RE: Wasting our Freedom

David Schwartz
2007-09-16T22:39:18Z

> Dual licenced code by definition explicitely states that you can choose
> the licence - otherwise it wouldn't be called dual-licenced.

You can choose under which license you would like to receive the right to modify or distribute the code. But you cannot change the license that code itself is covered by.

> Theo claimed it would "break the law" [1] to choose the GPL for
> _this_ code. [2]

He is quite right. You cannot choose the license under which someone else's code is offered. It would "break the law" not in the sense that you would be breaking the law, in the sense that it's impossible because the law does not allow it.

You can, however, remove the BSD license notice if you'd like. While the BSD license prohibits you from removing it, you may choose to obtain the right to remove it from the GPL. The GPL does not prohibit removing a BSD license and explicitly grants you the right to make all modifications that it does not prohibit.

Note that this removal has no effect on the license on the original code.

Theo is right, you cannot choose the license on _this_ code. You can, of course, control the license on code that you contribute. Nothing prevents a derivative work from being under a different license from the original work.

DS