Licensing question

[Mickedykare]

I'm a little bit unsure how to handle license headers and to lazy to actually read the license agreement.

Let's say that I write a new stimuli generator, very specific for my needs and it extends an ovm class.

Do I need the general license header in the file together with my own header?
//----------------------------------------------------------------------
// Copyright 2007-2008 Mentor Graphics Corporation
// Copyright 2007-2008 Cadence Design Systems, Inc.
// All Rights Reserved Worldwide
//
// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
// "License"); you may not use this file except in
// compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of
// the License at
//
// http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
//
// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in
// writing, software distributed under the License is
// distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR
// CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See
// the License for the specific language governing
// permissions and limitations under the License.
//----------------------------------------------------------------------
class my_own_stimgen extends ovm....

BR
Mikael

[bosman]

Hi Mikael,

When you create your own files and classes, you don't have to add the header, even if they extend OVM classes.

You are also allowed to change the original OVM classes if you want to. You may want to give your code and the OVM library to a customer or anyone.

What you can't do is claim the OVM library to be yours. You just can't remove the header from the OVM files.

I think this is what the apache license is all about.

Regards
Bahaa

[stuart]

All-

Full disclosure: I work for Cadence, but I am not a lawyer and you should always consult a real lawyer for legal advice ;). You should also read section 4 of the Apache license agreement, which discusses redistribution.

My understanding is that if you create your own classes and files that extend from OVM classes, or that use/reference OVM functions etc, then there is no need to include the OVM license headers in the files that you have created yourself.

If, however, you modify the OVM files and code itself, you need to be a little more careful: If you intend to distribute modified OVM libraries outside of your company, then you must include the original OVM license header, any additional license headers needed for the code that you have added, as well as a description of the changes that you have made. Since you may not be sure if you intend to re-distribute the library at the time you make the changes, the prudent thing to do would be to make sure you document any changes you make at the time you make them.

-Stuart