[ILUG] Header files and GPL

[Karl O'Dwyer]

>
>Morning all, I'm putting together a library of code for microcontrollers and
>I've got to the stage where I need to worry about licenses.
>The code involved runs on various devices and relies upon header files
>supplied by manufacturers that define registers, bitmasks and so on.
>Does this prevent GPL'ing of code?
>Do I rewrite the header files?
>Are register names copyright-able?
>Thoughts?
>

A tricky one, if the manufacturer does not expressly state the
licencing and offers them freely on the Internet then they may be
considered to be in the public domain.

In Legal terms the code you have written using these headers could be
considered a derived work. I'd advise contacting the companies who
wrote the headers. And ask how they are licenced.

if they are in the public domain, then I think you would be okay to
licence it any which way you want.

But, if you have no clear answers, then you may want to rewrite the
headers to stay above board.
And I doubt you can copyright the name of a register.... But I have
been wrong in the past...

- Karl
-- 
Karl O'Dwyer