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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How to Comply With MIT Licensed SVG In Print
I have found an MIT licensed SVG that I wish to use in print, for instance a business card.
The relevant part of the MIT license:
The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be ...
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2
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1
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274
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BSD Licensed code used as a part of a research project
I'm currently learning a bit more about software licenses and have realized how permissive the 3-clause BSD license is. I have a small question. If I use BSD licensed code for a computation in a ...
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Is it legal and ethical to copy someone else's GitHub Gist into my own repository? [duplicate]
I'm writing a Markdown file for personal documentation and learning purposes. I found a useful piece of code in a public GitHub Gist, but also I changed it a bit to fit my needs. I'd like to include ...
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How does a programmer ever produce original code if anything they produce is considered derivative because they viewed similar source code?
I'm very confused by what I'm finding on this site. On one hand, it appears as if no programmer is even capable of producing original code if they have ever viewed a source code for a program which ...
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1
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Using an oss as a guidebook without license infringement
I know of an open source software (a game engine, server/client/website+database) that does many of the things I need my software to do. I will have to gut and replace certain portions entirely (the ...
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Is there a good license for a libertarian programmer who's against intellectual property?
I know, I know, you're probably thinking CC0 or WTFPL or something along those lines. But the thing is, the way I see it, people have a right to redistribute anything, even if the author doesn't want ...
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How to distribute LGPL2.1 dependency shared lib with a python package?
I am working on python bindings for a C library, which uses LGPL2.1.
My Python bindings for the library link dynamically against it. For the python bindings to work when installed I need to ship them ...
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7
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Reimplementation of UI/UX ideas of commercial software in open source (MIT)
What are the legal implications of making an open source implementation (under MIT license) of commercial (closed source) software ideas in terms of UI/UX, logic of interface and general workflow, and ...
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What parts of code are protected by copyright?
Open Source licenses are all underpinned by copyright law. Without copyright law, Open Source would fall apart.
Copyright was originally written for creative works, and does not protect facts, ideas, ...
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I made a license for my X.com account. Is this legally binding?
So I made this license, in the style of GPL3 as a humorous pinned post for my profile on X.com. But now I'm wondering if this is actually legally binding? I would like it to be.
Account Content ...
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666
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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
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1
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Can I reuse Pokemon images from Bulbapedia for making a boot screen theme in Ubuntu?
I am planning to make a Plymouth theme with some cute pokemon images (like this) from Bulbapedia.
I want to release the theme under GPL3.
Bulbapedia's Fair Use policy seems confusing to me. Under this ...
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4
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2k
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Is there any point to the copyright notice in 0BSD?
The 0BSD license template contains a copyright notice line.
Copyright (c) [year] [fullname]
Permission to use, copy, modify, and/or distribute this software for any
purpose with or without fee is ...
- 12k
3
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2
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Does adding license headers to files without existing headers count as my modification to an Apache 2.0-licensed project?
I recently used a starter template project for an API that is under the Apache 2.0 License, where the project doesn't have a NOTICE file and individual files in that project don't have their own ...
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6
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3
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275
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How prohibitive is this Intel copyright clause in Microsoft Windows SDK sources?
We have an open source project going on Github and so far, have been able to comply with all licensing terms and conditions of libraries used, to the best of our knowledge.
Today when debugging, I ...
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6
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How do I use GNU licensed code copyrighted by the original author?
I am writing open-source code based on another author's open-source code. The original author licensed the code under the GNU Public License and copyrighted it under his name. I am, of course, ...
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Is it possible to use library as private confidential in GPL 3.0 Project
I have a project (for context it's Android) that is GPL 3.0 License and wants to append a library as a private non-license or MIT Personal License.
Is it possible to achieve that without violating the ...
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0
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68
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Can I use GPL 3.0 license project as library to my private project with MIT license
I'm working on a private project and considering integrating a library that is licensed under the GPL 3.0 (GNU General Public License version 3.0). However, my project itself is licensed under the MIT ...
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1
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How to fill the "name of copyright owner" in the license, if there are multiple authors?
There is an open source project, licensed under Apache License 2.0. It is abandoned, so I would like to fork it, do some significant modifications, and publish it again as an open source project, ...
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Do I meet the conditions of GPLv3 license?
GitHub says GPLv3 licence conditions are:
License and copyright notice
State changes
Disclose source
Same license
License and copyright notice: How do I write copyright notice? Is it enough to write ...
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69
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How to open-source code for an ebook-style iOS Qt app but retain control of the content? [duplicate]
Years ago (whenever Qt 5.7 was current), as a contractor I developed a closed source tablet app for a company with (at the time) a commercial license for Qt (they assigned me a license seat). The app ...
