diff --git a/jsonschema2pojo-ant/src/main/java/org/jsonschema2pojo/ant/Jsonschema2PojoTask.java b/jsonschema2pojo-ant/src/main/java/org/jsonschema2pojo/ant/Jsonschema2PojoTask.java
index 67328f90a..e0cf8af41 100644
--- a/jsonschema2pojo-ant/src/main/java/org/jsonschema2pojo/ant/Jsonschema2PojoTask.java
+++ b/jsonschema2pojo-ant/src/main/java/org/jsonschema2pojo/ant/Jsonschema2PojoTask.java
@@ -41,8 +41,10 @@
 import org.jsonschema2pojo.GenerationConfig;
 import org.jsonschema2pojo.Jsonschema2Pojo;
 import org.jsonschema2pojo.NoopAnnotator;
+import org.jsonschema2pojo.URLProtocol;
 import org.jsonschema2pojo.SourceType;
 import org.jsonschema2pojo.rules.RuleFactory;
+import org.jsonschema2pojo.util.URLUtil;
 
 /**
  * When invoked, this task reads one or more <a
@@ -63,7 +65,7 @@ public class Jsonschema2PojoTask extends Task implements GenerationConfig {
 
     private boolean usePrimitives;
 
-    private File source;
+    private String source;
 
     private File targetDirectory;
 
@@ -130,11 +132,24 @@ public void execute() throws BuildException {
             return;
         }
 
-        if (!source.exists()) {
-            log(source.getAbsolutePath() + " cannot be found");
+        // attempt to parse the url
+        URL sourceURL;
+        try {
+            sourceURL = URLUtil.parseURL(source);
+        } catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
+            log(String.format("Invalid schema source provided: %s", source));
             return;
         }
 
+        // if url is a file, ensure it exists
+        if (URLUtil.parseProtocol(sourceURL.toString()) == URLProtocol.FILE) {
+            File sourceFile = new File(sourceURL.getFile());
+            if (!sourceFile.exists()) {
+                log(sourceFile.getAbsolutePath() + " cannot be found");
+                return;
+            }
+        }
+
         if (targetDirectory == null) {
             log("targetDirectory attribute is required but was not set");
             return;
@@ -146,7 +161,7 @@ public void execute() throws BuildException {
         try {
             Jsonschema2Pojo.generate(this);
         } catch (IOException e) {
-            throw new BuildException("Error generating classes from JSON Schema file(s) " + source.getPath(), e);
+            throw new BuildException("Error generating classes from JSON Schema file(s) " + source, e);
         }
     }
 
@@ -257,7 +272,7 @@ public void setUseDoubleNumbers(boolean useDoubleNumbers) {
      *            Location of the JSON Schema file(s). Note: this may refer to a
      *            single file or a directory of files.
      */
-    public void setSource(File source) {
+    public void setSource(String source) {
         this.source = source;
     }
 
@@ -469,8 +484,8 @@ public boolean isUsePrimitives() {
     }
 
     @Override
-    public Iterator<File> getSource() {
-        return Collections.singleton(source).iterator();
+    public Iterator<URL> getSource() {
+        return Collections.singleton(URLUtil.parseURL(source)).iterator();
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/jsonschema2pojo-cli/src/main/java/org/jsonschema2pojo/cli/Arguments.java b/jsonschema2pojo-cli/src/main/java/org/jsonschema2pojo/cli/Arguments.java
index be3697300..f2547dc08 100644
--- a/jsonschema2pojo-cli/src/main/java/org/jsonschema2pojo/cli/Arguments.java
+++ b/jsonschema2pojo-cli/src/main/java/org/jsonschema2pojo/cli/Arguments.java
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 
 import java.io.File;
 import java.io.FileFilter;
+import java.net.URL;
 import java.util.Iterator;
 import java.util.List;
 
@@ -34,7 +35,6 @@
 import com.beust.jcommander.JCommander;
 import com.beust.jcommander.Parameter;
 import com.beust.jcommander.ParameterException;
-import com.beust.jcommander.converters.FileConverter;
 
