[OctDev] Use of MATLAB Central (was Re: GPL violations)

[Joe V. Jr. <joe...@gm...>]

 License discussions seem to generate a lot of bandwidth!  I believe Judd is correct that this is off-topic, so I will try to fork the discussion by changing the subject line.

I spoke today with a representative from The MathWorks who works with MATLAB Central and the File Exchange.  The short version is that any code downloaded from MATLAB Central is covered by the BSD license and nothing more.  The use of BSD licensing is a recent change, so the Terms of Use are outdated and will be reviewed by the legal team, with the intent of modifying the line restricting use to MathWorks products.  For the sake of documentation, I have included the e-mail conversation below, with the rep's name removed.

The rep clarified explained in a follow-up phone call that MathWorks wants to encourage openness and broad use of MATLAB Central, they just don't want to become a repository for Octave and R code.  That was the original intent of that line in the Terms of Use.  I asked about dual-use code that ran on MATLAB and another platform, and the rep said it would be welcome and even recommended mentioning in the upload description that the code can run on Octave or R as well.  The rep also confirmed that the Terms of Use apply only to the use of the website, not the code downloaded from it.

I thought this was an interesting discussion thread.  I felt the only uncertain area was whether the Terms of Use could be construed as modifying the license.  I didn't think that could be the case, but I asked.  (Sometimes, asking is simpler than debating.)  Mostly, I thought the ToU were in conflict with the license and needed to be modified, and I'm glad to see they will at least take steps in that direction.

So, in summary, yes, code downloaded from MATLAB Central and the File Exchange marked as being BSD licensed is definitely only under the BSD license, with no further restrictions.  Hope this helps.

Joe V.


-------- Quoted messages follow --------

From: Joe Vornehm Jr.
To: fi...@ma...
Date: Fri, 27 Aug 2010 17:48:49 -0400
Subject: MATLAB File Exchange licensing/Terms of Use question

I have a question about making submissions to the MATLAB Central File Exchange.

You very clearly require a BSD license for all submissions.  You state on each submission's download page that the code is covered by the BSD license, you link to the file's license from that page, and you include the BSD license as license.txt in each downloaded zip file.  I'm OK with that.

But then I saw this line in the MATLAB Central Terms of Use (http://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/disclaimer.html): "All content contained in the MATLAB Central File Exchange may only be used with MathWorks products."  I'm confused.  Is that supposed to be part of the code's license?  As an author, I don't want to restrict people's use of my code that way.  How is this term enforced?  Are people refused access to the website if they want to use my code with some other product?  I feel like this term is unnecessary and is in conflict with the license that very clearly is applied to each submission.

Thanks for taking the time to answer.

Joe Vornehm



From: XXX
To: Joe Vornehm Jr.
Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2010 12:10:46 -0400
Subject: RE: MATLAB File Exchange licensing/Terms of Use question

Hi Joe - 

I received your question about using files from File Exchange.  There is nothing in our download mechanism that will impact your download.

The BSD license is attached to the file submission, so license that will apply to your reuse of that code.

I hope that helps!  Thanks for being part of our MATLAB Central Community.

XXX
MATLAB Central Community



From: Joe Vornehm Jr.
To: XXX
Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2010 12:17:00 -0400
Subject: Re: MATLAB File Exchange licensing/Terms of Use question

Hi XXX, thanks for writing back.

So, just to be clear, if I submit code with a BSD license and then people download it, their use of the code is not subject to any further restrictions beyond the BSD license requirements, correct?

If that's the case, why is that extra present in the Terms of Use?

Joe V.



From: XXX
To: Joe Vornehm Jr.
Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2010 12:40:21 -0400
Subject: RE: MATLAB File Exchange licensing/Terms of Use question

The BSD is fairly new, so that went through Legal review in the past year.  The disclaimer is older text, and I will take an action item to talk to our Legal team to see if we can lighten up that wording.

Do you want me to call you to chat about this?

XXX


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