Questions tagged [copyright]
For questions about the copyrighting process and principles. Questions solely pertaining to general copyright are off topic.
360 questions
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Does it mean that Author of the source code is equal to the Holder?
I'm analyzing the "Cea Cnrs Inria Logiciel Libre License, version 2.1 (CECILL-2.1)" software licence and don't clearly understand something. This licence has the following definitions:
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130
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Should I get rid of "All rights reserved"?
Almost all my open source files has "All rights reserved" written along the usual "copyright © 2XXX My name" in the first line. I recently heard that, besides being obsolete, this ...
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357
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Importing GPLv3'd code: Which copyright notice to add to my own code?
Let's say I import some header files (or Python modules) which are under GPLv3 into a source file that I would like to publish as Open Source (OS), and also signify that I have copyright on that ...
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System libraries and exceptions regarding closed source distribution
There are some specific usage examples I would like to learn, regarding of using some open source libraries inside a commercial closed source product(binary, executable). Most of the answers online ...
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Using CC BY-SA 4.0 data file for calculations on rest server used by closed source game
I'm making word game which is based on semantic similarity between words.
For that i need word vectors file. One of such file is available here, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0:
https://github.com/...
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If I do an ML project copying code heavily from Tensorflow's tutorials, am I still allowed to share it on Github (or other repositories)?
(I asked this on Reddit and didn't get a good reaction. I wasn't sure if this was the right forum, but I wanted to ask somewhere related.)
I'm fairly new to machine learning (and programming in ...
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Using Font Awesome icons on my site
" In the Font Awesome Free download, the CC BY 4.0 license applies to all icons packaged as .svg and .js files types.". How can such simple and general purpose icons hold copyright? Also the ...
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Could a CLA be avoided by simply specifying in the license a particular owner who may grant closed source use? [duplicate]
One of the main purposes of a CLA (contributor license agreement), as I understand it, is to allow some owner of the software to have full rights to relicense the code if desired. This is rather ...
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640
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How to handle Apache 2 license for backend use
We are using an open sourced (Apache 2.0 License) OCR framework/library for a website. User uploads an image to our web portal, we send that image to the backend, which hands over that image to the ...
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How to put Copyright notice If I use several other code bases (MIT)
If I use piece of code from some other repo which is under MIT licence I can directly use/show their Copyright info in my repo. That part is OK.
But what happenes if I get several pieces of code from ...
CommunityBot
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BSD-3/MIT etc. - How "often" do I need to include the license text?
For instance, the BSD-3 Clause license states:
Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/...
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123
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What is the proper way to add attribution to a gpl3 licensed diff/patch file?
This is as much a technical issue as a license issue, but I would appreciate correction if any of my assumptions about how the licenses work are incorrect.
Assume that I want to use a patch file from ...
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433
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Copyright a web page created from a MIT license theme?
I am confused as to how to describe a web page from a theme licensed under the MIT license that I want to modify and use for my own private commercial purposes. I do want to have the copyright on what ...
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How do open source licences affect the incorporation of copyright / trademark logos names in a project?
When a private corporation decides to publish software under a permissive open source licence (for example, the MIT licence) there might still be a desire for that company's name and logo to be ...
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I use the npm package, do I have to specify the license for each package?
If I use a specific library and this library uses other packages..
In the event that I have a license and copyright notice, is it obligatory for this library or for all sub-packages?
Do I have to ...
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Are there any software licenses that allow for everything but changing the license or dual-licensing?
I would like to allow users of my code to make derivatives, but disallow derivatives from imposing any restrictions on the usage of my code. Is there an existing license that would fit this ...
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What to put in header copyright notice after total conversion of library that didn't have license headers?
I want to convert a C# library (not written by myself) licensed under Apache License v2 to C++.
The original C# library has a LICENSE file with the Apache license information, however the individual ...
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684
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LICENSE text in build folder
When I build my site using create-react-app build, it creates a main.779c7054.js.LICENSE.txt which contains the license texts of the dependencies. In this case I am using Next.js and lets say I am ...
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854
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Using SVG icons with CC-BY-4.0 license
The license states - "In the Font Awesome Free download, the CC BY 4.0 license applies to all icons packaged as .svg and .js files types.
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Attribution is required by MIT, SIL OFL, and CC BY ...
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8
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813
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Use SVG code licensed under CC
I want to use SVG icons which are licensed under CC BY 4.0 on my website. The CC BY 4.0 asks to give attribution. So, the question is do I give the attribution in the SVG code as "Icons provided ...
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533
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Name/pseudonym change in copyright notice in license
I have several open source projects and was about to upload another one (to github) when I started wondering about the licensee in the license text. Some of my existing projects use either my real ...
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What notice should Bob give when he takes a web app under Apache2, changes UI and the database, then hosts it?
Question asked here, but without much attention; posting here.
Please write a bit of detail steps on how to follow Apache2 requirements for a new beginner, (whose native language is not English,) ...
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What is an Open Source license that prevents using the name of the software, and requires user-facing attribution if adopted?