 /**
  * Describes and parses the command line arguments supported by the
@@ -51,8 +51,8 @@ public class Arguments implements GenerationConfig {
     @Parameter(names = { "-t", "--target" }, description = "The target directory into which generated types will be written", required = true)
     private File targetDirectory;
 
-    @Parameter(names = { "-s", "--source" }, description = "The source file(s) or directory(ies) from which JSON Schema will be read", required = true, converter = FileConverter.class)
-    private List<File> sourcePaths;
+    @Parameter(names = { "-s", "--source" }, description = "The source file(s) or directory(ies) from which JSON Schema will be read", required = true, converter = UrlConverter.class)
+    private List<URL> sourcePaths;
 
     @Parameter(names = { "-b", "--generate-builders" }, description = "Generate builder-style methods as well as setters")
     private boolean generateBuilderMethods = false;
@@ -158,7 +158,7 @@ public Arguments parse(String[] args) {
     }
 
     @Override
-    public Iterator<File> getSource() {
+    public Iterator<URL> getSource() {
         return sourcePaths.iterator();
     }
 
diff --git a/jsonschema2pojo-cli/src/main/java/org/jsonschema2pojo/cli/Jsonschema2PojoCLI.java b/jsonschema2pojo-cli/src/main/java/org/jsonschema2pojo/cli/Jsonschema2PojoCLI.java
index 1bfe326a0..c3dfa4bf5 100644
--- a/jsonschema2pojo-cli/src/main/java/org/jsonschema2pojo/cli/Jsonschema2PojoCLI.java
+++ b/jsonschema2pojo-cli/src/main/java/org/jsonschema2pojo/cli/Jsonschema2PojoCLI.java
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ private Jsonschema2PojoCLI() {
      *             if the application is unable to read data from the paths
      *             specified
      */
-    public static void main(String[] args) throws FileNotFoundException, IOException {
+    public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException {
 
         Arguments arguments = new Arguments().parse(args);
 
diff --git a/jsonschema2pojo-cli/src/main/java/org/jsonschema2pojo/cli/UrlConverter.java b/jsonschema2pojo-cli/src/main/java/org/jsonschema2pojo/cli/UrlConverter.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3fcc70bbd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/jsonschema2pojo-cli/src/main/java/org/jsonschema2pojo/cli/UrlConverter.java
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+/**
+ * Copyright © 2010-2014 Nokia
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.jsonschema2pojo.cli;
+
+import com.beust.jcommander.ParameterException;
+import com.beust.jcommander.converters.BaseConverter;
+import org.jsonschema2pojo.util.URLUtil;
+
+import java.net.URL;
+
+import static org.apache.commons.lang3.StringUtils.isBlank;
+
+
+/**
+ * Convert a string into a url.
+ *
+ * @author jvasiljevich
+ */
+public class UrlConverter extends BaseConverter<URL> {
+
+    public UrlConverter(String optionName) {
+        super(optionName);
+    }
+
+    public URL convert(String value) {
+        if (isBlank(value)) {
+            throw new ParameterException(getErrorString("a blank value", "a valid URL"));
+        }
+
+        try {
+            return URLUtil.parseURL(value);
+        } catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
+            throw new ParameterException(getErrorString(value, "a valid URL"));
+        }
+
+    }
+}
diff --git a/jsonschema2pojo-cli/src/test/java/org/jsonschema2pojo/cli/ArgumentsTest.java b/jsonschema2pojo-cli/src/test/java/org/jsonschema2pojo/cli/ArgumentsTest.java
index 46ce6ab38..725d66502 100644
--- a/jsonschema2pojo-cli/src/test/java/org/jsonschema2pojo/cli/ArgumentsTest.java
+++ b/jsonschema2pojo-cli/src/test/java/org/jsonschema2pojo/cli/ArgumentsTest.java
@@ -23,7 +23,10 @@
 import java.io.File;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.PrintStream;
+import java.net.MalformedURLException;
+import java.net.URL;
 
