Re: [boost] copied boost files in other projects

-----Original Message----- From: Boost [mailto:boost-bounces@lists.boost.org] On Behalf Of Rene Rivera Sent: 08 December 2016 15:18 To: boost@lists.boost.org Subject: Re: [boost] copied boost files in other projects

On Thu, Dec 8, 2016 at 3:07 AM, Andrey Semashev wrote:

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On 12/08/16 10:16, Oliver Kowalke wrote:

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I encountered some projects that have copied files from boost and replaced the copyright and license notice by their own. Other projects have added their own license (for isntance MIT, LGPL ...) beside the Boost license notice in the copied files - does this mean that the code is dual licensed now?.

Well that is unfortunate given how permissive the BSL is.

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How does the boost community deal with this?

I haven't heard of it coming up before.

I'm not a lawyer, but here's my understanding.

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BSL explicitly prohibits removal of the license text from the files. This means the particular headers taken from Boost must be licensed under BSL. I think the projects that remove the license are doing it illegally.

That is my understanding also.

This does not prohibit derivative works from being licensed under other

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terms, including the licenses you mentioned, which AFAIK are compatible with the BSL.

Also my understanding.

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This does not require to add the other license to the Boost headers, in addition to BSL, and I think doing so is also wrong because it changes the licensing terms on the particular Boost headers without the authors' consent.

Yeah.. Relicensing under different terms is not allowed under international IP rules without explicit permission, AFAIK.

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I don't know how to deal with this but I think a kind request to stop that practice to the violating projects is a good starting point.

One option is to contact our SFC legal representative and ask them to look into the offending projects. They can then send authoritative notices to the projects.

+1 We should object to this strongly. Especially if the license is more restrictive than Boost licence (GPL) or if any copyright claim is removed. If it is a derived work, then new copyright claims should be added. Anyway it is Very Bad Manners (especially considering how unrestrictive the Boost license is). Paul PS I have seen widespread use of copied Boost.Math text for commercial use without any acknowledgement of copyright or thanks. Poor :-( --- Paul A. Bristow Prizet Farmhouse Kendal UK LA8 8AB +44 (0) 1539 561830