Dear all,
I want to ask for help in clarifying a point I'm not sure I fully understood when reading the GPL (version 3).
Let's say I build a (commercial) SAAS website based on drupal, with some added (PHP and JS) code which I wrote myself to deal with certain very site specific functionality (nothing that would be of general interest to the community). I understand from the GPL, the drupal legal FAQ and reading on this forum that just hosting this site on the internet and having users view and use it does not constitute "conveying", so there's no question of having to give any rights to users on my source code.
Now, let's say that one of my clients, for his own security considerations, wants me to host a copy of my website that would be dedicated just for his company, and would be physically connected only to his private intranet (hence probably sitting in his server room, not "my" hosting company, I'm renting my VPS, of course).
As far as I can tell (and IANAL) , it seems to me that if I do not sell said client the server, only rent him the right to use it (SAAS in a nutshell), it shouldn't matter where that server is sitting in terms of "conveying" or not "conveying", as the system remains on my server (hosted on his turf, but bought, set up and maintained by me).
Am I correct in my interpretation?
Thanks in advance for your assistance!
Comments
Probably?
That seems logical to me, but would depend in a large part on the details of your contract. That's definitely a case where you'd want to consult a Free Software-savvy attorney yourself with the details of your specific case.
If you didn't want such a setup to constitute conveying, you can probably work that into the contract somehow. Again, a good copyright attorney who understands the GPL is your best resource.
Thanks!
So it looks like I might be on a right track, but it's obvious that I will need to make sure with a copyright attorney, as you suggest.