I want to make a commercial product for resale..
One of the components of the product will be a wordpress theme.
The theme will be a heavily reworked variant of a GPL licenses theme.
So, I understand that as the theme is GPL, that means it must carry the GPL license, even after it is modified.
Here’s where it gets complicated:
Some of the modifications to the Theme involve the addition of commercial CSS components that I have paid for and own extended licenses to. Under this license I can redistribute the work in my own work.
So, my question is, given that the GPL license has to be retained on a product based on a GPL licensed product, what happens with the license once commercially-licenses elements are added?
Is this then a mixed license product?
IE – does that mean the GPL licensed elements stay GPL, and can therefore be modified and redistributed by people who buy it?
As far as the commercial elements go, these have to remain under their own ‘extended’ license.
Any advice would be most helpful. Ive been reading up but can’t seem to find anything that applies directly to the specifics of this situation.
Is there even a way to license a hybrid product like this?
You can duel license your commercial product. Only the PHP code that interacts with WordPress is required to be GPL.
If you really want an extensive GPL lesson you can peruse the Thesis GPL Saga files:
- WordPress, GPL, Thesis and Speeding Tickets
- Syn-Thesis 1 And Chris Pearson
- The Great Thesis Vs WordPress Debate Rages On
- The GPL is Marxist
- #thesiswp
- The Thesis Controversy
- WordPress Could Sue Popular Theme Developer Over License Dispute
- WordPress/Thesis Conflict Highlights GPL Nuances
- Thesis The Antithesis of WordPress…sort of
- On WordPress, Thesis, and profitable GPL Software
- WordPress And Thesis Go To Battle
- The Coming Thesis Vs. Automattic Battle
- WordPress vs Thesis Theme by Cory Watilo
- Thesis Pissing in the WordPress Well?
- Analysis of GPL’ed Code in Thesis
- The “Real” Story – WordPress vs Thesis Theme
- The WordPress vs Thesis GPL Debate
- WordPress vs Thesis Can WP Themes be Non-GPL?
- How Infectious is the GPL? Battle of Words Between WordPress and Thesis
- Thesis + GPL + WordPress = Pain
- WordPress, Thesis, GPL, and Premium Themes
- WordPress, the GPL, and Thesis
- Thesis and the GPL
- WordPress Matt Mullenweg & Thesis Chris Pearson GPL Controversy
- WordPress, Thesis, and GPL Heartache
- Thesis vs WordPress: GPL License Debate
- Another Take on the #thesiswp Drama
- Why the GPL Doesn’t Apply to Premium WordPress Themes
- @personified’s Ethos of Creative Entrepreneurship vs the Hive
- Why WordPress Themes are Derivative of WordPress
I’m not a lawyer and this should not be considered legal advice.
