switching license from GPL to BSD in later time [closed]

Question

I wrote software which I would like to release under the BSD license. Unfortunately, I am linking to a library which is based on GPL. Right now I do not have time to rewrite that library.

Can I release my software under GPL and later after rewriting the GPL library change license to BSD? (I would guess not).

My question is: how can I release the software right now without closing doors to the BSD license?

Thanks

Answer 1

You can release it now on GPL, and release later versions on BSD. It's perfectly ok. The first versions will stay on GPL of course, but there's no obligation to publish later versions under the same license. (We're talking about code written by you here. If there are other contributors, you need their permission too.)

And, given that BSD is less strict than GPL, no one will certainly complain. A BSD -> GPL transition would be more difficult.

Answer 2

I am not a lawyer. That said, I think you as the copyright owner can change the license of your software at any time, but if you released it previously under GPL, that version of the software remains under the GPL and anyone who had licensed it from you can still use it as GPL licensed software.

Answer 3

You can change your license at any time (unless you're using some code/library/anything on license that forbids you to link with code on BSD license). In case of GPL/BSD, I don't think you could have any problems.

You should also notice that your previous work (before the release where you changed that license) can be still used on old license. And you can decide to dual-license the software too.

Answer 4

I am not a lawyer and I could be wrong, but this is how I understand it:

You can just release the source code you wrote under BSD, and leave a notice that it is linking to a GPL library, which means that users who want to redistribute the set of the 2 have to conform both BSD and GPL (which means to conform only GPL in practice).