[SLL] GPL question

[Jules Agee]

Rich Wilson wrote:
> A question for all you amateur lawyers...

I don't even qualify for the title "amateur lawyer". I'm just explaining
it as I understand it... ;-)

> Suppose I do a contract job for company A, in which I modify GPLed code.
> Clearly if company A sells the resulting product, they are obligated under
> the GPL to do certain things. What if, however, the resulting product is
> for internal use only? Can these modifications be considered proprietary?

I don't know the exact legal definition of the word proprietary. But it
is my understanding that the GPL doesn't impose any obligations on
someone who modifies GPL'd software unless they also distribute the
software.

> Assuming that the previous answer is yes, what if the resulting product is 
> given to an outside party, such as a lab at a university. Does this force
> release of the code under GPL?

The modifications can't be distributed to another legal entity except
under the terms of the GPL.

> I just want to know who is going to own that little part of my hard drive.

The code is still owned by the copyright holder. Whoever wrote it holds
the copyright (unless your contract assigned copyright of the
modifications to the company that hired you, as is often the case). The
GPL restricts what you can do with the code you own, since it is a
derived work. You gave up the right to distribute the code you own under
certain circumstances, in exchange for the right to modify the GPL'd
work that you started from.

-Jules