+import org.jsonschema2pojo.util.URLUtil;
 import org.junit.After;
 import org.junit.Before;
 import org.junit.Test;
@@ -55,7 +58,7 @@ public void parseRecognisesValidArguments() {
         });
 
         assertThat(args.didExit(), is(false));
-        assertThat(args.getSource().next(), is(theFile("/home/source")));
+        assertThat(args.getSource().next().getFile(), is("/home/source"));
         assertThat(args.getTargetDirectory(), is(theFile("/home/target")));
         assertThat(args.getTargetPackage(), is("mypackage"));
         assertThat(args.isGenerateBuilders(), is(true));
@@ -71,7 +74,7 @@ public void parseRecognisesShorthandArguments() {
         });
 
         assertThat(args.didExit(), is(false));
-        assertThat(args.getSource().next(), is(theFile("/home/source")));
+        assertThat(args.getSource().next().getFile(), is("/home/source"));
         assertThat(args.getTargetDirectory(), is(theFile("/home/target")));
         assertThat(args.getTargetPackage(), is("mypackage"));
         assertThat(args.isGenerateBuilders(), is(true));
@@ -96,7 +99,7 @@ public void allOptionalArgsCanBeOmittedAndDefaultsPrevail() {
         });
 
         assertThat(args.didExit(), is(false));
-        assertThat(args.getSource().next(), is(theFile("/home/source")));
+        assertThat(args.getSource().next().getFile(), is("/home/source"));
         assertThat(args.getTargetDirectory(), is(theFile("/home/target")));
         assertThat(args.getTargetPackage(), is(nullValue()));
         assertThat(args.isGenerateBuilders(), is(false));
diff --git a/jsonschema2pojo-cli/src/test/java/org/jsonschema2pojo/cli/UrlConverterTest.java b/jsonschema2pojo-cli/src/test/java/org/jsonschema2pojo/cli/UrlConverterTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..221efe0e6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/jsonschema2pojo-cli/src/test/java/org/jsonschema2pojo/cli/UrlConverterTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+/**
+ * Copyright © 2010-2014 Nokia
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.jsonschema2pojo.cli;
+
+import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.*;
+import static org.junit.Assert.*;
+
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+import com.beust.jcommander.ParameterException;
+import org.jsonschema2pojo.Annotator;
+
+import java.net.URL;
+
+public class UrlConverterTest {
+
+    private UrlConverter converter = new UrlConverter("--source");
+
+    @Test
+    public void urlIsCreatedFromFilePath() {
+        URL url = converter.convert("/path/to/something");
+
+        assertThat(url.getPath(), is("/path/to/something"));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void urlIsCreatedFromFileUrl() {
+        URL url = converter.convert("file:/path/to/something");
+
+        assertThat(url.toString(), is("file:/path/to/something"));
+    }
+
+    @Test(expected = ParameterException.class)
+    public void invalidUrlThrowsParameterException() {
+        converter.convert("http:total nonsense");
+    }
+
+    @Test(expected = ParameterException.class)
+    public void nullValueThrowsParameterException() {
+        converter.convert(null);
+    }
+
+}
diff --git a/jsonschema2pojo-core/pom.xml b/jsonschema2pojo-core/pom.xml
index 2b1eaf3be..bd3c80ed8 100644
--- a/jsonschema2pojo-core/pom.xml
+++ b/jsonschema2pojo-core/pom.xml
@@ -33,6 +33,10 @@
             <groupId>commons-lang</groupId>
             <artifactId>commons-lang</artifactId>
         </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>commons-io</groupId>
+            <artifactId>commons-io</artifactId>
+        </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>javax.validation</groupId>
             <artifactId>validation-api</artifactId>
diff --git a/jsonschema2pojo-core/src/main/java/org/jsonschema2pojo/DefaultGenerationConfig.java b/jsonschema2pojo-core/src/main/java/org/jsonschema2pojo/DefaultGenerationConfig.java
index 74b2af55d..ec51863eb 100644
--- a/jsonschema2pojo-core/src/main/java/org/jsonschema2pojo/DefaultGenerationConfig.java
+++ b/jsonschema2pojo-core/src/main/java/org/jsonschema2pojo/DefaultGenerationConfig.java
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 
 import java.io.File;
 import java.io.FileFilter;
+import java.net.URL;
 import java.util.Iterator;
 
