9

I was working on a project. In which a user can upload PDF and convert it into images and So that i have used GhostScript dll (gsdll32.dll). Now in my application i want to charge from users as monthly subscription so that i can provide them more features.

But i neither have any knowledge about the licencing terms nor about ghostscript tearms & conditions. So do i need to purchase any licence regarding Or is there any other free C# library, that can be used for pdf processing, which i can use in a commercial applicatoni without acquiring any licence ?

Well i am preferring any free c# library for regarding (Premium Saas or direct application selling).

Thank you If anyone having real time experience regarding above, Please help me out.

objectWithoutClass
  • 1,631
  • 3
  • 14
  • 15
  • I do not fully understand the first paragraph, have you already run your project publicly? – Dmitry Alexandrov Dec 09 '14 at 09:20
  • @DmitryAlexandrov i have not my project yet, but i want to assure that i wouldn't face any licencing issue. – objectWithoutClass Dec 09 '14 at 09:33
  • Wisely. As I described in answer, by opening your service publicly without providing correspondent sources you would violate GNU AGPL even without getting fee from users. – Dmitry Alexandrov Dec 09 '14 at 09:43
  • Are they asking me to show the whole application's source code Or just api's code i am using (under AGPL) ? I do not understand. Also can you just tell me a way, using that i can also show my application's source code to the users ? – objectWithoutClass Dec 09 '14 at 09:56
  • 1
    For a present nobody asks you anything. You did not violate terms of the license yet and the choice is still yours: [whether](http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/pragmatic.html) release (providing SaaS counts as releasing) your project as a free/libre software under terms of GNU AGPL, or do not release it at all. Or buy a exception from copyleft, of course. – Dmitry Alexandrov Dec 09 '14 at 10:17
  • So in simple words i can launch my application for free use without worrying about any licence. And to charge from the customers i would need a licence of ghostscipt. Right ? – objectWithoutClass Dec 09 '14 at 10:32
  • 2
    **HELL NO!** Price does *not* matter: gratis or for a million euros – terms of GNU AGPL are the same – you have to release *your* work which is based on Ghostscript under the terms of GNU AGPL. If you do not want to do that, you may to buy a right to use Ghostscript in your proprietary app from Artifex. – Dmitry Alexandrov Dec 09 '14 at 10:39
  • As i asked before how would i provide application's source code to the users to fullfill GNU AGPL terms ? – objectWithoutClass Dec 09 '14 at 10:47
  • Do you truely use components in your software (which you will sell) without checking their license first? That's insane. – Martin Schröder Dec 09 '14 at 23:12
  • 2
    This question appears to be off-topic because it is about [licensing/legal advice](http://meta.stackoverflow.com/q/274963/1699210) – bummi Jan 08 '15 at 23:57

1 Answers1

10

I am not a lawyer. You should get one, if you are concerned about possible legal issues.

Does Commercial use of GhostScript as Saas needs a licence?

Well, first of all, you need a license to use any software (except one, which is public domain) in any way.

As for Ghostscript at the moment Artifex offers it under: a) GNU Affero GPL, which is license for free/libre software; b) non-free/proprietary license, which Artifex calls a ‘commercial license’. But it’s called ‘commercial’ because, I guess, Atrifex makes money on it, definitely not because that is only way for you to use Ghostscript for profit.

Any free software license, including GNU AGPL, by definition gives you, once you obtain a copy of software, right to use it for commercial purposes, including selling it; but you, of course, have to strictly follow the terms of that license. The key point of GNU AGPL is that it is a strong copyleft license. That means, that you have to make your entire software product, which is based on Ghostscript, subject of GNU AGPL, which in turn put you under obligation to provide to your customers (including customers of SaaS) correspondent sources for your product and to grant them permissions to (0) use it in any purpose, (1) redistribute it, (2) modify it and (3) distribute modifications; all of that in accordance with GNU AGPL.

So no, you have not obtain ‘commercial license’ from Artifex to use Ghostscript in your app. But if are not going to provide these four freedoms to your users, then yes, you’d better contact Artifex and ask them a price.

