I'm planning to use Flickity in my MIT-licensed open-source JavaScript project. The license for open-source usage is GPL. Can I link the file via a CDN into my project, or is this considered a "derivative work?"
2 Answers
By calling into the Flickity library from your project, you are creating a derived work as far as the GPL is concerned.
However, this does not mean that your code must be under the GPL license as well. Your code must be under a license that is compatible with the GPL (which the MIT license is) and people who make changes to your code have to comply to the rules of the GPL license.
This means effectively that it is not allowed to make a closed-source (derived) version of your project without removing the dependency on Flickity.
answered Jul 27, 2016 at 10:37
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The author told me basically the same thing: github.com/metafizzy/flickity/issues/423#issuecomment-235395360 Commented Jul 27, 2016 at 13:14
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Please point out the source for "MIT-License is compatible to GPLv3"? Commented Jul 27, 2016 at 18:58
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2@SimonSobisch: gnu.org/licenses/license-list.en.html#Expat Commented Jul 28, 2016 at 5:59
The only way to include the file and use the "open-source licensing" would be to change your license to GPLv3 (otherwise you need the commercial license).
Side note: changing your license to GPLv3 does not mean everyone that uses your product has to provide the sources for it (this would only be covered by the AGPL).
Therefore the main impact I see is: if someone changes your code and wants to distribute it he has to use the GPLv3 himself for the distributed source.
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1I don't want to use GPL. I guess I'll be using a different library, then. Commented Jul 26, 2016 at 20:11
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To clarify, this is JavaScript, it's web. The file wouldn't be included with any distributions of my project Commented Jul 26, 2016 at 20:12
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The author seems to say otherwise: github.com/metafizzy/flickity/issues/423#issuecomment-235395360 Commented Jul 26, 2016 at 20:32