I'm writing an App, and considering making it open source. However, I'd like to retain a certain level of creative control of the project-- is there a way I can make it so that, if it's forked, it can'...
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Reuse of source code having BSD License in Android App
I have successfully developed an Android App in Android Studio but the final thing which is disturbing me is that, my app contains code from a GitHub repository that has BSD license as given below:
...
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What is the license of Firefox browser console debug panel?
It needs to be included in the documentation, and in a fit of paranoia I started thinking about its copyright status
Usually Commons documentation is useful but https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/...
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Can GPLv3 contributions to a separate project be used without attribution?
I recently forked a relatively new GPLv3 project on GitHub, as it had seemingly been abandoned not long after its creator had published it, and I wanted to make some improvements, as it was in a ...
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How to retrieve copyright from contributors [duplicate]
I have recently taken some time to study different licenses and I was wondering: If I have a open source project and other people contribute, how do I receive the copyright? Or is it possible to not ...
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4
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817
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Adding features that are similar to a proprietary program
I have an open source discord bot which I've built myself and I liked a feature of another proprietary discord bot.
So can I implement almost similar feature to my bot?
Will that violate copyright ...
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147
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When does an implemention cease being trivial and become covered by copyright?
This article discuss the question of whether a "hello world" program is protected by copyright.
It comes to the conclusions that it is not (under US copyright law) because most of it is ...
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Is an offset pointer implementation trivial enough not to be covered by copyright?
This article discuss the question of whether a "hello world" program is protected by copyright.
It comes to the conclusions that it is not (under US copyright law) because most of it is ...
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Can I develop a video game or mod related to 3rd party artwork?
I'm developing a video game with many easter eggs and references to science, technologies, philosophy, and some movies, tv series, animated series, video games, franchises of fictional universes, ...
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135
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Citing project with license but without copyright notice
The authors of a project whose code I wish to use and is licensed under GPL-3.0-or-later have failed to provide a copyright notice. I know what their GitHub organization is. How should I cite their ...
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MIT license ambiguity about copyright?
I asked this question in softwareengineering.stackexchange.com but it was pointed out to me that it is better suited to be posted here. I deleted the original thread in the other subforum.
So the ...
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SPDX And Copyright notices. Do I need to do anything about dependencies?
I'm currently working on a new MIT licensed project (with Creative Commons License for documentation).
The project uses a combination of Java and Kotlin and is built with Gradle.
All files have ben ...
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What is the standard format for the MPL-2.0 license modification notice?
I would like to use a modified version of open-source code licensed under MPL 2.0 in my own open-source code, also licensed under MPL 2.0. But I'm unsure about the specific standard format for ...
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If my repository uses a MIT license, can I submit a DMCA takedown for someone who copied it?
I have an MIT-licensed repository which has been copied entirely, just replacing the author's name. I've heard that MIT takes away most copyright and permits free use, but if anyone can copy code and ...
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232
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How can i use pandasgui commercially if the pyqt library used is not free for commercial use?
pandasgui allows commercial use under the MIT license but I noticed the library used includes PYQT5 which is under the GPL v3 licence how is that possible ?
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423
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Copyright notices in a forked AGPL codebase
My workplace uses an open source project with an AGPL 3.0 license. It's been abandoned as far as I can tell – no commits for 5 years aside from a handful of contributed pull requests (the most recent ...
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Copy license terms from other product?
This might not be a very "open source" question, but I thought I might find in this forum the right people for the question.
For a mortal human being creating a PDF with the license terms ...
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Who owns copyright if I place code in a repository but do not update the copyright notice?
I think my case is covered by Who will be the copyright owner of a new file in a forked repository on github?, but I want to be sure that it applies in my situation, too.
I forked a project licensed ...
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Why can't I distribute my application und a license of my choice when I accept contributions? [duplicate]
I have an app that I want to make open source, as in the literal definition of the code being public. Github says that if you don't apply a license, it's copyrighted by default. I want that, to be the ...
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Propietary licensing of open source code
I have written a program that uses several open source components. First off, it's written in python. Second, I use the modules subprocess, argparse, os and datetime.
Since my work asked me to find a ...
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878
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Idiomatic format for a doxygen file header with license, author and copyright info?
Suppose I have taken a source file named foo.c, written by John Smith in 1999, with email address [email protected], which was published under the terms of, say, GPL v2. Now, I'm making some ...
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Java Licensing Question
I have questions about Java licensing Well, after many court hearings with Oracle vs Google, I analyzed this topic again and I would like to ask you about a few things:
Oracle was accusing Google of ...
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Using npm packages in a project and their licences
So, I'm developing a web application, and I'm using a ton of npm packages while doing that. All of those packages are free and open source, and they are distributed under common licences as MIT, GPL, ...
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250
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Mapbox Studio raster PNG tiles license (open or not?)
I have a FLOSS project using Leaflet that needs more raster base layers but we have some requirements. One of them is to only use Free Cultural works. Here the definition:
https://freedomdefined.org/...
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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 ...
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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.
...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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