Ask HN: Is it OK to release GPL3 code of a project which is now private?

4 points

3 years ago

So, I've just discovered that a VST Synth that I've used (and reviewed) in the past that was previously free (with optional donation) is now paid-only if you want VST3, AAX and commercial use. [1]

This synth is GPL3 (or rather, was until the .01 update which has accompanied the change of licence), and the GPL3 code is still up on github[2].

Is it OK for me to do a release of this from the GPL3 code that I have now forked on github[3]? As I understand it, it should be, but I've not done anything like this before. The code was actually a fork of someone else's abandoned code that they got permission for, and they apparently have permission of the original writer to make it private now.

[1] - https://www.discodsp.com/obxd/ [2] - https://github.com/reales/OB-Xd [3] - https://github.com/djaychela/OB-Xd

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