Can a project initially released under the GPL be “closed” at a future release? [closed]

Question

Closed. This question does not meet Stack Overflow guidelines. It is not currently accepting answers.

---

Want to improve this question? Update the question so it's on-topic for Stack Overflow.

Closed 6 years ago.

Improve this question

Suppose I create a piece of software which I initially distribute under the GPL license. I then decide at a future date that I do not wish to release the source code with any further revisions. If I am the original creator of the software, and the software did not use any GPL libraries, would this be permissible?

Answer 1

Yes. However any copies you originally released will remain under GPL as you cannot revoke that license once granted to a user. As the copyright holder and creator of the software, GPL obligates you to continue to make the source available to the end users of previous versions.

If you own the code (which you do) you can use the code however you want even after you've licensed something GPL, provided you fulfill your obligations to your licensees of previous versions.

Answer 2

If you wrote all the code and never accepted patches back from others then you are fully within your rights to relicense it as you see fit. The original copies under GPL will remain so.

Legally of you accept a single patch from a third party without getting them to assign copyright to you then they can force the code to remain GPL... Or you are forced to jump back to the code before their patch and replay only your changes since theirs (essentially unwriting their change... But beware how you "rewrite" their change)

Answer 3

I believe so, yes, but what you released previously can not be taken back - so basically, once something is GPL, it's always GPL. You could create a future closed version - but it couldn't contain any contributed code, I think is how it works.