Commercial Use.

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BenMC
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Commercial Use.

Post by BenMC »

cicciocb - A few years ago I made a project based on the original ESPBasic which was built for use at my place of work.
I am about to rebuild it with a couple of new features and would like to use ANNEX RDS but as it is for commercial use
it is forbidden due to the copyright rules. Is there any pathway to using Annex, in the form of a commercial license or fee,
perhaps in the form of a donation or as a previous poster has suggested - providing hardware.
Cheers
Ben
BeanieBots
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Re: Commercial Use.

Post by BeanieBots »

I think one of the issues with Annex ever being able to be used for commercial is the underlying liscense rules for some of the drivers it contains. Where things get interesting is the definition of commercial.
The blindingly obvious is that you cannot produce a product using Annex and then sell it for profit.
However, I don't know if that includes making a product that is given away for free but is then "used" to make money by way of what the product does. ie. the product itself has not been sold but its use (by a third party) is making a profit.
Hopefully, somebody who understands these things can shed some light on the matter.
A simple example, I have made a solar controller that saves me a fortune in utility bills. You could argue that I'm making money.
If I make another one and give it to my friend so that he too can "save/make" money, is that in breach of the license?
From my understanding, you only not permitted to sell the firmware within the product. But can the product be sold with the caveat that no funds go towards the firmware?
BenMC
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Re: Commercial Use.

Post by BenMC »

BeanieBots - Many thanks for the response. Some of those points I hadn't considered.
My project only uses the Annex RDS as a display for a PICAxe project I made for work
a few years back - which is used as a test tool and is requiring a bit of an upgrade.
I believe you are quite familiar with the Picaxe :) .
As you say, perhaps we can get some more light shed on the issue from someone more illuminated
in these issues.
Cheers
Ben
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Re: Commercial Use.

Post by cicciocb »

Hi all,
this is an extract of the Q&A about the licensing :

Licenses:

Code: [Local Link Removed for Guests]

Q: Is Annex free, or will there be any license / royalty to pay ?
A: The public version of Annex is completely free for hobbyists, and will always remain free for personal use

Q: Will Annex ever time out ?
A: No, when the public version of Annex is installed in a module it will be be valid forever without any time limit

Q : If Annex is free, where I can find the source codes ?
A:  Annex is free, but it is not open source, so the source code is not available

Q: I sell modules based on the ESP8266, can I include Annex in the modules delivered to my customers?
A: No, it is not allowed to include and distribute the public version of Annex into any commercial product

Q: Is it possible to use Annex for commercial / paid purposes ?
A: No, the public version off Annex cannot be used for professional / commercial purposes without breaking the license agreement

Q: Are there plans for a commercial version of Annex ?
A: No, but a commercial version could be introduced if there was sufficient demand, perhaps with some enhancements
The current license allows completely free use of Annex for any private activity, including activities that save you money, but still inside your own private domain.
I can also say that, reproducing your project to give it to a friend, it is still covered by the license, as long as you do this activity for free (the whole activity, not just the part that includes the appendix).

Using annex for commercial activities means using it for your business (this seems to be the case raised by BenMC) or inside a product that is sold.

About the license of the drivers contained inside Annex, I purposely selected them in function of their license to avoid any issue (almost all are MIT or LGPL licenses and many are my own stuff).
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Re: Commercial Use.

Post by BeanieBots »

Thanks cicciocb for a very clear and concise response.
@BenMC. I think we now know exactly where we stand now.
(all a moot point for me as I'm fully retired and have now closed down my company)
Indeed, I am extremely familiar with PICAXE ;)
You ARE permitted to use PICAXE for commercial purposes. If you want a display, they have their own GLCD.
It's only monochrome and 128*64 but again, can be used commercially. Not cheap though.
There are many such setups floating around in test departments that I've built over the decades.
You could always use (dare I say it,) one of those funny ardweeny things to drive a colour TFT.
I am now pure hobby which is why I just love the Annex system. Easy, cheap and rock solid thanks to all the hard work by cicciocb.
Hopefully, I'll be able to give a little back.
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Re: Commercial Use.

Post by AndyGadget »

Just for info for those not familiar with Picaxe, an equivalent of the licensing fee is paid as part of the cost of the Picaxe chips (a PAL with the Picaxe BASIC interpreter firmware on it) as they are the only original supplier of the programmed chip. The interpreter code is locked in the PAL and can't be copied.
BenMC
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Re: Commercial Use.

Post by BenMC »

Thank you to everyone who took time to respond.
I will pursue one of the other formats for my project.
I have enjoyed - and will continue to do so - using Annex and have purchased almost
every module in the help file in an attempt to further educate myself.
Thanks Cicciocb for a wonderful product.
Cheers
Ben
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