Questions tagged [copyright]
Use this tag on questions about the copyrighting process and principles. Questions solely pertaining to general copyright are off topic.
281
questions
1
vote
1answer
21 views
Does copyright infringement apply to user interfaces in a software?
I am making an open-source software that is an alternative version of another very popular software, Postman. The inspiration reflects mainly on user interface and concepts. No source code was copied ...
1
vote
1answer
70 views
Can I dual license my software that is on Github with a GPLv3 license?
To my understanding, as the maker of the software, I have the right to dual licensing the software as I wish, be it both an open source license and a proprietary closed license at the same time.
...
3
votes
1answer
72 views
Choosing License of GitHub Repository
I really don't know much about the licenses. I am working on a project which I might upload on a website. So I have a few questions.
Can someone ever steal my code and commercially use it if I put my ...
0
votes
1answer
78 views
Can I use a license without providing a copyright notice myself?
So I googled a bit and found that a copyright notice isn't actually required anymore which I prefer as I'd rather provide a text like this:
Project is open-source and made by the following ...
2
votes
1answer
68 views
Is commit author name stripping copyright infringement?
I'm the author of Fulguris which is in conflict with Styx. Both projects are MPL 2.0. Fulguris is a fork of the decade old Lightning and Styx is just a rebrand of Fulguris.
Styx completely destroyed ...
2
votes
1answer
61 views
How to provide attribution when numerous contributors hold copyright
My software depends on and links to a third-party open-source library licensed under the MIT license. No copyright notice is present in the LICENSE file, the README file, or any of the source files. ...
0
votes
0answers
30 views
How can I properly relicense MIT software to MPL 2.0 properly, while maintaining proper copyright notices
I have a project, it is a Rust one.
From my understanding, with the MPL I must put a per-file header.
Must I one-by-one add the MPL header to every file (perhaps including TOML files, etc.) or what?
...
1
vote
0answers
40 views
Will I get copyright strike for Using creative commons video if the license is changed by the owner?
Imagine that I used a person's "creative commons" licensed video for making a youtube video and uploaded it to youtube. Then after some time, the person decided to change the video's license ...
1
vote
0answers
40 views
If the original author updates their program, is it now a modified work? [duplicate]
Lets say programmer Ed has made program foo and the program is licensed under the GPL license. If Ed updates his program, is that now a derivative or modified work? What if John contributes to ...
-1
votes
1answer
41 views
What copyright/permissions to use for a publicly available student paper online (GitHub)?
I have a senior year project hosted on GitHub, including CAD files, code, and a written paper (PDF) that describes my work. I would like to ask what copyright or permissions I should include on this ...
3
votes
1answer
83 views
GPL and original author's copyright text in completely rewritten code
I'm about to release my first "big" project on Github, and although I want it to remain open-source and I have no plan of selling it, I want to try to make this licensing stuff right for my ...
2
votes
1answer
39 views
Create a new UI for an Apache 2.0 software
I'm creating a fork of a software distributed under the Apache License 2.0. This software has many components, one of them is its UI, where It's possible to find the creator's logo and other ...
-2
votes
1answer
58 views
Modifying and releasing Windows-XP code [closed]
Am I legally allowed to modify (remove bloatware, rewrite functions etc.) to leaked code and release it online for free? I don't intend to license anything, it's just mostly for a personal project to ...
2
votes
0answers
71 views
Can I use unmodified Grafana as the visualisation component of my commercial service?
In the light of the new AGPL Grafana license, can we still use unmodifed Grafana served as a docker image on cloud as the visualisation component of our commercial service?
My understanding so far is ...
1
vote
2answers
1k views
Can someone else copyright for themselves already copyrighted things?
I’m not sure to say about it here (but for the now it’s place most focused on law in SE). Recently I found a guy on routinehub who said that all his app is copyrighted. He made app fully and only from ...
0
votes
1answer
46 views
Published & monetized apps on the Google Play Store using GitHub libraries licensed under "BSD 2-Clause "Simplified" License" and "Apache License 2.0"
I slightly modified some libraries from GitHub, published them in the form of apps on the Google Play Store and monetized them.
