Re: [Bug-gnubg] GPL License / Usage of graphics for a book

[Jonathan Kinsey]

Hardy Hübener wrote:
> 
> I was contacted by someone who wants to write a book about backgammon.
> He might want to use GNU Backgammon board designs for his book. Under
> what circumstances can he use the graphics in his book? Is it enough to
> mention, that this is a GNU Backgammon product and is produced unter the
> GPL?

The answer is on the website (in the FAQs), and (as Oystein guessed), you can
use the output of GPL software without any restriction.  Both:

"In what cases is the output of a GPL program covered by the GPL too?
    Only when the program copies part of itself into the output."

And more fully:

"Is there some way that I can GPL the output people get from use of my program?
For example, if my program is used to develop hardware designs, can I require
that these designs must be free?

    In general this is legally impossible; copyright law does not give you any
say in the use of the output people make from their data using your program. If
the user uses your program to enter or convert his own data, the copyright on
the output belongs to him, not you. More generally, when a program translates
its input into some other form, the copyright status of the output inherits that
of the input it was generated from.

    So the only way you have a say in the use of the output is if substantial
parts of the output are copied (more or less) from text in your program. For
instance, part of the output of Bison (see above) would be covered by the GNU
GPL, if we had not made an exception in this specific case.

    You could artificially make a program copy certain text into its output even
if there is no technical reason to do so. But if that copied text serves no
practical purpose, the user could simply delete that text from the output and
use only the rest. Then he would not have to obey the conditions on
redistribution of the copied text."

Hope that helps,

Jon

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