[LEGAL-311] Can Javadoc contain fragments of a specification under GNU Free Documentation License?

• Type: Question
• Status: Closed
• Priority: Major
• Resolution: Fixed
• Assignee: Unassigned
• Reporter: Martin Desruisseaux
• Created: 30/May/17 17:41
• Updated: 24/Sep/18 01:40
• Resolved: 24/Sep/18 01:40

Description

We have a class listing metadata identifiers defined by a standard. The documentation contains links to the original specification for each metadata element. But it also contains a summary sentence extracted from the specification for each element.

However the standard that we use is under GNU Free Documentation License 1.2. I didn't saw a discussion about this license in the list of previously resolved license questions.

We extracted only a summary sentence for each element, not the full discussion, on the assumption that it could fall under the "fair use" conditions. Is it a correct assumption? Is there a guidance about which amount of text could be considered "fair use"?

If we should not take any text from that specification, what would be the recommended practice?

Thanks

Issue Links

• relates to: SIS-356 NetCDF reader should recognize Earth Observation metadata