[Bf-committers] Tomas Havrda asking for a license

[Zack Brown]

Hi,

I'm not connected with blender development, I just love blender with a full
heart. And I'm not a lawyer. Nor do I know anything whatsoever. In fact,
just forget I wrote anything here at all.

> I am sure that Mr. Ton Roosedaal will find a wording that asures your
company

I think there might be unwanted implications, if Ton or anyone else gives a
legally binding document to someone, that in any way differs from the
actual license used in the blender code. It's possible that such a letter
might constitute a new license, that Ton could be held responsible for if
he's not legally able to offer such a thing. Or if it turned out he *was*
legally able to offer it, it might represent a terrible loophole to the
existing license, that Tomas's company (or anyone who acquired that
company's assets in the future) could exploit if they so chose.

It seems like Tomas's company is confused. Rather than cement that
confusion by trying to satisfy them, by giving something that they will
probably regard as legally binding, with no end of future nightmares, maybe
it makes more sense to just try to explain the true situation to them, and
help bring them to a better understanding of open source. They already have
the right to use blender. They just need a little help to realize that. But
something on Blender Foundation letterhead, signed by someone in a position
to sign things, and making various assurances, to a group of people who
don't understand the situation, seems like it's asking for trouble.

Be well,
Zack


On Fri, Oct 18, 2019 at 6:55 AM Markus Mayer <markus at chalybeum.de> wrote:

> Hello Tomas,
> first of all thank you for your interest in Blender and your engagement to
> bring it into Skoda.
> For a written and signed personalized license from the Blender Foundation
> you should contact them directly. I am sure that Mr. Ton Roosedaal will
> find a wording that asures your company that they can use Blender for as
> long as you want, on how many seats as you want.
> The funny thing is that the software itself is redistributable. So if Ton
> has no time, I will send you a copy with a written permission under said
> terms. Or you could just do it yourself.
> While all of this would be perfectly legal, I believe you want something
> with a nice Blender Foundation header.
> So please point your request directly to:
> foundation at blender.org
>
> Greetings,
> Markus Mayer
>
> Disclaimer: I am neither a developer nor in any form acting on behalve of
> the Blender Foundation. This is just a friendly support service provided by
> a member of the Blender user community.
> _______________________________________________
> Bf-committers mailing list
> Bf-committers at blender.org
> https://lists.blender.org/mailman/listinfo/bf-committers
>


-- 
Zack Brown