 /**
@@ -47,7 +48,7 @@ public boolean isUsePrimitives() {
      * Unsupported since no default source is possible.
      */
     @Override
-    public Iterator<File> getSource() {
+    public Iterator<URL> getSource() {
         throw new UnsupportedOperationException("No default source available");
     }
 
diff --git a/jsonschema2pojo-core/src/main/java/org/jsonschema2pojo/GenerationConfig.java b/jsonschema2pojo-core/src/main/java/org/jsonschema2pojo/GenerationConfig.java
index 5380f5312..02a48d9ac 100644
--- a/jsonschema2pojo-core/src/main/java/org/jsonschema2pojo/GenerationConfig.java
+++ b/jsonschema2pojo-core/src/main/java/org/jsonschema2pojo/GenerationConfig.java
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 
 import java.io.File;
 import java.io.FileFilter;
+import java.net.URL;
 import java.util.Iterator;
 import org.jsonschema2pojo.rules.RuleFactory;
 
@@ -55,7 +56,7 @@ public interface GenerationConfig {
      * @return The source file(s) or directory(ies) from which JSON Schema will
      *         be read.
      */
-    Iterator<File> getSource();
+    Iterator<URL> getSource();
 
     /**
      * Gets the 'targetDirectory' configuration option.
diff --git a/jsonschema2pojo-core/src/main/java/org/jsonschema2pojo/Jsonschema2Pojo.java b/jsonschema2pojo-core/src/main/java/org/jsonschema2pojo/Jsonschema2Pojo.java
index c4c58efb5..75ca4d217 100644
--- a/jsonschema2pojo-core/src/main/java/org/jsonschema2pojo/Jsonschema2Pojo.java
+++ b/jsonschema2pojo-core/src/main/java/org/jsonschema2pojo/Jsonschema2Pojo.java
@@ -18,10 +18,12 @@
 
 import com.sun.codemodel.CodeWriter;
 import com.sun.codemodel.JCodeModel;
-import java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream;
 import java.io.File;
 import java.io.FileNotFoundException;
 import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.UnsupportedEncodingException;
+import java.net.URL;
+import java.net.URLDecoder;
 import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.Iterator;
@@ -29,9 +31,10 @@
 import static org.apache.commons.lang3.StringUtils.defaultString;
 import static org.apache.commons.lang3.StringUtils.substringBeforeLast;
 
-import org.jsonschema2pojo.FileCodeWriterWithEncoding;
+import org.apache.commons.io.FilenameUtils;
 import org.jsonschema2pojo.exception.GenerationException;
 import org.jsonschema2pojo.rules.RuleFactory;
+import org.jsonschema2pojo.util.URLUtil;
 
 public class Jsonschema2Pojo {
     /**
@@ -46,7 +49,7 @@ public class Jsonschema2Pojo {
      * @throws IOException
      *             if the application is unable to read data from the source
      */
-    public static void generate(GenerationConfig config) throws FileNotFoundException, IOException {
+    public static void generate(GenerationConfig config) throws IOException {
         Annotator annotator = getAnnotator(config);
         RuleFactory ruleFactory = createRuleFactory(config);
 
@@ -61,13 +64,19 @@ public static void generate(GenerationConfig config) throws FileNotFoundExceptio
             removeOldOutput(config.getTargetDirectory());
         }
 
