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Is "donation" considered commercial?

I want to port an open source program to iPhone, the license forbids commercial use of the code. I sent an email to the author and he sent an email stating that the freeware works.

Of course, I can't (shouldn't) charge anything over the top of the code. However, I want to be compensated for the design, graphics and UI integration work.

So interesting:

  • Donation (via PayPal) OK for my case?
  • Is in-app purchase OK? that is, the program is free, does the user have the option to buy additional theme graphics?

thanks

EDIT:

Let me change this to a hypothetical question. What to do, if:

  • some course code is online
  • there is a license that comes with it, stating that free software is fine.
  • the author cannot be contacted

Then

  • someone is compiling and porting the code to a new platform
  • and adds some graphs
  • any required code changes are posted.
  • a link to donate is added to the program.
  • in the program (iPhone version) added in-app purchase option.

Any comments on the above scenario?

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4 answers


Why are you asking us? We have no copyright and we cannot license it.

You have already been in contact with the creator, these questions are better suited for him.

Personally, I would think both of your scripts are fine as no one is forced to pay you to use. But as I said, I am not the copyright holder. You need to either contact a lawyer for a license, or get a fairly frank version from the author, which says what you want to do, that's okay.

Ok, based on your editing.

Here's what my employer is likely to do (the company is seriously concerned about IP issues).

They would estimate the relative cost of getting into trouble by abusing the program (getting their sizable legal department to evaluate the license) versus just a clean program. They would choose the cheaper option and go with it.



Now, what would I do without having my own personal Nazgul lawyers.

If I couldn't get in touch with the author, then he is probably a one-man show - he can afford legal representation, since I can hardly push it hard, in a legal sense.

I would say that my application is really free as I charge nothing to use it. If a customer wants to request additional services (in-app purchases) or make a donation, this money order is not tied to my free software purchase at all.

Of course, if your freeware is almost useless without an in-app purchase, you could argue that the connection between money and products is happening.

But I think I'll be pretty confident on the donation route. There is an absolute separation between the two events (product transfer and remittance) and one does not require the other.

Some people even asked for donations without mutual agreement ( Save Karyn ), although I would not give money to someone clown who have already proven themselves inept at managing it.

Standard disclaimers apply: I'm not a lawyer, I'm not your lawyer, I don't even look like a lawyer from a hundred yards away.

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Note that open source allows commercial use and distribution (see # 5 and # 6 on the linked page). So it is not open source and whether your scripts are allowed depends on the actual license.



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How much do you compensate an open source author for his work?

I'm not sure if the donation will be considered "commercial" under the terms of the license, but from your description it really doesn't seem like the spirit of the software you are carrying.

And why are you asking us when you can just email the author like you did before?

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Ask the original author if they have a canonical interpretation of their license.

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