What is the rule on licensing and third party code?
My gut tells me it is likely not good practice to bundle it up into your module.

You shouldn't. That page starts out with:

This is the policy for 3rd party code libraries in Drupal's contribution repositories.

In general 3rd party libraries and content are forbidden, so do not commit any. Instead, document for your users how to find and install the library/content themselves.


The other way is exceptions and they're clearly defined and you need to request approval.