-        for (Iterator<File> sources = config.getSource(); sources.hasNext();) {
-            File source = sources.next();
-
-            if (source.isDirectory()) {
-                generateRecursive(config, mapper, codeModel, defaultString(config.getTargetPackage()), Arrays.asList(source.listFiles(config.getFileFilter())));
+        for (Iterator<URL> sources = config.getSource(); sources.hasNext();) {
+            URL source = sources.next();
+
+            if (URLUtil.parseProtocol(source.toString()) == URLProtocol.FILE && URLUtil.getFileFromURL(source).isDirectory()) {
+                generateRecursive(
+                        config,
+                        mapper,
+                        codeModel,
+                        defaultString(config.getTargetPackage()),
+                        Arrays.asList(URLUtil.getFileFromURL(source).listFiles(config.getFileFilter()))
+                );
             } else {
-                mapper.generate(codeModel, getNodeName(source), defaultString(config.getTargetPackage()), source.toURI().toURL());
+                mapper.generate(codeModel, getNodeName(source), defaultString(config.getTargetPackage()), source);
             }
         }
 
@@ -96,12 +105,12 @@ private static RuleFactory createRuleFactory(GenerationConfig config) {
         }
     }
 
-    private static void generateRecursive(GenerationConfig config, SchemaMapper mapper, JCodeModel codeModel, String packageName, List<File> schemaFiles) throws FileNotFoundException, IOException {
+    private static void generateRecursive(GenerationConfig config, SchemaMapper mapper, JCodeModel codeModel, String packageName, List<File> schemaFiles) throws IOException {
         Collections.sort(schemaFiles);
 
         for (File child : schemaFiles) {
             if (child.isFile()) {
-                mapper.generate(codeModel, getNodeName(child), defaultString(packageName), child.toURI().toURL());
+                mapper.generate(codeModel, getNodeName(child.toURI().toURL()), defaultString(packageName), child.toURI().toURL());
             } else {
                 generateRecursive(config, mapper, codeModel, packageName + "." + child.getName(), Arrays.asList(child.listFiles(config.getFileFilter())));
             }
@@ -133,7 +142,12 @@ private static Annotator getAnnotator(GenerationConfig config) {
                 factory.getAnnotator(config.getCustomAnnotator()));
     }
 
-    private static String getNodeName(File file) {
-        return substringBeforeLast(file.getName(), ".");
+    private static String getNodeName(URL file) {
+        try {
+            return substringBeforeLast(FilenameUtils.getBaseName(URLDecoder.decode(file.toString(), "UTF-8")), ".");
+        } catch (UnsupportedEncodingException e) {
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException(String.format("Unable to generate node name from URL: %s", file.toString()), e);
+        }
+
     }
 }
diff --git a/jsonschema2pojo-core/src/main/java/org/jsonschema2pojo/URLProtocol.java b/jsonschema2pojo-core/src/main/java/org/jsonschema2pojo/URLProtocol.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..57beccac0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/jsonschema2pojo-core/src/main/java/org/jsonschema2pojo/URLProtocol.java
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+/**
+ * Copyright © 2010-2014 Nokia
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.jsonschema2pojo;
+
+public enum URLProtocol {
+    FILE("file"),
+    RESOURCE("resource"),
+    JAVA("java"),
+    CLASSPATH("classpath"),
+    HTTP("http"),
+    HTTPS("https"),
+    NO_PROTOCOL("");
+
+    private String protocol;
+
+    URLProtocol(final String protocol) {
+        this.protocol = protocol;
+    }
+
+    public String getProtocol() {
+        return protocol;
+    }
+
+    public static URLProtocol fromString(final String input) {
+        for (URLProtocol protocol : URLProtocol.values()) {
+            if (protocol.getProtocol().equalsIgnoreCase(input)) {
+                return protocol;
+            }
+        }
+        // default to file
+        return NO_PROTOCOL;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/jsonschema2pojo-core/src/main/java/org/jsonschema2pojo/util/URLUtil.java b/jsonschema2pojo-core/src/main/java/org/jsonschema2pojo/util/URLUtil.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9d12ee57d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/jsonschema2pojo-core/src/main/java/org/jsonschema2pojo/util/URLUtil.java
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+/**
+ * Copyright © 2010-2014 Nokia
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.jsonschema2pojo.util;
+
+import org.apache.commons.lang.StringUtils;
+import org.jsonschema2pojo.URLProtocol;
+
+import java.io.File;
+import java.net.MalformedURLException;
+import java.net.URI;
+import java.net.URISyntaxException;
+import java.net.URL;
+
+public class URLUtil {
+
+    public static URLProtocol parseProtocol(String input) {
+        return URLProtocol.fromString(StringUtils.substringBefore(input, ":"));
+    }
+
+    public static URL parseURL(String input) {
+        try {
+            switch (parseProtocol(input)) {
+                case NO_PROTOCOL:
+                    return new File(input).toURI().toURL();
+                default:
+                    return URI.create(input).toURL();
+            }
+        } catch (MalformedURLException e) {
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException(String.format("Unable to parse source: %s", input), e);
+        }
+    }
+
+    public static File getFileFromURL(URL url) {
+        try {
+            return new File(url.toURI());
+        } catch (URISyntaxException e) {
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException(String.format("URL contains an invalid URI syntax: %s", url), e);
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/jsonschema2pojo-gradle-plugin/src/main/groovy/org/jsonschema2pojo/gradle/JsonSchemaExtension.groovy b/jsonschema2pojo-gradle-plugin/src/main/groovy/org/jsonschema2pojo/gradle/JsonSchemaExtension.groovy
index 3a5f37f94..e3e86cd91 100644
--- a/jsonschema2pojo-gradle-plugin/src/main/groovy/org/jsonschema2pojo/gradle/JsonSchemaExtension.groovy
+++ b/jsonschema2pojo-gradle-plugin/src/main/groovy/org/jsonschema2pojo/gradle/JsonSchemaExtension.groovy
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@
  */
 package org.jsonschema2pojo.gradle
 
