer No
 Only the copyright holder can decide the OSS license
conditions.
 OSS distributor cannot modify the OSS’s license condition.

#license #modify

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If modified, do I need to provide the modified source?

Question

If I modify an OSS, do I need to provide the modified sourcecode to OSS community?

Answer No Although it depends on license, under many licenses(GPL, MPL, EPLetc.) provision of the modified source code to the community is
voluntary and not a duty.
 However, you need to confirm the license condition of the OSS
because the OSS developer can define the license condition.
 In case you fixed a bug, it is recommended to provide the fixed
program to the OSS community in order for the community to beable to fix the original OSS. Because, if original OSS is fixed by thecommunity, you would not need to fix the same bug in a revised
version of the OSS again.

#source #provide #modify #community

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Can I provide source code by indicating the developer’s URL?

Question

Some licenses such as GPL, MPL, and EPL stipulate a duty toprovide source code. When I include an OSS into a product, isit sufficient to indicate the URL of a download site of the OSS
developer?

Answer No The company using the OSS has the duty to provide source code.
Therefore, the company selling a product which includes OSS binary
needs to provide the source code too.
 The source code need to be provided for sure. For example, you canprovide it by downloading from a site that your company can control.
(FYI)
When the OSS is revised, the source code may not to be able to be
downloaded or link may be broken at OSS developer’s download site.
#source #provide #URL

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Whom should I make the source code available for?

QuestionIn distributing a program using OSS which requires
its source code to be published, do I have to make itavailable for people worldwide, e.g. on the internet?

Answer

No

You must check the licensing terms carefully. The majority ofsuch OSS licenses require you to make the source code available
to the recipients of your program (with or separate from thebinary), however, there are others that require you to contributethe source code to the OSS development community (if you
make modifications), or that entitles anybody who request youto provide the source code.

#source #provideCC0-1.0（Public domain）

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Which license should I apply when an OSS module
consists of multiple components?

Question

The OSS module I intend to embed in the productconsists of multiple OSS components. Do I need toabide by each and every OSS license?

AnswerYes

You must thoroughly check the licensing terms ofeach component, then abide by all of them.
【Related information】
How should I deal with OSS components that adopt
incompatible licenses?
#multiple #component #license

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How should I deal with OSS components that adopt
incompatible licenses?

Question

I will use OSS_A which consists of OSS_B and OSS_C. License of theOSS_B has propagativity and license of OSS_C is incompatible to thelicense of OSS_B. Can I use the OSS_A in our product?

Answer No
When OSS_B adopts a license that has propagativity, all other OSS
components to which the license propagates need to adopt compatible
license.
If the license of OSS_B propagates to OSS_C adopting incompatible
license, sale of the product using the OSS components violates the licenses.
(Supplement) In this case, original OSS_A is violating the licenses, but theperson who sells the product also violates the license.
#license #dual license

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Am I exempt from the T&Cs of nonfunctional OSS
embedded in the product?

Question

I embedded an OSS module that never functions in acommercial product. Am I exempt from conforming to thelicensing T&Cs of such OSS in this case?

Answer

NoYou must conform to the licensing T&Cs because you
distributed (or intend to distribute) the OSS
regardless of it being nonfunctional. If the OSS is not
distributed yet, you may remove the OSS from theproduct along with the obligation to abide by theT&Cs.
#embedded #nonfunctional

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When auto-generated part of my program matches OSS,
do I have to abide by its licensing T&C?

Question

I found a portion of my program, automatically generated
with a proprietary development tool, matching a portion of OSS
which turned out to have been generated by the same tool. DoI have to abide by the license applied to the OSS in distributing
my program?

AnswerNo

Since your program is not based on this OSS, you do not haveto abide by its license.

#development #tool#automatical #generate

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How should I deal with dual license?

Question

If an OSS is distributed under two different licenses(duallicense), do I need to comply with those two license?

Answer No
In the case of dual license, generally, OSS users can select a license to beapplied. However, selectable license may be limited based on usage
situation and combination with other OSS.
And, although dual license is indicated, some OSS requires that bothlicense conditions are applied. In this case all of the both license conditions
need to be satisfied.
Please check whether there are any descriptions about license in Readme
file or related information such as FAQs etc. of development community.

#license #dual license

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I downloaded another OSS to resolve OSS dependencies.
Do I have to worry about these OSS licenses?

Question

There are OSSs in which other dependent OSSs aredownloaded and incorporatedby library / package management
tools such as cocoapods and composer.If I distribute this OSS,
can I distribute it without worrying aboutother OSS licenses
downloaded by the tool?

AnswerNo

 For other dependent OSSs downloaded by the library /package management tool,it is also necessary to comply withthe distribution conditions.
 Therefore, please investigate the license as well as the one
downloadedfrom the developer yourself and observe theconditions.
#the library#package management tool

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Selling embedded devices that include OSS is not distributed, right?

Question

We sell embedded devices including OSS.We distribute (sell)embedded devices, not distribute OSS.Users can not retrieve
OSS.Does this mean that we do not distribute OSS?

AnswerNo

 When the OSS is incorporated into the device,the OSS
contained in the device is also distributedwhen the device isdistributed to others.It doesn't matter if you can get the OSS
out of the device.
 Therefore, it is necessary to comply with the conditionsfor
confirming and distributing OSS licenses.
#embedded #distributedCC0-1.0（Public domain）

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Is the copyright owner's name enough to compose a copyright notice?

Question

I am using a software that requires me to include its copyrightnotice in making a redistribution. Is the name of the copyrightowner sufficient to compose the copyright notice?

AnswerNo

 A copyright notice in general contains 1) the symbol © (or theword "Copyright") , 2) the copyright owner's name, and 3)
the year of first publication, according to the Universal
Copyright Convention.
e.g. © OpenChain 2019, The pubish year of a reivised work may often be added to theend of the original year.
e.g. © OpenChain 2018-2019#copyrightCC0-1.0（Public domain）

19Can I use documents or diagrams on OSS for my product underthe OSS license?

Question

Can I use the documents or diagrams on an OSS
community’s website for my product under the same OSS
license ?

AnswerNo

 Licensing terms of the documents or diagrams are most likely
not the same as that of the OSS. You must check the licensing
terms of whatever you intend to use for your productindividually.

#license、#website、#document、#diagramCC0-1.0（Public domain）

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Can I change my OSS license?

Question

There is a program that I created and released as OSS.
I want to change the license of this program and distribute it.
Can I change my OSS license?

AnswerYes If no contributions from others have been added to this program,and
you are the author alone, you can change the license at your own
discretion.
 If this program already includes contributions from others, you canchange the license if you get the consent of all the contributors.

#changeCC0-1.0（Public domain）

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END You can make registration for Openchain-japan-wg mailing list fromthe following URL:
https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/mailman/listinfo/openchain-japan-wg
 Mailing list：openchain-japan-wg@lists.linuxfoundation.org

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