The libraries are licensed under "BSD 2-Clause "Simplified&...
2
votes
2answers
110 views
Should I include copyright in a minified distribution of my js file?
For example, I have a index.js file (copyrighted), I minify it using UglifyJS and store in index.min.js file, but my copyright notice is removed, should I add it again in index.min.js?
If yes, Can I ...
1
vote
1answer
44 views
Should the license header be preceded by the copyright holder?
I'm open sourcing a proprietary codebase (license TBD, probably Apache) were all files have the header:
Copyright <company name>. All rights reserved.
Should this line be preserved in addition ...
1
vote
1answer
42 views
MIT License for a translation
There's a software called vnpy on github that's in chinese.
We have a translated copy to english. The goal is to keep their MIT license but just for that code.
We're wondering: Should we make a ...
2
votes
3answers
174 views
How to properly attribute other's people work on GitHub?
I have an open source project (under GPL license) that has some parts incorporated from other projects (that use MIT and GPL), and one of the provisions of both of these licenses is The above ...
0
votes
2answers
52 views
Should I keep the old project's name in the copyright details after a fork?
So, given what i asked here, I was wondering if i should leave the old project's name after a fork, in the copyright detail in the code...
Essentially, I did it like so:
#Copyright 2015 by ....
#...
2
votes
1answer
66 views
Dealing with multiple contributions in a 30+ years old software project
Context: I'm working on an old software project which dates back to 1988. I collaborate with its main author who created the program back then and originally published it under non-free license in the ...
7
votes
1answer
2k views
What should I do with the copyright details in a codebase when modifying it when it wasn't forked?
So essentially, I once downloaded some script off github, forgot about it, then thought "Why not modify it!" and thus now decided to push it to my github account...
Question is though, do i ...
-3
votes
2answers
79 views
Free Office/Libre Office/Apache Office
How Free Office / Libre Office / Apache Office resembles Microsoft Office ?
Did they committed a breach of copyright and cheated Microsoft Office?
And, why till date, Microsoft is not taking any ...
0
votes
0answers
36 views
Can I use the Elastic License 2.0 or is it copyrighted?
Can I use the Elastic License 2.0 for my project or is the text of the license copyrighted? Essentially I want to know if the text of the license is freely available for use?
5
votes
1answer
91 views
Do you retain copyright in a project even if all your code has been rewritten?
If somebody has participated in an open source project, and has previously contributed several lines of source code but all those lines have now been completely rewritten and/or deleted so that all ...
2
votes
1answer
125 views
Can I use a logo (Image) from a GitHub repository with an MIT License?
Can I use a Logo (Image file) from Github Repository with an MIT License, without violating any copyright terms?
0
votes
1answer
53 views
Where to disclaim multiple third-party copyrights in project?
I am building a software that in its theoretical form would use logos from several different financial companies to enhance user experience and identification. I intend to use their websites' favicons ...
1
vote
1answer
76 views
What does "with modifications" mean in BSD licenses?
All BSD licenses start with the following paragraph:
Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:
...
1
vote
1answer
40 views
How to opensource code while protecting the product that runs on it
I have a project that I would like to retain copyright over conceptually while releasing the prototype code. It's a novelty digital clock. I posted some videos of the prototype online and some people ...
3
votes
1answer
93 views
Legal Aspects of Illustrations in Open Source Software (MIT License) - Adding Copyright Notice?
It's about an app that was created in a student project (in Germany) and will be soon released in the Google Play Store and also published on GitHub as OSS under the MIT license. The app features ...
3
votes
2answers
561 views
In the BSD license, what does "redistribution" mean?
I'm trying to understand all the responsibilities of this license.
Does redistribution mean:
publicly placing a windows .exe using the BSD licensed library for users to download on a website(free and ...
9
votes
2answers
1k views
Excluding open-source contributions from work-for-hire
I'm doing contract work. I'm being asked to sign a standard (AFAICT) agreement that assigns all intellectual property I create to the employer. The context of this work is typical Python and Go ...