By the way, Artifex is not pioneer of that practice of copyleft/proprietary bi-licensing, it is well-known for years.

As for why I said ‘at the moment’. Not so long ago, prior to version 9.06 (inclusive), free/libre license of Ghostscript was not GNU Affero GPL, but ordinary GNU GPL (see license files doc/COPYING in source archives as a proof), which is a bit more permissive – it does not oblige you to grant any permissions to users that interact with your software via client-server protocol over a network but does not possess a copy (that’s what you mean by ’SaaS’, I guess). Users who bought a copy still have to obtain it under GNU GPL.

Version 9.06 is definitely not too old – is supplied now in testing version of Debian. You might consider using it.

Dmitry Alexandrov
  • 1,693
  • 12
  • 14
  • Thank you very much for your answer. Well i got most of it :) So as GhostScript current version is under AGPL (i should provide my source code too to users as you said). But in a web application (online utility), how could a user can see my code Or in other words how could i provide my app's source code ? Correct me if i am going with your answer please. Thank you – objectWithoutClass Dec 09 '14 at 09:50
  • @objectWithoutClass I did not understand the problem. In the same way, as it would be desktop app — in a tarball, usually. The key point that sources have to be correspondent to app actually running on server, so that user would be able to build exactly what he uses on your server. – Dmitry Alexandrov Dec 09 '14 at 10:46
  • Ok just take an example of a web application that provides online pdf conversion utility (user uploads pdf & downloads its images), & the source code of this web application includes ghostscript dll. Then how could this app provides its source code to the user ? – objectWithoutClass Dec 09 '14 at 10:52
  • @objectWithoutClass The obvious way, I believe, would be to place somewhere in the interface of web-app (in a footer, perhaps) a hyperlink that leads to the source code. – Dmitry Alexandrov Dec 09 '14 at 11:00
  • Are you sure ? Have you seen any web utility application, which also provides its whole source code publically due to using any GNU AGPL licensed stuff (library / dll / tool) ? – objectWithoutClass Dec 09 '14 at 11:09
  • @objectWithoutClass And do not forget to mention the terms on which sources are available, i. e. GNU AGPL, of course. You have to include [the full text](http://www.gnu.org/licenses/agpl-3.0.txt) of license into tarball, and, if want everything to be right, include a proper copyright notice (see section ‘How to Apply These Terms to Your New Programs’ in the license) in every non-trivial file (I believe, your IDE makes it easy). – Dmitry Alexandrov Dec 09 '14 at 11:09
  • did you mean i need to include a link to gnu.org/licenses/agpl-3.0.txt at the bottom of my app or need to include a link to my whole source code (all files and folder) ? – objectWithoutClass Dec 09 '14 at 11:57
  • @objectWithoutClass No, thanks, I prefer more traditional form of communication rather than chat. As for whether I’m sure or not, I have to repeat, that I am *not a lawyer*, and you should consult one, if you are concerned about possible legal issues and want to get a proper legal advice. At least you have to read GNU AGPL carefully by yourself. – Dmitry Alexandrov Dec 09 '14 at 12:17
  • @objectWithoutClass As for examples, there are actually plenty web-apps under GNU AGPL over the web. I, for example, use Gitorious, in a minute one could google OnlyOffice and Odoo (why did not you do that, by the way?). – Dmitry Alexandrov Dec 09 '14 at 12:18
  • @objectWithoutClass You can see, there is no strict form, but the sources are easily available from main page in no more that several clicks: [Gitorius](https://www.gitorious.org/): ‘About › License › codebase’; [OnlyOffice](https://www.onlyoffice.com/): ‘Prefer hosting on your server? › SourceForge / GitHub’; [Odoo](https://www.odoo.com/): ‘GitHub’. Yes, they are available for *anybody*, even though GNU AGPL obliges you to provide sources only to your users. I believe, virtually nobody hides them – it’s rather useless. – Dmitry Alexandrov Dec 09 '14 at 12:19