A word about Licensing

All software components of pcb-fpw are released under the GNU General Public License (GPL) version 2 or later.
However, some confusion exists about the footprints.
What license do they use? Will GPL footprints "infect" your design, thereby requiring you to release your design to the public ?
If you modify the symbols, must you release the modified versions under the GPL ?

The goal of the pcb-fpw Project is to provide an open-source EDA Suite which may be used for non-commerical as well as commercial projects.
Our tools are aimed for use by students, hobbyists, educators, consultants, and -- yes -- corporate engineers.
We are not interested in exerting any control over your designs, or forcing you to reveal proprietary information contained in your designs.

Footprints are similar to the font files used in document processing software -- they are graphical objects used to express your ideas.
We want you to retain control of your own ideas (your design), while the pcb-fpw Project retains a say in how you redistribute the footprints themselves.

There are three ways a footprint might be distributed:

1. As part of a footprint library, or individually as a .fp file (i.e. as a footprint itself).
2. Embedded in a .pcb file (i.e. part of the soft, or editable copy of a design).
3. The resulting graphical expression on a gerber file or printout of the pcb layout (i.e. as part of the hard, or non-editable copy of a design).

Our goals for the footprints are:

• We wish to distribute the footprints under a licencing scheme which encourages that you give back to the community if you redistribute the footprints themselves -- whether modified or unmodified.
  This is case 1 distribution.
  The GPL ensures this.
• We wish to specifically prohibit anybody from building pcb-fpw's footprints into their *software* products, and then place restrictions on how the resulting product may be used.
  If you bundle footprints -- whether modified or unmodified -- into your software and then distribute it, then you must allow for the software's (and footprints') continued redistribution under the GPL.
  Again, this is case 1 distribution; the GPL ensures this.
• However, we do not wish to "infect" your *electronic* design, or force you to release your proprietary design information if you use or embedd footprints in your design.
  This is case (2, 3) use.

The Free Software Foundation has recognized a possible conflict of the base GPL with the use of fonts -- and, by analogy, footprints used in case (2, 3).
Their solution is to use an exemption clause in the GPL which you explicitly insert for fonts.
Read about it here:

http://www.fsf.org/licensing/licenses/gpl-faq.html#FontException

As a special exception, if you create a design which uses this footprint, and embed this footprint or unaltered portions of this footprint into the design, this footprint does not by itself cause the resulting design to be covered by the GNU General Public License.
This exception does not however invalidate any other reasons why the design itself might be covered by the GNU General Public License.
If you modify this footprint, you may extend this exception to your version of the footprint, but you are not obligated to do so.
If you do not wish to do so, delete this exception statement from your version.

The idea is that case 1 redistribution is covered under the GPL, but distribution of your design (case (2, 3)) is exempt from the GPL.
This is the scheme which the pcb-fpw Project wishes to use for footprint distribution and use.