If I link a LGPL codebase with GPL code is my codebase now all GPL? [closed]

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I am working on an open source project that is currently licensed under the LPGL. We are thinking of the possibility of linking to a GPL codebase for some of the lower level stuff we are doing.

If we linked against the GPL, our codebase has to be released as GPL right? Is there any way around this?

Answer 1

Yes, you are correct that the whole thing would now be GPL. The only honest way around this is to

1. Not use the library
2. Negotiate a different license with each copyright holder

However, there is a (legally dubious) option. You create a wrapper around the library. The wrapper would be GPL. However, the wrapper would expose the library functions for communication (e.g. a REST interface, a web-service, piped communication, as an executable, etc).

As I say, this is a bit legally dubious as I don't think it's a settled matter exactly what counts as "linking" and what counts as process communication...

It's also a legal theory that dynamically linking at run-time, as opposed to statically linking at compile time, does not create a derivative work. This is also not a settled matter.

In practice, your intent (which is working around the provisions of the GPL) might very well swing a case against you.