-import java.util.Map
 import org.jsonschema2pojo.AnnotationStyle
 import org.jsonschema2pojo.Annotator
 import org.jsonschema2pojo.AllFileFilter
@@ -85,8 +84,12 @@ public class JsonSchemaExtension implements GenerationConfig {
   }
 
   @Override
-  public Iterator<File> getSource() {
-    sourceFiles.iterator()
+  public Iterator<URL> getSource() {
+    def urlList = []
+    for (source in sourceFiles) {
+      urlList.add(source.toURI().toURL())
+    }
+    urlList.iterator()
   }
 
   public void setSource(Iterable<File> files) {
diff --git a/jsonschema2pojo-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/jsonschema2pojo/integration/RegressionIT.java b/jsonschema2pojo-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/jsonschema2pojo/integration/RegressionIT.java
index 363e92565..8ea39deaa 100644
--- a/jsonschema2pojo-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/jsonschema2pojo/integration/RegressionIT.java
+++ b/jsonschema2pojo-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/jsonschema2pojo/integration/RegressionIT.java
@@ -20,9 +20,8 @@
 import static org.jsonschema2pojo.integration.util.CodeGenerationHelper.*;
 import static org.junit.Assert.*;
 
-import java.io.File;
 import java.net.MalformedURLException;
-import java.util.HashMap;
+import java.util.Collections;
 
 import org.junit.Test;
 
@@ -32,10 +31,7 @@ public class RegressionIT {
     @SuppressWarnings("rawtypes")
     public void pathWithSpacesInTheNameDoesNotFail() throws ClassNotFoundException, MalformedURLException {
 
-        File file = new File("src/test/resources/schema/regression/spaces in path.json");
-
-        File sourcesDirectory = generate(file.toURI().toURL(), "com.example", new HashMap<String, Object>());
-        ClassLoader resultsClassLoader = compile(sourcesDirectory);
+        ClassLoader resultsClassLoader = generateAndCompile("/schema/regression/spaces in path.json", "com.example", Collections.<String, Object>emptyMap());
 
