OSG.js license change. Feedback request.

jtorresfabra commented 9 years ago

Dear OSG.JS contributors,

OSG.JS is becoming a very productive library for display 3D models on the Web, used by more and more developers. Some of the Web applications built on this Javascript library are commercial (for profit), typically as part of a Software as a Service (SaaS) approach.

The growing use of OSG.JS in Web applications has prompted us to investigate about the license under which the current code is released, which is LGPL v3. While we are not legal experts (even if we were, there seems to be no definitive agreement on all legal implications of LGPL v3), it seems this license is not commonly used in JS libraries. Two reasons are: a) the difficulty in interpreting what it means "derivative work" and "distribution" in Web applications, in the context of the convoluted legal text of LGPLv3; b) complex license compatibility issues if a LGPL v3 library is combined with other libraries with different licenses.

For these reasons, most open source JS libraries (like Three.js, jQuery, Bootstrap) use the MIT license or a similar non-restrictive license to avoid any legal issues. This the full text of the MIT license, which must be included in the code:

The MIT License (MIT)

Copyright (c) // COPYRIGHT holders must be stated here and copyright notice replicated in derivative work (see below)

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.

On the other hand, some JS libraries have a commercial philosophy (revenue is sought by selling library licenses), but still want an open developer community. These libraries usually have a dual GPL + commercial license, for instance:

DHTMLX: http://dhtmlx.com/docs/products/licenses.shtml WEBIX: http://webix.com/licenses/ ExtJS: http://www.sencha.com/legal/

Developers who use the GPL are forced to release the code of any derivative work that is published on the Web, while 'close' proprietary applications are also possible by paying the commercial license.

So, in summary, while LGPL is very standard in open sourced desktop libraries (like OSG), it seems to present problems and is avoided for JS libraries.

Our suggestion is to switch the OSG.JS license to a MIT license, making easier to work with the library without legal issues getting in between, and helping us to compete with other libraries like Three.js. An alternative would be to have a commercial license for commercial applications. However, this would probably be difficult to handle because of the multiple contributors involved.

We would like to have feedback from you regarding this change (if you accept it or not). Because we have received some requests from partners to make this change as soon as possible, we would like to receive your feedback before the end of this month (June 2015). Even if you agree with the change, please respond to this request, so we know your opinion.

Thanks for your contributions to the project. We hope it keeps growing as the best choice for interactive 3D visualization on the Web.

Best regards

Cedric Pinson (SketchFab) Jordi Torres (Mirage Technologies)

Kuranes commented 9 years ago

I Agree and Accept

jtorresfabra commented 9 years ago

cc: @cedricpinson @Kuranes @stephomi @sylvinus @DamonOehlman @zqsd @arcanis @Teybeo @pierreant-p @RemyAlves @sbouafif @hishamabdelrahman

pierreant-p commented 9 years ago

+1

sylvinus commented 9 years ago

+1 On Jun 15, 2015 9:48 AM, "Jordi Torres" notifications@github.com wrote:

cc: @stephomi https://github.com/stephomi @sylvinus https://github.com/sylvinus @DamonOehlman https://github.com/DamonOehlman @zqsd https://github.com/zqsd @arcanis https://github.com/arcanis @Teybeo https://github.com/Teybeo @pierreant-p https://github.com/pierreant-p @RemyAlves https://github.com/RemyAlves @sbouafif https://github.com/sbouafif

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub https://github.com/cedricpinson/osgjs/issues/339#issuecomment-111969724.