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"I" would say "no". If WP has public api calls and that is all a theme uses, then WP cannot force GPL upon it. The theme is NOT a derivative in that case in any
by sigzero 16y ago
"I" would say "no". If WP has public api calls and that is all a theme uses, then WP cannot force GPL upon it. The theme is NOT a derivative in that case in any rational sense of the word. Regardless of what WP thinks.
If you incorporate GPL'd code into your theme then I believe you abide by the license. Regardless of what the author of the theme thinks.
- xiaoma 16y agoBy "public api calls", do you mean public as in public domain or as in under the GPL? If they're in the public domain, sure. If they're GPLed, then follow the license as written.
- jmillikin 16y agoAPIs can't be copyrighted, at least in the US -- this is why projects like Wine are legal. Software which calls a GPL'd library's API is not considered a derivative work of the library. Otherwise, releasing X11/BSD/etc code which calls GPL libraries wouldn't be legal.
- sigzero 16y agoI mean public as in an api that other code can call. Hmmmm, I see that now but that still does not make my code a derivative according to the legal definition. As a theme author I am not taking the GPL'd code and doing anything with it. I am not copying it. I am not modifying it. I am using an api that you created to hook into and that is all. I don't think a court is going to see that simple hook as "derivative".