IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT
DISTRIBUTING SOFTWARE FROM ARTIFEX
If you want to distribute Ghostscript® technology,
you've come to the right place: Artifex is the
exclusive commercial licensing agent for Ghostscript
software. You should know that there is no "public
domain" version of Ghostscript. All versions of
Ghostscript are provided under one of two licenses
described below. If you plan to distribute Ghostscript,
you should understand the differences between
these licenses. The kind of distribution you plan
to make of Ghostscript, as explained below, will
determine whether you need a commercial license
from Artifex. Please note that the following rules
apply even if you ship a free demonstration version
of your own product or application. An "application,"
as referenced below, can be any type of software
product or application, tool, system or utility.
VERSIONS OF GHOSTSCRIPT ARE LICENSED UNDER
TWO TYPES OF LICENSES.....
1. Artifex Ghostscript. Artifex Ghostscript is
any version of Ghostscript licensed for commercial
use and distribution under an Artifex Commercial
License. Artifex is the exclusive commercial licensing
agent for Ghostscript software.
2. GPL Ghostscript. GPL Ghostscript can be licensed
under the GNU General Public License (the "GNU
GPL").
IF YOUR ENTIRE APPLICATION IS LICENSED TO
THE PUBLIC UNDER THE GNU GPL, YOU CAN DISTRIBUTE
GNU GHOSTSCRIPT WITH YOUR APPLICATION WITHOUT
A COMMERCIAL LICENSE . . .
If your application, including all of its source
code, is licensed to the public under the GNU
GPL, you are authorized to ship GPL Ghostscript
with your application under the terms of the GPL
license agreement. You do not need a commercial
license from Artifex. The terms of the GNU GPL
include the requirement that your application
be licensed as a whole at no charge to all third
parties. Moreover, the entire application must
be licensed to the public under the GNU GPL.
IF YOUR APPLICATION IS NOT LICENSED TO THE
PUBLIC UNDER THE GNU GPL AND YOU PLAN TO DISTRIBUTE
GHOSTSCRIPT SOFTWARE. . .
If your application (including its source code)
is not licensed to the public under the GNU GPL,
you are not authorized to ship GPL Ghostscript
with your application under the terms of the GNU
GPL if any one of the following is true:
These criteria apply to your application as a
whole. Even if only one section of your application
satisfies one of these criteria, you are not authorized
to ship GPL Ghostscript with your application
unless your application, including all of its
source code, is licensed to the public under the
GNU GPL.
If your application (including its source code)
is NOT licensed to the public under the GNU GPL
and you intend to distribute Ghostscript to a
third party for use with and usable by your application,
you MUST first obtain a commercial license from
Artifex.
Examples of Distribution:
Some examples of distribution requiring a commercial
license include:
1. Distributing Ghostscript (or any component
thereof) within your non-GNU GPL application.
2. Distributing Ghostscript on the same media
with your non-GNU GPL application for use with
and by your application.
3. Distributing Ghostscript embedded within hardware.
DOES ARTIFEX RECOMMEND THE COMMERCIAL LICENSE?
Artifex recommends that all commercial entities
that wish to distribute Ghostscript enter into
the Artifex Commercial License with Artifex. Not
only does it free you from having to conform to
the requirements and restrictions of the AFPL
and GPL licenses, but it also provides you with
additional protections and rights, such as support.
GPL Ghostscript is provided "AS-IS" without warranties
or support of any kind.
To
obtain a copy of the GNU General Free Public License,
please click here:
GPL
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