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Asked: 2026-06-17T07:48:20+00:00

Long story short. I’ve found nice open source project with API that is useful

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Long story short. I’ve found nice open source project with API that is useful for my app. However, originally it is distributed under GPL-v3 licence. I’ve talked with creator who is the only contributor and he said that he can make for me an exception and provide me it under Apache Licence 2.0.

My questions are:

  1. Is email where he wrote that he can provide me it under this licence enough, or he should write me something else like: I agree to provide X project to [PERSON] under Apache Licence, version 2.0 instead of GPL-v3
  2. What should I write in about page: Project X under exceptional Apache Licence, version 2.0, or what? Because writing that Project X is under GPL-v3 will suggest that whole app should be under this licence.
  3. If this project uses another open source project [library] (under licence Apache 2.0), do I need to write it also as another about list element, or not?

Thank you very much for all answers.

EDIT

Generally speaking, because it might be unclear, I am asking not about About box inside code, because after all it is only comment that will disappear, but something more or less like this:

Open Source projects included:

…

Project X Copyright Creator Y 2010-2013, distributed exceptionally under Apache Licence, version 2.0

or

Project X Copyright Creator Y 2010-2013, distributed under Apache Licence, version 2.0

or

Project X Copyright Creator Y 2010-2013

…

More than about creator, I am concerned about people who may read it and realise that this project is currently distributed under another licence, so they should get source code of whole app.

The third question is about, do I need to also write in similar form about projects from which Project X is taking some elements, like extra libraries that are used only there?

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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    If the original author(s) agreed to license the software under Apache 2.0 to you, you should have received a so called LICENSE or COPYING file containing the terms and conditions of use next to the exact copyright statement you need to preserve.

    Additionally as this is the Apache 2.0 license and you write this is some exception, you might have as well received a NOTICE file that is giving notice about this circumstance.

    All you normally need then is to pass along this information [these files] to the end user(s).

    Also don’t ask about Project X here, as this is real-life, name the project, that would allow to give better examples and make this question more useful for future users to compare with their situation.

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