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List:       kde-licensing
Subject:    GPL compatibility of data licensing?
From:       Steve Langasek <vorlon () dodds ! net>
Date:       2003-08-19 3:43:59
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Hello all,

Apologies if this is the wrong mailing list for this sort of question;
if there's a better place for me to make this inquiry, feel free to
bounce me in that direction.

At <http://lists.debian.org/debian-legal/2003/debian-legal-200305/msg00582.html>,
Richard Stallman makes the assertion that it is not against the terms of
the GNU GPL to pull data that's licensed in a manner incompatible with
the GPL into a GPL'ed program for displaying to the user as on-line
help.  To me, this is a surprising claim; and it's also one that has far
reaching consequences -- if incompatibly-licensed online help can be
pulled into the program without violating the license on the GPLed
program, can the same not also be done with other forms of data, such as
graphics and sound files?

What is the opinion of the KDE developers on this apparent ambiguity in
the license?  Would third-party distribution of GPLed KDE apps together
with, e.g., themes, icons, or fonts licensed under the Apple Public
Source License be considered acceptable, or would it lead to
cease-and-desist letters?  Are you aware of anyone distributing such a
KDE-based combination today?

Regards,
-- 
Steve Langasek
postmodern programmer

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