         Class generatedType = resultsClassLoader.loadClass("com.example.SpacesInPath");
         assertThat(generatedType, is(notNullValue()));
diff --git a/jsonschema2pojo-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/jsonschema2pojo/integration/util/CodeGenerationHelper.java b/jsonschema2pojo-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/jsonschema2pojo/integration/util/CodeGenerationHelper.java
index 031620d1d..995ff6c72 100644
--- a/jsonschema2pojo-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/jsonschema2pojo/integration/util/CodeGenerationHelper.java
+++ b/jsonschema2pojo-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/jsonschema2pojo/integration/util/CodeGenerationHelper.java
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@
 import org.apache.maven.plugin.MojoExecutionException;
 import org.apache.maven.project.MavenProject;
 import org.jsonschema2pojo.maven.Jsonschema2PojoMojo;
+import org.jsonschema2pojo.util.URLUtil;
 
 public class CodeGenerationHelper {
 
@@ -85,7 +86,7 @@ public static void generate(final URL schema, final String targetPackage, final
             @SuppressWarnings("serial")
         Jsonschema2PojoMojo pluginMojo = new TestableJsonschema2PojoMojo().configure(new HashMap<String, Object>() {
                 {
-                    put("sourceDirectory", new File(schema.toURI()));
+                    put("sourceDirectory", URLUtil.getFileFromURL(schema).getPath());
                     put("outputDirectory", outputDirectory);
                     put("project", getMockProject());
                     put("targetPackage", targetPackage);
@@ -94,8 +95,6 @@ public static void generate(final URL schema, final String targetPackage, final
             });
 
             pluginMojo.execute();
-        } catch (URISyntaxException e) {
-            throw new RuntimeException(e);
         } catch (MojoExecutionException e) {
             throw new RuntimeException(e);
         } catch (DependencyResolutionRequiredException e) {
diff --git a/jsonschema2pojo-maven-plugin/src/main/java/org/jsonschema2pojo/maven/Jsonschema2PojoMojo.java b/jsonschema2pojo-maven-plugin/src/main/java/org/jsonschema2pojo/maven/Jsonschema2PojoMojo.java
index af2a96c85..84cf80a69 100644
--- a/jsonschema2pojo-maven-plugin/src/main/java/org/jsonschema2pojo/maven/Jsonschema2PojoMojo.java
+++ b/jsonschema2pojo-maven-plugin/src/main/java/org/jsonschema2pojo/maven/Jsonschema2PojoMojo.java
@@ -21,9 +21,14 @@
 import java.io.File;
 import java.io.FileFilter;
 import java.io.IOException;
+import java.net.MalformedURLException;
+import java.net.URI;
+import java.net.URL;
+import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.Iterator;
+import java.util.List;
 
 import org.apache.maven.artifact.DependencyResolutionRequiredException;
 import org.apache.maven.plugin.AbstractMojo;
@@ -38,6 +43,7 @@
 import org.jsonschema2pojo.NoopAnnotator;
 import org.jsonschema2pojo.SourceType;
 import org.jsonschema2pojo.rules.RuleFactory;
+import org.jsonschema2pojo.util.URLUtil;
 
 /**
  * When invoked, this goal reads one or more <a
@@ -70,7 +76,7 @@ public class Jsonschema2PojoMojo extends AbstractMojo implements GenerationConfi
      * @parameter expression="${jsonschema2pojo.sourceDirectory}"
      * @since 0.1.0
      */
-    private File sourceDirectory;
+    private String sourceDirectory;
 
     /**
      * An array of locations of the JSON Schema file(s). Note: each item may
@@ -79,7 +85,7 @@ public class Jsonschema2PojoMojo extends AbstractMojo implements GenerationConfi
      * @parameter expression="${jsonschema2pojo.sourcePaths}"
      * @since 0.3.1
      */
-    private File[] sourcePaths;
+    private String[] sourcePaths;
 
     /**
      * Package name used for generated Java classes (for types where a fully
@@ -416,7 +422,24 @@ public void execute() throws MojoExecutionException {
             return;
         }
 
