Can you fork a MIT licensed project, discard the code, and keep only the name?
Say I wanted to piggyback on top of a popular MIT licensed project name for marketing purposes, but not use any of its code. Is this possible?
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1 Answer
No. You can not. The project's name is protected by Trademark, which is a separate issue entirely from Copyright. The MIT license grants you, as a consumer, certain rights that would otherwise be unavailable because of the Copyright protection.
To keep it simple:
- Copyright protects the code.
- Trademark protects the name.
- The MIT license affects what you can do with the code, not the name.
answered Oct 7, 2015 at 11:40
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2Why do you say "No. You can not"? It's a separate issue, as you observed, from licensing. Oct 7, 2015 at 14:07
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3OK, so say, "No, you cannot, if the project's name is trademarked." I have released software without getting a trademark, and others have changed its behavior and redistributed executables without changing the name or mentioning that they have changed the code. Oct 7, 2015 at 14:27
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3@GlennRanders-Pehrson, you don't have to register your name with any official entity to enjoy trademark protection. Proprietary rights in relation to a trademark may be established through actual use in the marketplace. Oct 7, 2015 at 14:30
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1Thanks, I am not a lawyer and was not aware of that fact. Oct 7, 2015 at 14:38
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3The "actual use" trademark protection doesn't exist in all jurisdictions. I can't find anything in the US trademark law (Lanham Act) about it. It does say you have to use the trademark to maintain trademark protection. Oct 7, 2015 at 14:56