Seeking clarificaiton of the last two lines after top-level Software License Agreement. Do I need formal permission to publish a derived work on clearpath_simulator?

[Mechazo11]

Hello Clearpath Robotics,

In a number of .py files (like /launch/writer.py, /description/generate_description.py) after the Software License Agreement docstring, two lines are present as shown below

# Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
# modification, is not permitted without the express permission
# of Clearpath Robotics.

As far as I understand, BSD-3 license allows redistribution as long as the conditions for redistribution are met and the "AS IS" notice.

* Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice,
  this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
* Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice,
  this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation
  and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
* Neither the name of Clearpath Robotics nor the names of its contributors
  may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software
  without specific prior written permission.

At the time of writing this message, clearpath_common is released with BSD-3 license (referring to Version 1.0): https://github.com/clearpathrobotics/clearpath_common/blob/humble/LICENSE

I have been working with clearpath_simulator for the last two months and have made substantial changes to make it compatible with a newer version of Gazebo. My copy of clearpath_common thus underwent a number of changes to achieve this compatibility.

My questions thus are follows
a. Are those two lines contradicting the BSD-3 license?
b. If the above two lines are valid even in context of being BSD-3 license, how can I obtain a formal permission from Clearpath Robotics to publish my work?

[tonybaltovski]

1. They should all be this: https://github.com/clearpathrobotics/headers/blob/master/bsd/py so those lines are contradicting the BSD-3 license.
2. No needs, feel free to submit PRs.

[Mechazo11]

Hi @tonybaltovski

Thank you very much for your prompt response.

1. I shall remove those lines from my fork of clearpath_common from the files. The rest conforms to the template you provided.

2. I am a bit hesitant about releasing PRs just yet since I modified a number of packages to make them compatible with the newer Gazebo. I plan on releasing the project separately today and hopefully you and your team may assess whether it would be worthwhile to integrate into the official version.

With best,
@Mechazo11