-        if (null == sourceDirectory && null == sourcePaths) {
+        // verify source directories
+        if (sourceDirectory != null) {
+            // verify sourceDirectory
+            try {
+                URLUtil.parseURL(sourceDirectory);
+            } catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
+                throw new MojoExecutionException(e.getMessage(), e);
+            }
+        } else if (sourcePaths != null) {
+            // verify individual source paths
+            for (String source : sourcePaths) {
+                try {
+                    URLUtil.parseURL(source);
+                } catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
+                    throw new MojoExecutionException(e.getMessage(), e);
+                }
+            }
+        } else {
             throw new MojoExecutionException("One of sourceDirectory or sourcePaths must be provided");
         }
 
@@ -437,7 +460,7 @@ public void execute() throws MojoExecutionException {
             Jsonschema2Pojo.generate(this);
         } catch (IOException e) {
             throw new MojoExecutionException(
-                    "Error generating classes from JSON Schema file(s) " + sourceDirectory.getPath(), e);
+                    "Error generating classes from JSON Schema file(s) " + sourceDirectory, e);
         }
 
     }
@@ -469,11 +492,15 @@ public File getTargetDirectory() {
     }
 
     @Override
-    public Iterator<File> getSource() {
+    public Iterator<URL> getSource() {
         if (null != sourceDirectory) {
-            return Collections.singleton(sourceDirectory).iterator();
+            return Collections.singleton(URLUtil.parseURL(sourceDirectory)).iterator();
+        }
+        List<URL> sourceURLs = new ArrayList<URL>();
+        for (String source : sourcePaths) {
+            sourceURLs.add(URLUtil.parseURL(source));
         }
-        return Arrays.asList(sourcePaths).iterator();
+        return sourceURLs.iterator();
     }
 
     @Override
@@ -590,11 +617,12 @@ boolean filteringEnabled() {
 
     FileFilter createFileFilter() throws MojoExecutionException {
         try {
+            URL urlSource = URLUtil.parseURL(sourceDirectory);
             return new MatchPatternsFileFilter.Builder()
                     .addIncludes(includes)
                     .addExcludes(excludes)
                     .addDefaultExcludes()
-                    .withSourceDirectory(sourceDirectory.getCanonicalPath())
+                    .withSourceDirectory(URLUtil.getFileFromURL(urlSource).getCanonicalPath())
                     .withCaseSensitive(false)
                     .build();
         } catch (IOException e) {
diff --git a/jsonschema2pojo-maven-plugin/src/test/java/org/jsonschema2pojo/maven/MatchPatternsFileFilterTest.java b/jsonschema2pojo-maven-plugin/src/test/java/org/jsonschema2pojo/maven/MatchPatternsFileFilterTest.java
index 74dc6b5cb..cd7901285 100644
--- a/jsonschema2pojo-maven-plugin/src/test/java/org/jsonschema2pojo/maven/MatchPatternsFileFilterTest.java
+++ b/jsonschema2pojo-maven-plugin/src/test/java/org/jsonschema2pojo/maven/MatchPatternsFileFilterTest.java
@@ -16,16 +16,16 @@
 
 package org.jsonschema2pojo.maven;
 
-import static org.hamcrest.MatcherAssert.*;
-import static org.hamcrest.CoreMatchers.*;
+import org.jsonschema2pojo.maven.MatchPatternsFileFilter;
+import org.junit.Before;
+import org.junit.Test;
 
 import java.io.File;
 import java.io.IOException;
 
-import org.junit.Before;
-import org.junit.Test;
-
 import static java.util.Arrays.asList;
+import static org.hamcrest.CoreMatchers.*;
+import static org.hamcrest.MatcherAssert.assertThat;
 
 public class MatchPatternsFileFilterTest {
 
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 1f08db905..568daee7b 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -303,7 +303,6 @@
                 <groupId>commons-io</groupId>
                 <artifactId>commons-io</artifactId>
                 <version>2.4</version>
-                <scope>test</scope>
             </dependency>
             <dependency>
                 <groupId>commons-lang</groupId>