Facebook React.js License

#1

Post by maxsavin » Wed, Oct 12, 2016, 1:25 PM UTC

Facebook React.js License
elcaminolegal.com

Re: Facebook React.js License

#2

Post by romanovcode » Wed, Oct 12, 2016, 1:46 PM UTC

React.js is basically licensed so that you cannot make anything that can compete with facebook corporation.

Example:

1. You create something similar to Instagram using React.

2. It gets popular

3. Facebook sues you and takes all your reacts and reducers

Re: Facebook React.js License

#3

Post by Oletros » Wed, Oct 12, 2016, 1:49 PM UTC

romanovcode wrote: post #2

React.js is basically licensed so that you cannot make anything that can compete with facebook corporation. Example: 1. You create something similar to Instagram using React. 2. It gets popular 3. Facebook sues you and takes all your reacts and reducers

Can you point which part of the license says what you claim? Thanks

Re: Facebook React.js License

#4

Post by JoshTriplett » Wed, Oct 12, 2016, 1:50 PM UTC

Other Open Source licenses have patent termination provisions. Apache 2.0 (which React used to use) says "If You institute patent litigation against any entity (including a cross-claim or counterclaim in a lawsuit) alleging that the Work or a Contribution incorporated within the Work constitutes direct or contributory patent infringement, then any patent licenses granted to You under this License for that Work shall terminate as of the date such litigation is filed.". There are other licenses as well that include more extensive patent termination provisions, such as the APSL.

Re: Facebook React.js License

#5

Post by Kwastie » Wed, Oct 12, 2016, 1:55 PM UTC

romanovcode wrote: post #2

React.js is basically licensed so that you cannot make anything that can compete with facebook corporation. Example: 1. You create something similar to Instagram using React. 2. It gets popular 3. Facebook sues you and takes all your reacts and reducers

I am not a lawyer, but "not bringing a patent infringement lawsuit against Facebook or its affiliates" suggest that anyone using React can't file a lawsuit against Facebook over patents and NOT vice versa as you suggest.

Re: Facebook React.js License

#6

Post by SloopJon » Wed, Oct 12, 2016, 1:57 PM UTC

JoshTriplett wrote: post #4

Other Open Source licenses have patent termination provisions. Apache 2.0 (which React used to use) says "If You institute patent litigation against any entity (including a cross-claim or counterclaim in a lawsuit) alleging that the Work or a Contribution incorporated within the Work constitutes direct or contributory patent infringement, then any patent licenses granted to You under this License for that Work shall…

The author covered this: "Facebook is not saying only that a licensee’s rights to use React will terminate if the licensee claims patent infringement by the React library itself. ... Facebook is using its publication of React source code as leverage to win some protection against patent lawsuits generally."

Re: Facebook React.js License

#7

Post by augustt » Wed, Oct 12, 2016, 1:59 PM UTC

Oletros wrote: post #3

romanovcode wrote: post #2

React.js is basically licensed so that you cannot make anything that can compete with facebook corporation. Example: 1. You create something similar to Instagram using React. 2. It gets popular 3. Facebook sues you and takes all your reacts and reducers

Can you point which part of the license says what you claim? Thanks

In their PATENTS file: https://github.com/facebook/react/blob/master/PATENTS#L14-L2...

If you read it, it doesn't seem like GP's claim is completely true.

Re: Facebook React.js License

#8

Post by ojr » Wed, Oct 12, 2016, 1:59 PM UTC

romanovcode wrote: post #2

React.js is basically licensed so that you cannot make anything that can compete with facebook corporation. Example: 1. You create something similar to Instagram using React. 2. It gets popular 3. Facebook sues you and takes all your reacts and reducers

Actually I see it as

3. You can't sue Facebook because your app is similar to Instagram

Re: Facebook React.js License

#9

Post by bad_user » Wed, Oct 12, 2016, 2:00 PM UTC

JoshTriplett wrote: post #4

Other Open Source licenses have patent termination provisions. Apache 2.0 (which React used to use) says "If You institute patent litigation against any entity (including a cross-claim or counterclaim in a lawsuit) alleging that the Work or a Contribution incorporated within the Work constitutes direct or contributory patent infringement, then any patent licenses granted to You under this License for that Work shall…

For Apache 2.0, read again the part that says "alleging that the Work or a Contribution incorporated within the Work constitutes direct or contributory patent infringement". This in other words means that the license termination happens when you sue for patents that are related to the Work or to derivative works. And it applies to all contributors and isn't related to a specific company. Which is quite reasonable.

Now go read: https://github.com/facebook/react/blob/master/PATENTS - you'll notice that this is a license related only to Facebook's patents and that Facebook will terminate your license if you sue them for any patents, even patents that are unrelated to the Work. And even more problematic, I'm not a lawyer, but it doesn't seem to me that this license applies to derivative works.

Big difference.

Re: Facebook React.js License

#10

Post by capkutay » Wed, Oct 12, 2016, 2:01 PM UTC

romanovcode wrote: post #2

React.js is basically licensed so that you cannot make anything that can compete with facebook corporation. Example: 1. You create something similar to Instagram using React. 2. It gets popular 3. Facebook sues you and takes all your reacts and reducers

Yes it would totally make sense for facebook to effectively kill react (wasting millions of their paid engineering hours) and forever taint their developer community by using that clause to sue another company just because they compete.

Hypothetically if you ever grow so big and frighten facebook to that degree, migrating off react would be an easy problem to solve.