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I would like to include the Highcharts library in an open-source project, scala-notebook, and I'm not sure, whether it's allowed according to the Highcharts licence.

scala-notebook is a web-repl (read-eval-print-loop) or web-console (similar to IPython). One can create new notebooks and write code there that will be executed on the server side, and results would be rendered on the page (in the output section). I would like to give the user the ability to define chart data in the code and then it would be rendered as a chart using the Highcharts library. It's distributed under the Modified BSD License (also known as New or Revised BSD).

So my questions are:

  • Am I allowed to add the Highcharts library in the project distribution?
  • If yes, then what should I include in order to correctly cite Highcharts licencing information in my project (for example I can add it to the help section of the page and/or add the license to the root of the project's file tree, etc.)?

My project is open-source, so I can imagine, that someone will download it and will deploy it internally at his/her company. I also want to make sure this use-case is permitted (according to the license).

Zargold
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tenshi
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    I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it is about licensing or legal issues, not programming or software development. [See here](http://meta.stackoverflow.com/questions/274963/questions-about-licensing/274964#274964) and [here](http://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/139804/can-licensing-questions-ever-be-on-topic) for details, and the [help] for more. – JasonMArcher Jun 16 '15 at 16:41
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    migrate this over to open source stack exchange then... – albert Apr 28 '17 at 18:30

3 Answers3

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IF you are using it non-commercially, THEN you are allowed to use it according to the CC BY-NC.

As far as I can tell you should be allowed (since it doesn't have the share-alike clause) to redistribute under any license you please; if this is morally justified is another question.

Note that the Creative Commons licenses are not aimed for software, so the waters with regards to linking, combining with other licenses etc. are a bit murky.

It might be best to ask the people from Highchart your question (or even send them a link to this Stack Overflow question).

Von Lion
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  • Thanks for the answer. At Highchart support page they said, that they look SO for new questions frequently, so i'm hoping they will notice it :) – tenshi Apr 22 '13 at 09:37
  • Well, we answer topics for Highcharts, but rather about technical problems. For licenses I advice to use [sales contact](http://www.highcharts.com/support/contact-email) instead. – Paweł Fus Apr 22 '13 at 11:25
  • @PawełFus Thanks for the answer! I probably misunderstood it a little bit :) I'll do as you advised – tenshi Apr 22 '13 at 12:14
  • Open source, sometimes, free-software definately not. This answer is incorrect for the GPL. It is definately not OK to use GPL with no-commercial-uses licenses. – Shayne Jun 10 '14 at 06:38
  • @shayne, true, but this question was very specifically about Highcharts (which is CC BY-NC) and scala-notebook (which is New BSD) :-) – Von Lion Jun 10 '14 at 07:49
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You can use it with some open source projects, however you can not use it with Free Software.

Unfortunately it is a copyright violation to use Highcharts with GPL code as the commercial restriction violates the GPL.

This is a problem unfortunately, as even the Highcharts website potentially violates the GPL by including Highcharts with the Joomla code, although there is an argument that as long as Highchart does not distribute the code from its website it might be in the clear.

Theres no concievable way to use Highcharts with an AGPL website.

The problems with combining "not for commercial" and GPL code are explained here.

https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com/questions/214904/is-free-for-non-commercial-use-license-compatible-with-gnu-gplv3-license

Community
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Shayne
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At the moment Highcharts offer an OEM License which "allows you to distribute Highcharts in your software or hardware product", maybe the've added this after (and because?) this question arose. The OEM license agreement will give you information on how to use it.

Anyway, I don't think any other license of the product will allow you to do this.

R. Schreurs
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