Is compressed code considered "source code" for licensing purposes?

[jhsachs]

I've been tasked with researching the license terms of several third-party components that are used in my employer's product. The object is to determine what we must do to comply with each component's license terms when we license our product commercially.

 

I'm writing about one component that is written almost entirely in JavaScript. The license gives us the right to use the component "as part of a website or application," but not to "redistribute the source code." Another part of the license forbids us to remove the copyright notice "from the code distribution in either source or binary form."

 

I'm trying to figure out what this means. Does the reference to "binary form" mean that there is such as thing as Javascript code in "binary form"? If so, what is it -- is the compressed code in the distribution considered "binary," while the uncompressed code is "source"? If so, does that mean that although we cannot redistribute the component as uncompressed code, we are free to distribute it as part of our product as compressed code, since the license doesn't say otherwise?

 

Note, I'm not asking anyone to give me a legal interpretation of the license -- that would be absurd, since I've quoted only a few phrases of it, and most of us aren't attorneys anyway. I'm trying to find out whether these phrases have meanings that are so widely accepted among JavaScript users that we (or the component's author) could argue that they must be what the license was intended to say. 

[Adam]

Remember that they're quite likely to be using a generic license that's been written to suit the needs of software written in no specific language. Chances are it's just a loose term to describe the code as it's executed. Usually "source" means the un-compiled / unencrypted plain-text programming behind the software, but you need to give more information on your actual product for us to say whether you'd be breaking the terms of the license on the distribution side of things.

 

On a side-note, the V8 JavaScript engine written by Google and used in Chrome, compiles JavaScript before executing it. That's the only use of "binary JavaScript" I know off the top of my head - I'm sure Google would reveal all.

[kicken]

I'd say the clause "redistribute the source code." is probably just from someone using a generic license intended to be used with compiled software.  In terms of non compiled software such as JS, the intent would probably be more along the lines of you can use it, but you can't offer up the JS code alone, such as say in a "free scripts" type of site.

 

Only the author could really give you a definite answer as to what they intend though.  Only an attorney could tell you what your legally allowed to do with the stated license terms.

 

[jhsachs]

Only the author could really give you a definite answer as to what they intend though.  Only an attorney could tell you what your legally allowed to do with the stated license terms.

Right. The heck of it, I'm trained as an attorney, and I still can't tell what it means. I will have to contact the licensor.