# HG changeset patch # User Sebastien Jodogne # Date 1549981385 -3600 # Node ID 680740eec1570ec218aff217bf9c50d4f1a763b7 # Parent 3931f1a721dcd673abe53d15f8f707e312806daf review diff -r 3931f1a721dc -r 680740eec157 Sphinx/source/faq/licensing.rst --- a/Sphinx/source/faq/licensing.rst Tue Feb 12 14:00:43 2019 +0100 +++ b/Sphinx/source/faq/licensing.rst Tue Feb 12 15:23:05 2019 +0100 @@ -11,11 +11,13 @@ ---------- The objectives of the Orthanc ecosystem is to share technical -knowledge about :ref:`DICOM `, and to foster scientific -collaborations in medical imaging by subscribing to the `open-science -paradigm `__. To this end, -Orthanc is provided as free and open-source software to the benefit of -the worldwide community of medical imaging. +knowledge about :ref:`DICOM `, to build a consistent +platform for developing medical imaging software, and to foster +scientific collaborations in medical imaging by subscribing to the +`open-science paradigm +`__. To this end, Orthanc +is provided as free and open-source software to the benefit of the +worldwide community of medical imaging. In order to support this objective of global knowledge sharing, the Orthanc project enforces reciprocity. If someone finds Orthanc useful @@ -24,14 +26,14 @@ knowledge base. This virtuous circle guarantees the fact that Orthanc will be developed in a sustainable way in the long-term, to the benefit of all stakeholders. Predatory behaviors should be prevented, -while preserving the freedoms of the users of Orthanc, including for +while preserving the freedoms of the users of Orthanc, including the commercial uses. According to this philosophy, the University Hospital of Liège decided -to release the Orthanc ecosystem under the `GPL license -`__ -in 2012. The GPL is a strong copyleft license that is recognized -worldwide, and that is designed to enforce reciprocity. +to release the Orthanc ecosystem under the `GPLv3+ license +`__ in 2012. The GPL is +a strong copyleft license that is recognized worldwide, and that is +designed to enforce reciprocity. As Orthanc is lightweight and designed for Web applications and for sharing medical images over Internet, it has been quickly deployed on @@ -41,16 +43,16 @@ teleradiology platforms in developing countries). Unfortunately, the GPL does not protect from predatory commercial behaviors over cloud platforms because of the so-called "`ASP loophole -`__", that -does not enforce modified versions of a free and open-source software -running on a server to be given back to the community. +`__", +that does not enforce modified versions of a free and open-source +software running on a server to be given back to the community. For this reason, the plugins that provide scalability-related or cloud-related features (for instance the :ref:`PostgreSQL -` and :ref:`Web viewer ` plugins that are +` and :ref:`Web viewer ` plugins that are necessary for Web applications distributed at a large scale) were -released under the stronger `AGPL licence -`__. +released under the stronger `AGPLv3+ licence +`__. This license protects the community of medical imaging by ensuring that the features included in Orthanc instances running in remote servers are publicly available as well. @@ -69,10 +71,11 @@ prevented ("No"), or restricted ("Dual licensing"): +-----------------------------------------------------+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ -| | Mode of distribution of the caller system or of the third-party plugin/script | +| | Mode of distribution of the third-party system, or of the third-party plugin/script | +-----------------------------------------------------+---------------+-------+--------+--------------+------------------------+-------------------+ -| Usage of the Orthanc ecosystem (callee) | Permissive | GPLv3 | AGPLv3 | Internal use | Proprietary software | Proprietary cloud | -| | (MIT, BSD...) | | | | distributed to clients | platform | +| Usage of the Orthanc ecosystem | Permissive | GPLv3 | AGPLv3 | Internal use | Proprietary software | Proprietary cloud | +| | (MIT, BSD, | | | | distributed to clients | platform | +| | Apache2...) | | | | | | +=====================================================+===============+=======+========+==============+========================+===================+ | Using Orthanc as such, even if some AGPL-licensed | N/A | N/A | N/A | Yes | Yes | Yes | | plugin is installed | | | | | | | @@ -89,24 +92,53 @@ | is hosted by an Orthanc server where some | | | | | | | | AGPL-licensed plugin is installed | | | | | | | +-----------------------------------------------------+---------------+-------+--------+--------------+------------------------+-------------------+ -| Reusing code from the Orthanc code (GPL) or from | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Dual licensing | Yes | -| an official Orthanc plugin that is released under | | | | | | | -| the GPL license | | | | | | | +| Modifying the Orthanc GPL-licensed code, or the | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Dual licensing | Yes | +| code of an official GPL-licensed Orthanc plugin, | | | | | | | +| or reusing such code in another project | | | | | | | +-----------------------------------------------------+---------------+-------+--------+--------------+------------------------+-------------------+ -| Reusing code from an Orthanc plugin that licensed | No | No | Yes | Yes | Dual licensing | Dual licensing | -| under the AGPL license | | | | | | | +| Modifying the code of an official AGPL-licensed | No | No | Yes | Yes | Dual licensing | Dual licensing | +| Orthanc plugin, or reusing such code in another | | | | | | | +| project | | | | | | | +-----------------------------------------------------+---------------+-------+--------+--------------+------------------------+-------------------+ | Using the :ref:`Stone of Orthanc ` library | No | No | Yes | Yes | Dual licensing | Dual licensing | +-----------------------------------------------------+---------------+-------+--------+--------------+------------------------+-------------------+ -If your use case falls in some "**Dual licensing**" cell, please get -in touch with `Osimis `__, the official commercial -partner of the Orthanc project that is the only entity able to sell a -`license exception -`__ to your company. +**Notes:** + +* The wording "third-party system" is very broad, as it encompasses + many possibilities. It can for instance be a Web application, a + heavyweight desktop application, an automated script, or more + generally any system that uses Orthanc as a service in its global + architecture. + +* If your use case falls in a "**Dual licensing**" cell, please get + in touch with `Osimis `__, the official + commercial partner of the Orthanc project that is the only entity + entitled to grant a `license exception + `__ to your + company. + +* If you reuse code from Orthanc or one of its associated plugins, you + must mention the copyright of the Orthanc project. -Also, if you are dealing with medical applications in Europe, note -that Osimis sells **CE-approved** versions of a Web viewer plugin. +* An Orthanc plugin cannot be licensed under a permissive license + (MIT, BSD, Apache2...) because it must interface with the Orthanc + SDK that is licensed under GPLv3. Check out the `license + compatibility matrix on Wikipedia + `__. + +* If you deal with medical applications in Europe, note that Osimis + sells **CE-approved** versions of a Web viewer plugin. + +* You are kindly invited to cite the `reference paper about Orthanc + `__ + in your scientific work. + +* This is our own technical interpretation of the GPLv3+ and AGPLv3+ + in the very specific context of Orthanc. It is not intended to be a + complete guide to copyleft licensing. Please get in touch with the + `Free Software Foundation `__ for more legal + information. .. _cla: