Responsibilities for supplying source code and NDA's

[Paolo Gianrossi]

On Tue, 30 Mar 2004 10:33:32 +0100
David Watson <dwatson at mpc-data.co.uk> wrote:

> As a newbie to the intricacies of GPL I wanted to know if someone could 
> clarify the following hypothetical questions for me.
> 
> 1. Who is responsible for supplying source code for an application, 
> which has been developed for a client using GPL code?

The copyright holder

> I know I would need to release the binary to the client with source, but 
> what about request from others like the original author of the GPL 
> code.  Would I forward these request to the client or would I have to 
> support any request myself?

If you wrote a derivate work using GPL'ed code you are compelled to offer source
code, as stated in section 3:

----------
 3. You may copy and distribute the Program (or a work based on it,
under Section 2) in object code or executable form under the terms of
Sections 1 and 2 above provided that you also do one of the following:

    a) Accompany it with the complete corresponding machine-readable
    source code, which must be distributed under the terms of Sections
    1 and 2 above on a medium customarily used for software interchange; or,

    b) Accompany it with a written offer, valid for at least three
    years, to give any third party, for a charge no more than your
    cost of physically performing source distribution, a complete
    machine-readable copy of the corresponding source code, to be
    distributed under the terms of Sections 1 and 2 above on a medium
    customarily used for software interchange; or,

    c) Accompany it with the information you received as to the offer
    to distribute corresponding source code.  (This alternative is
    allowed only for noncommercial distribution and only if you
    received the program in object code or executable form with such
    an offer, in accord with Subsection b above.)
----------

> 
> 2. How would the scenario above be affected by an NDA?  If the client 
> releases a binary only of the application where does this leave me.

if the client is the copyright holder, he must release source code if it's a
derivate work. If you hold copyright on the software, you cannot have a NDA and
GPL derived code, as it makes no sense: you are basically promising not to
disclose someone else's source...

hope this helps 
cheers
paolino

-- 
Paolo Gianrossi

Oh Lord, won't you buy me a 4BSD?
My friends all got sources, so why can't I see?
Come all you moby hackers, come sing it out with me:
To hell with the lawyers from AT&T!


-- 
Paolo Gianrossi

Oh Lord, won't you buy me a 4BSD?
My friends all got sources, so why can't I see?
Come all you moby hackers, come sing it out with me:
To hell with the lawyers from AT&T!