I'm no lawyer, but that has never stopped me in the past...

On Mon, 18 Jun 2001 15:26:44 -0500
"Bob Tanner" <tanner at real-time.com> wrote:

> If a client requires you to sign a NDA and that agreement says they own
> "everything" about the project. Including all design, specifications,
page
> layout and -source code- how does the GPL play into this?

It can not apply to the GPL code itself, however the specific methods and
reasons for which the code is applied would fall under the definition of
the client's intellectual property. This is similar to a design project
which uses any proprietary components, such as integrated circuits.. an
enterprise might hold IP rights to the design of their electronic device,
but not the rights to the chips on the board (which are held by the chip
manufacturer). Still, an engineer under an NDA might not be at liberty to
divulge that "We used chip A in location B for reason C".

> If I want to use the FSF GNU getopt, which is GPL'd, can I use that in
this
> project?

I don't see why not, as long as the GPL is not violated.. If the client
wishes to claim IP rights to the GNU getopt code, that is an issue between
themselves and the individuals who hold the rights to the getopt code -
and it is none of your concern.

The catch here, is that if you are being contracted to supply unique,
proprietray code to the client, the use of GPL code in it's stead may
present a liability for _you_.

Does that make much sense?

                           -.bill.layer.-
                          
-.those who are talking don't know, and those who know aren't talking.-

           -.frogtown.-     -.minnesota.-      -.u.s.a.-