Is it legal for me to sell a product that's built with an Arduino? I know that it's open source, but does that mean I can sell my product for profit, or only for use in prototyping?
Answer
Since legal questions sometimes need really specific answers, I found Arduino's exact position on this:
Physically embedding an Arduino board inside a commercial product does not require you to disclose or open-source any information about its design.
Deriving the design of a commercial product from the Eagle files for an Arduino board requires you to release the modified files under the same Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike license. You may manufacture and sell the resulting product.
Using the Arduino core and libraries for the firmware of a commercial product does not require you to release the source code for the firmware. The LGPL does, however, require you to make available object files that allow for the relinking of the firmware against updated versions of the Arduino core and libraries. Any modifications to the core and libraries must be released under the LGPL.
The source code for the Arduino environment is covered by the GPL, which requires any modifications to be open-sourced under the same license. It does not prevent the sale of derivative software or its inclusion in commercial products.
In all cases, the exact requirements are determined by the applicable license. Additionally, see the previous question for information about the use of the name “Arduino”.
Source: http://arduino.cc/en/Main/FAQ
Disclaimer: Arduino's position on this may change over time, I'm not a lawyer and this doesn't constitute legal advice, blaa, blaa, blaa... :) In short: I'm not responsible if you get in trouble.
No comments:
Post a Comment