Coppermine Copyright & GNU GPL

[kian_azad]

Hi there,

I am new to Coppermine and have only recently installed it on my website.
I love the software and think its a very good software product.
However I have found some issues with the product and have the following questions:
(Please note that I have searched for my answers but have not really found a definet or complete answer)

1) Is it legal to remove the "Powered by Coppermine Photo Gallery"?
If so how can this be done?
If not then why is this the case? (isnt the software provided under a GNY GPL Policy!)

2) Can I take away the "Powered by Coppermine Photo Gallery" link and put a link to the website somewhere else on my websote?
(for example: under Web Links Section or Sponser Section where I may even be able to provide a banner or image of Coppermine and a link to the website)

3) Can I make it so when viewers click on the "Powered by Coppermine Photo Gallery" link it opens up on a new page rather than opening up on my webpage as this redirects my viewers away from my website?
And if so how can this be done?

4) Can I provied coppermine to the world by either:
a) providing a download from my own website
b) provide the software for purchase? (i.e. sell the software)


An easy, complete and definet answer from Admin would be much appreciated.
Thanks.

[Tranz]

http://coppermine.sourceforge.net/faq.php#editCopyrights

[Joachim Müller]

4) Can I provied coppermine to the world by either:
a) providing a download from my own website

Yes, the license allows you to do so, although we don't like this, simply because there's no point in it: your users won't have access to the most up-to-date version of the software.

b) provide the software for purchase? (i.e. sell the software)

It's OK to make profits out of the software released under GNU GPL, but you have to keep in mind:
a) why should people pay for it if they can have it for free?
b) as the software is licensed under GNU GPL, you have to provide the sources publicly. You can't change the license for anything based on GPLed software - your "hacked" version of coppermine has to be released under the terms of GNU GPL as well.

More details on GNU GPL: http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html
In your case, take a look at http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#WhyDoesTheGPLPermitUsersToPublishTheirModifiedVersions and the sections after it, they should cover all of your questions.

Joachim

[kian_azad]

Thanks for the answers.
So I take it that from all the information that I have gained that:

1) It is illegal to remove the "Powered by Coppermine Photo Gallery" statement from the bottom of the page.

2) If I wish I can provide Coppermine software as is to the world for free or for any price that I wish to sell it for, however I must release it with the same GNU GPL as Coppermine came with. I also have the right to to add my own policies on top of the original policies as long as they do not take away the original policies. I can also chnage the Coppermine Software however I like and again have the same rights as mentioned before.

Are my above statements true?

Also I have still not received an answer for the following questions:

1) Can I make it so when viewers click on the "Powered by Coppermine Photo Gallery" link it opens up on a new page rather than opening up on my webpage as this redirects my viewers away from my website?
And if so how can this be done?

2) Can I take away the "Powered by Coppermine Photo Gallery" link and put the link somewhere else on my website?
(for example: on a separte page where I may even be able to provide a banner or image of Coppermine and a link to their website)

[Nibbler]

You can adjust the footer to suit your site design or open in a new window if you like but we cannot tell you how to do this as this would be telling everyone how to remove it completely. We would prefer you to keep a link to us on all pages that are generated by coppermine.

[Tranz]

1) Can I make it so when viewers click on the "Powered by Coppermine Photo Gallery" link it opens up on a new page rather than opening up on my webpage as this redirects my viewers away from my website?
And if so how can this be done?

It's already been done. Maybe there's something wrong with your cpg copy or your browser.

2) Can I take away the "Powered by Coppermine Photo Gallery" link and put the link somewhere else on my website?
(for example: on a separte page where I may even be able to provide a banner or image of Coppermine and a link to their website)

You cannot take it away. Period.  Geesh, how would you feel if your unpaid work was deprived of its due credit. Removing the credit also keeps people from learning more about cpg, if they are interested in having their own gallery.

[kian_azad]

You cannot take it away. Period.   Geesh, how would you feel if your unpaid work was deprived of its due credit. Removing the credit also keeps people from learning more about cpg, if they are interested in having their own gallery.

Relax... Geesh... I am only trying to get some information regarding how the licencing works and what i can do.
My purpose isnt to take away credit were it is due, rather to make i clear what is allowed and what isnt.

I still have the problem of the "Powered by Coppermine Photo Gallery" link opening up on the same web page rather than on a new web page. Can someone email me and tell me how I can make this link open on a new page.

Also does Coppermine have a banner or image which I could use to advertise their website/software. i would like to put this on my sponsors page for free in return for their free software.

[Joachim Müller]

I still have the problem of the "Powered by Coppermine Photo Gallery" link opening up on the same web page rather than on a new web page. Can someone email me and tell me how I can make this link open on a new page.

The current stabe version (cpg1.3.2) opens the link in a new window (...target="_blank"...), which has been changed for the devel version (cpg1.4.x): we decided that it's silly to force users into new windows (everybody hates it when new windows pop-up, and everybody knows how to do a "right-click, open link in new window"). However, we've added a mechanism that allows you to make the link open in a new window by adding an attribute to the link: the code now reads

Code Select Expand

<a href="http://coppermine.sourceforge.net/" title="Coppermine Photo Gallery" rel="external"> - read more on this in the article http://www.sitepoint.com/article/standards-compliant-world

Also does Coppermine have a banner or image which I could use to advertise their website/software. i would like to put this on my sponsors page for free in return for their free software.

There are some logos available on the threads http://forum.coppermine-gallery.net/index.php?topic=1611.0 and http://forum.coppermine-gallery.net/index.php?topic=348.0 (although we haven't decided yet on an "official" logo).

If you decide to do a port or a modded coppermine version, please make sure (e.g. by bold chars in your readme) that users don't turn to the coppermine pages for support in the first place: they should look for support on your pages (as we don't know what you did, so there can be only limited support for third-party hacks). We've experienced trouble with this issue in the past (a lot of nuke port users turning up on this site, looking for nuke-related support although we have no idea about it).

Joachim