2
votes
1answer
74 views
Definition of a modified code
It may seem to be a bit silly question, but I couldn't find a strict definition that would address my specific situation (I appreciate I'm not the first to experience it though).
There's a library ...
2
votes
1answer
92 views
Can we modify LGPLv3 license based ERP and change the license to private?
My client wants to use an opensource ERP named Odoo. However modifications like name, UI and languages support would be required. Also the license need to be private onwards
If it is permissible under ...
4
votes
1answer
139 views
Custom Linux distro Copyright and license notices
I am developing a commercial product that ships with a custom embedded Linux distro (similar to Yocto), and am in the process of collecting the copyright and license notices to comply with the GPL ...
0
votes
1answer
60 views
Can a CLA be agreed to implicitly, like a license?
For license on software, users who download the software must abide by the license, usually in something like a LICENSE file. I don't need to ask them to fax me a signed document or anything.
For CLAs,...
1
vote
1answer
60 views
What if a project forks a number of projects, but doesn't include the license or copyright that was used -- then another project forks the fork?
So it can be fairly established that this is infringement of copyright, but I'm unsure how to handle this. I've considered making a PR to the project that forked the other projects and adding the ...
0
votes
0answers
17 views
Licenses similar to CC BY-NC-SA and CC BY-NC-ND, but for software [duplicate]
The creative commons licenses state explicitly that they should not be used for software.
What alternatives exists for CC BY-NC-SA and CC BY-NC-ND suitable for software that is published on the ...
0
votes
0answers
28 views
Software license for non-commerical reproducible research [duplicate]
I am a researcher at a university with a guest status. I am not employed though and the work I do is my own. The software I develop belongs to me. For reproducible research I want to publish some of ...
2
votes
1answer
135 views
Is it possible to license that header file to LGPL but implementation to proprietary license
Suppose someone is writing a proprietary software that uses a shared or dynamic library that is licensed under the GNU LGPL license. If he wants to change the LGPL library code, he make some functions ...
5
votes
1answer
64 views
Copyright Transfer by License?
I am conflicted about the licensing for one of my projects. My goals for the license are very similar to the GPL, with one notable exception. I want to remain the sole copyright owner - to keep ...
2
votes
1answer
53 views
Reusing the original idea of a project without mentioning it
I found a project that is very clever and I would like to build my own but using some of their ideas. That's basically what I did but now the code is similar, because we follow the same idea, but I ...
4
votes
1answer
398 views
Can ActiveState forbid me to use python?
... there came one question up in my mind?
Can ActiveState forbid me to use python versions downloaded from this page https://www.python.org/downloads/?
Especially for Windows and Linux?
I ask, ...
1
vote
1answer
44 views
Licensing for a physical product developed from MIT code
I have a developed a Book using outputs from parts of code from a MIT licence repository.
Where would I show or put the copyright licence? On the product? Or create a website?
Or because it is not ...
5
votes
1answer
1k views
Can I fork libstdc++ without disclaiming copyright for the modifications I make?
NOTICE: Not A duplicate of Am I allowed to add additional copyright on modified code that originally the FSF released under GPLv3:
The previous question answered if I'm allowed to copyright ...
1
vote
1answer
62 views
GPL libraries on my software
I am attempting to write a Hobbyist OS and found that the CuteOS project is very useful for reference and libraries. The only issue is: it's under the GPLv2, and from my understanding if you use a ...
2
votes
1answer
135 views
Am I allowed to add additional copyright on modified code that originally the FSF released under GPLv3
I've ported type_traits from GCC to AVR-GCC with some major modifications to the code structure, style, and used some boost implementations along with some of my own implementations and would like to ...
10
votes
2answers
2k views
Who will be the copyright owner of a new file in a forked repository on github?
Let's say there is a MIT Licensed repository on github, then by definition all the files that belongs to the repository is owned by the copyright holder of the repository.
But if I fork the project ...
2
votes
1answer
87 views
Can I privately use copyrighted materials as test data for public projects?
Some time ago I started to develop a 'Sudoku Solver' using Python. Of course, there are many Sudoku solvers already available as open source projects, but I did not want to use any of those, because I ...
