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SPDX · LGPL-3.0 Open source » OSI-approved » FSF-libre » SPDX-listed

GNU Lesser General Public License v3.0

Weak copyleft. Modifications to the library stay under LGPL; linking from other software is allowed.

Nickname: LGPLv3 Steward: Free Software Foundation Copyleft: Weak copyleft First published: 2007 SPDX page ↗ Official ↗

LGPL-3.0 is a “library” variant of GPL-3.0. If you modify the LGPL-3.0 library itself, your modifications must be released under LGPL-3.0. If you just use the library — link to it, call its APIs — your own code can stay under any license, even proprietary.

LGPL-3.0 is a good fit for reusable libraries where you want modifications to the library itself to stay open, but you are fine with the library being called from closed-source code.

How to apply

Add a LICENSE or COPYING.LESSER file with the full LGPL-3.0 text alongside the GPL-3.0 text it incorporates by reference. Each source file should carry an SPDX header:

// SPDX-License-Identifier: LGPL-3.0-only

Permissions

  • Commercial use
    The licensed material and derivatives may be used for commercial purposes.
  • Modification
    The licensed material may be modified.
  • Distribution
    The licensed material may be distributed.
  • Patent use
    This license provides an express grant of patent rights from contributors.
  • Private use
    The licensed material may be used and modified in private.

Conditions

  • Disclose source
    Source code must be made available when the material is distributed.
  • License and copyright notice
    Include a copy of the license and copyright notice with the material.
  • State changes
    Significant changes made to the material must be documented.
  • Same license (library)
    Modifications must be released under the same license when distributing the material as a library.

Limitations

  • Liability
    This license includes a limitation of liability.
  • Warranty
    This license explicitly states that it does NOT provide any warranty.
Full license text
                   GNU LESSER GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE
                       Version 3, 29 June 2007

 Copyright (C) 2007 Free Software Foundation, Inc. <https://fsf.org/>
 Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies
 of this license document, but changing it is not allowed.

  This version of the GNU Lesser General Public License incorporates
the terms and conditions of version 3 of the GNU General Public License,
supplemented by the additional permissions listed below.

  0. Additional Definitions.
  1. Exception to Section 3 of the GNU GPL.
  2. Conveying Modified Versions.
  3. Object Code Incorporating Material from Library Header Files.
  4. Combined Works.
  5. Combined Libraries.
  6. Revised Versions of the GNU Lesser General Public License.

  … this text is abbreviated.

  For the complete license text, see https://www.gnu.org/licenses/lgpl-3.0.html

Raw text also available at /license-texts/LGPL-3.0.txt — handy for curl.

Similar licenses

Upgrade path

If you find this license too limited, these are common next steps:

Notable users

  • GNU C Library
  • GTK
  • Qt (dual-licensed)
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