Licensing OpenSCAD code and the prints created with it.
I haven't posted any models yet but want to post some SCAD code but I don't know how the open-source license that covers the code will transfer to anything created with it. Is it effectively redundant since open source is permissive or does it inherit the same clauses as far as attribution goes for things like remixing? As far as I can tell, licenses here apply only to models, which given the permutations available with the code, would be of no real use from one person to the next. The biggest issue I have is commercial use. How can open-source code, which is commercially permissive be used to create something that isn't? Is dual licensing a thing and would it be compatible with posting anything here.
Best Answer by JimB:
I am not a lawyer (thankfully), but I would think that whatever license you have for your .scad file, would carry over to a generated .stl just like an executable has the same license as the source file. More info at https://forum.openscad.org/OT-CC-BY-Licence-on-a-SCAD-design-tp7118p7136.html
If you tried to do something like use license A for the .scad file and license B for the matching .stl, that may not work as you might expect. I don't know for sure what that would really means, but I would probably interrupt that as the .scad file being licensed under A, and the .stl dual licensed under A and B (since I could generate it myself from the .scad file). Or more likely, find it too confusing and go somewhere else.
If prohibiting all commercial use is important to you, then I would license it only under one of the CC 'NC' licenses: CC-BY-NC, CC-BY-NC-SA, or CC-BY-NC-ND.
And if you think this is complicated, try pulling in pieces of scad code under different licenses and try to figure out which licenses are compatible.
RE: Licensing OpenSCAD code and the prints created with it.
This might help:
https://forum.openscad.org/License-for-scad-files-td5817.html
https://forum.openscad.org/About-licensing-of-OpenSCAD-code-for-MCAD-and-in-general-td707.html
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Chuck H
3D Printer Review Blog
RE: Licensing OpenSCAD code and the prints created with it.
Thanks. I'd already read the 2nd post but didn't get any clarification from it. I came across choosealicence.com who use a dual license themselves although I can't find the license file for the CC portion, which covers the content of the site. I think I'll also go with MIT/CC although I don't think there have been any test cases that cover dual licensing of software and media in any case.
RE: Licensing OpenSCAD code and the prints created with it.
I am not a lawyer (thankfully), but I would think that whatever license you have for your .scad file, would carry over to a generated .stl just like an executable has the same license as the source file. More info at https://forum.openscad.org/OT-CC-BY-Licence-on-a-SCAD-design-tp7118p7136.html
If you tried to do something like use license A for the .scad file and license B for the matching .stl, that may not work as you might expect. I don't know for sure what that would really means, but I would probably interrupt that as the .scad file being licensed under A, and the .stl dual licensed under A and B (since I could generate it myself from the .scad file). Or more likely, find it too confusing and go somewhere else.
If prohibiting all commercial use is important to you, then I would license it only under one of the CC 'NC' licenses: CC-BY-NC, CC-BY-NC-SA, or CC-BY-NC-ND.
And if you think this is complicated, try pulling in pieces of scad code under different licenses and try to figure out which licenses are compatible.
RE: Licensing OpenSCAD code and the prints created with it.
Your reply literally pinged in my email a few minutes after posting the code I was intending to. I have set up a GPLv3 on the code and a CC on the output but now I have more to think about since that link had more pertinent discussion around the issue. I think some licenses can be converted to be more restrictive but not the other way around and since the most restrictive is the CC it may be easy to change, otherwise I'm stuck with it. Many thanks.
RE: Licensing OpenSCAD code and the prints created with it.
Some CC licenses are quite restrictive, but not all. CC-BY is not very restrictive and CC0 (effectively public domain) is as open as one can get.
More info on licenses and license compatibility at https://www.gnu.org/licenses/license-list.en.html
In section 0 of the GPL:
Activities other than copying, distribution and modification are not covered by this License; they are outside its scope. The act of running the Program is not restricted, and the output from the Program is covered only if its contents constitute a work based on the Program (independent of having been made by running the Program). Whether that is true depends on what the Program does.
Which implies that the printable object, the output of the program, is outside the scope of the licence applying to OpenSCAD itself. Of course, if you have made use of another's OpenSCAD code or a library then the licence they attached must be examined.
Cheerio,
RE: Licensing OpenSCAD code and the prints created with it.
Thanks. I started with the MIT license and switched to GPL at the last minute. I'm not concerned about OpenSCAD's license and I have checked the license on the library I used. I'm glad I kept both licenses for now but I think maybe I just need to get used to the idea that commercial use is highly unlikely, and even if it is then it is unlikely to generate even a minute revenue for my CIC. I still my wish to encourage any modification to be fed back into the source code though but even then are my expectations just way too high? Will anyone even bother? Is it even of any use? I've uploaded the code now so I'll see what responses I get and if there are any queries about the licensing overkill.