[Xapian-devel] Xapian license change

[Charlie Hull]

On 17/05/2012 03:07, Olly Betts wrote:
<snip>
>
>> Does anyone have any idea how willing these copyright holders might be
>> to approve relicensing?
>
> The ones we don't have agreement from are:
>
>    * BrightStation PLC - it's not even clear who actually holds this
>      copyright now, and we've heard competing claims.  I discussed a
>      potential LGPL relicensing with one claimant, but it went nowhere
>      useful.  This is where the code Xapian has evolved from was
>      originally developed, so the oldest code (1999-2001) has this
>      copyright, and over time it has been gradually replaced, but there
>      is still a significant amount left.

I would suggest that the least pain-free route is to consider rewriting 
these parts. Knowing like you do the people involved I doubt it will be 
easy to get a clear answer or agreement.
>
>    * Ananova Ltd - Another old copyright (from 2001-2002).  I tried
>      talking to them about relicensing some years ago, but their lawyers
>      seemed more interested in trying to get me to retroactively sign an
>      employment contract which I'd refused to sign at the time due to an
>      unreasonable "no compete" clause.
>
>    * Orange PCS Ltd - From 2003 and only affects one file, which is also
>      (C) BrightStation and Ananova.  Orange bought Ananova, so it's
>      unlikely we'd get this relicensed either, but it doesn't really
>      matter as we'd need to replace this file anyway.

I would suggest the same approach although I don't know the people involved.

Cheers

Charlie