Re: OT: using GPL'ed icons

Aric Bills wrote: 
I'm considering using some GPL'ed icons in a Tcl/Tk program I'm
writing.  Coming from a Tcl/Tk/BSD-license background, I'm not as
familiar as I should be with the GPL, and even less sure how it applies
to images as opposed to source code.  As far as my software goes,
nobody will be charging money for it, but I don't necessarily want to
release it under the GPL either.  Realizing that the readers of this
forum are programmers and not lawyers, in your opinions, what are my
obligations under the GPL if I use GPL'ed icons in my program?

I suppose I'd have to do the following:

* provide usable copies of the icon images alongside my starpack
* provide a copy of the GPL with the icon images
* provide a note in my program stating the origin of the icons and that
they are under GPL

I'm not sure whether I'd additionally have to do any of the following:

* provide a separate readme file stating that the icons used are under
GPL
* require the user to accept the GPL on behalf of the icons, in order
to use my program
* release my entire program under the GPL

Going out on a limb, if I'm required to release my program under the
GPL to use these icons, and my program is a starpack that contains a
sound recording, am I also required to release the sound recording
under the GPL?

And since we're on this subject, how would my obligations change if I
used LGPL'ed icons?

Thanks,
Aric


I use LGPL icons in my programs. As I understand it, you are required to provide the icons separately as "source code" and to identify them as being licensed under the LGPL. This doesn't require you to change the license of your own code (whether it's BSD or proprietary).

--
Cheers,

Kevin Walzer, PhD
WordTech Software - "Tame the Terminal"
http://www.wordtech-software.com
sw at wordtech-software.com
.

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