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I have read Interfacing with GPL applications from MIT licensed code - is a dual-license unavoidable? (now deleted) on Stack Overflow, but it doesn't appear to fully answer my question.

I maintain a library which is licensed under the MIT License. In my MIT licensed library, I dynamically link (Python ctypes to be specific) against another library which is licensed under the GNU Lesser General Public License 2.1 (LibRaw). This would be fine by itself, however, LibRaw is sometimes statically linked against a sort of "plugin" called the LibRaw Demosaic Pack which is licensed under GNU General Public License 2+ or GNU General Public License 3 depending on the version. I have no way of checking if LibRaw has been linked against these libraries. (LibRaw is just installed on the end users computer and when they download our library and use it it links against it, I am not redistributing or building LibRaw.)

Does linking against the LGPL library from my MIT library when the LGPL library has been linked against GPL code mean that I'm illegally using GPL code in my MIT Library?
If it is so, is there some way around this short of sub-licensing parts of my code under the GPL, or dual-licensing (which is just confusing for the end user)? Or can I still link against the LGPL library under the terms of the LGPL even though it then links against GPLed code?

apaderno
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Sam Whited
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    When you say the LGPL lib is "sometimes" statically linked against a GPL plugin, is that because the LGPL lib is sometimes distributed with that plugin (if so, by you? them?) or is that static linking just something a technical end user might do? – Ixrec Jun 01 '15 at 19:31
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    What exactly is the "plugin" which is GPLv3 licensed? Why is it useful for? Which program is using that plugin? Under which license? – Basile Starynkevitch Jun 01 '15 at 19:31
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    I've updated with links to the GPL code (click GPLv2 or GPLv3 in the question). It's a "plugin pack" that basically ads a few demosaic methods to LibRaw (so LibRaw, the LGPL code, would be calling out to these methods if it was built with the GPL code. If it's not built with the GPL code and you call the libraw methods that use it, it just falls back to its internal LGPL code). LibRaw is just on the users system and I'm dynamically linking against it; I can't tell at link time if it's been built with the GPL code or not. – Sam Whited Jun 01 '15 at 19:35
  • You should better name the plugins, and link the name to their github – Basile Starynkevitch Jun 01 '15 at 19:43
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    My educated guess would be that you're totally in the clear. In principle you can stick any GPL'd code into any LGPL'd library for your personal use (and that freedom is the whole point of the GPL license family), so trying to outlaw that would be silly. As long as no one's *distributing* your code in a state where it's linked against GPL'd code, I see nothing wrong. But this goes too far beyond my expertise for me to feel confident so I'll leave this as a comment. – Ixrec Jun 01 '15 at 20:15
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    Does the MIT licensed library work without libRaw? If not, it could be argued that the unnamed MIT licensed library is actually a derivative work of libRaw. – Craig Jun 02 '15 at 16:31
  • No, it doesn't really do anything without LibRaw. It has a few helper methosd, but for the most part it's just Python bindings for LibRaw and doesn't do much on its own at the moment. I wasn't aware that this could affect things. – Sam Whited Jun 02 '15 at 20:14

2 Answers2

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You designed your library to depend only on the LGPL version of LibRaw. That way you are following the license conditions of LibRaw. When the end-user links it against a version of that library which contains GPL code, that's their own business, not yours.

You can not prevent your end-users from doing this. And doing that is not even illegal for them: The (L)GPL only governs redistribution, it does not restrict what people may do with the software on their own machines.

However, other people are not allowed to distribute an application which depends on the GPL version of the library under MIT, because in that case they would be violating the GPL license of the demosaic pack. But what they can do is redistribute the whole application with your library all under GPL. Both the LGPL and the MIT license allow relicensing under the GPL, so anyone can turn a MIT-licensed work into a GPL work. But that's an issue between them and the authors of said plugin. You are out of it because your library only requires the LGPL version.

By the way: If you have any similar questions, then you might want to ask them on Open Source Stackexchange.

Philipp
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  • > The (L)GPL only governs redistribution That makes good sense; I don't see how it would be legally enforceable otherwise. Do you have a citation for that? – Sam Whited Jun 09 '15 at 23:51
  • @SamWhited It's implied in the text of the LGPL and GPL themselves. If you read through them, you'll see that every restriction on what you can do is a restriction on distribution. – Ross Patterson Jan 10 '16 at 13:05
  • I'm sure it is in there, but deciphering the legalese in both those documents was the purpose of this question :) – Sam Whited Jan 10 '16 at 17:04
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The question becomes really simple if you are releasing as free and open source and everything using your code is also free and open source: everything will be fine as long as your code is using a compatible license. If your code is proprietary or is used in proprietary software, it becomes a bit more complicated. The main question is whether or not you or others are using your MIT licensed code in a proprietary manner.

You can link to code covered by the GPL even in proprietary systems as long as the license is compatible. The MIT license is generally compatible with the GPL, but I recommend asking FSF directly as these multi-license situations can be tricky.

Jonathan Voss
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    Not quite. You can use GPL'd code for your own private use (which includes internal corporate use) without any restrictions. That's true of almost all licenses. When you start distributing your combinations/modifications to others, that's when the GPL requires that your combinations/modifications as a whole be released *under a license compatible with GPL.* Just being open source isn't enough, because [being open source and being free software/GPL-licensed are not even close to the same thing](https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/open-source-misses-the-point.html). – Ixrec Jun 09 '15 at 18:41
  • True. I will edit my answer accordingly. – Jonathan Voss Jun 09 '15 at 18:52
  • Actually, he did say that he is distributing it, so the private use part is irrelevant to his question. – Jonathan Voss Jun 09 '15 at 18:55
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    While I'm not using the library I've written in any proprietary software, I can not guarantee that others won't. I'm assuming that puts the legal burden on them, but I'm unclear if that's actually true, or if it then becomes my problem since I used a license which allows other people to use my library in a proprietary system. – Sam Whited Jun 09 '15 at 19:03
  • If someone uses your code in anything they distribute, then it is their responsibility to conform to all licenses attached to your code. You are not responsible for anyone else's use of your code, but you can take measures to enforce it if you want to. See [here](http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#TheGPLSaysModifiedVersions), [here](http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#UnreleasedMods), [here](http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#GPLInProprietarySystem), and [here](http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#ReportingViolation). – Jonathan Voss Jun 10 '15 at 01:46
  • There might be some differences between the technical definitions of "modification" and "derivative work" that I have missed. But based on your situation and that third reference, it seems like you're in the clear. The part about the "wrapper" does not apply because your library relies only upon the LGPLed code and not the GPLed code. – Jonathan Voss Jun 10 '15 at 01:54
  • There's no such thing as "_free and open source_" in a licensing question. It's all about conflicts between the licenses. MIT, GPL, and LGPL are all both Free Software and Open Source Software licenses, and yet, questions like this arise easily. – Ross Patterson Jan 10 '16 at 13:08
  • @RossPatterson There is always the [WTFPL](http://www.wtfpl.net) if you really want to release software that conforms to your idea of "free and open source". – Jonathan Voss Jan 10 '16 at 18:05