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5
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3
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How much of a given work of software can be claimed under fair use? [closed]
I've found that my most recent project has been taking a significant portion code from a GNU GPL code base. While i’m aware that the nature of copyright law allows for such usage, I’m unclear about ...
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Can one of several heirs of a copyright release it under a Creative Commons license, and if so, how?
Alice created a work and died without publishing it. Bob and Charlie jointly inherited the copyright. All three live(d) in the United States. Bob wants to publish the work under a Creative Commons ...
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5
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474
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May I use this GitHub library that is using a patented data compression?
I was looking the repository https://github.com/ladislav-zezula/StormLib and it's using the MIT license, so far so good.
However, looking at the following file https://github.com/ladislav-zezula/...
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3
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1
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148
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Someone wants to contribute code with a copyright notice. Should I be concerned?
I maintain a parser combinator library called Parjs, licensed under the MIT license. I’ve received a PR that contains a copyright notice by Oracle.
I was under the impression that whoever contributes ...
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18
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1
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8k
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How do I release code written for a company to the public?
I'm working on a Unity project for a company and, while doing so, I wrote some code that I think would be cool to have it on the internet, free to use.
But I never released something that is owned by ...
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1k
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How can I use programming documentation without infringing copyright?
I have a really hard time understanding how can I use copyrighted programming documentation, tutorials, articles, blogs, etc. presented as text or video, without infringing copyright?
I will explain ...
2
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1
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263
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Writing a book using LaTeX Project Public License
I am currently writing a book using this Latex Template
https://www.overleaf.com/latex/templates/nice-arabic-book-template/qttfgxhqbwkc licensed under The LaTeX Project Public License.
Can I print and ...
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4
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127
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License GPLv3 scenario for a plugin A for Blender 3D and software B that communicates with plugin A. What is the license for software B?
I would like to create a plugin, let's call it 'A' for Blender 3D and a software let's call it 'B' that communicates with plugin A through the network.
I know that Blender 3D has GPL license for the ...
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5
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4
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3k
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Declaring copyright anonymously
I want to release some software anonymously.
My first idea was to release it to the public domain, but I have found out that it is not a safe practice due to incompatibilities with the legislation of ...
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2
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1
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164
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Short Weak Copyleft Software License
Is there a short weak (or strong) copyleft license?
I like the GPL v3. The way that all its different sections interlock is quite poetic. However, this beauty comes at the cost of it being near ...
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3
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103
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How do I properly put third-party dependencies under MIT on my copyright notice for a published MacOS app on the App Store?
If IconCast is the name of a close-sourced app I'm publishing that makes money, and AppIconSetGen, an open source library under the MIT license made by someone else that I made some changes to (which ...
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3
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327
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How can I comply with the terms of the HPND license if I am using a library that contains that license in a commercial application project in python? [closed]
I have a PIL library that is for images in Python. I am developing a desktop program that is for commercial purposes. However, I am not selling, I only offer voluntary donations to users. The PIL ...
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47
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Should I include a copyright line in every file?
This is similar to my other question, but specifically about Copyright rather than Licensing.
Typically, each source file contains a line of the form
Copyright 2010-2015, Me
Is this strictly ...
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2
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1
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189
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Open code, closed repo?
Has anyone tried to separately license their repository (e.g. Git) from the code that it holds? How did it go? (Sorry about the open-ended nature of the question.)
Corollary to this question: what is ...
- 930
3
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2
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693
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Is it allowed to copy code under the Unity Reference-Only License?
While developing the game, I need a method that changes the rendering type of the material, but the corresponding method is in the internal class StandardShaderGUI, which I don't have access to. I ...
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0
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How did software copyright work in the US before 1978? [closed]
Prior to the Copyright Act of 1976 (which, confusingly, only went into effect in 1978) the copyright rules were different. One of the things that was introduced was that after the beginning of 1978, ...
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AGPLv3 - Does indirect use over intermediary servers constitute "distribution"?
Let's say I'm building an app consisting of a frontend, backend and database.
The database software is AGPLv3.0 licensed and running on the database server.
The backend is proprietary, running on the ...
- 53k
4
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1
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756
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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 ...
- 219
2
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1
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270
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Proper way to include Copyright information relating to a single Class file
I'm working on a commercial Java product that is distributed as a .war file.
I want to add the source code of a class I found in a book to our code base. The book gives no license information for the ...
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So the GPL doesn't restrict the creator of the software in any way?
In another thread I started (Red Hat buys Ansible), I am trying to figure out the economic value of a company transaction with respect to GPL'ed software. A few of the answers suggest that the owners ...
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3
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GNU license for "Open Metronome" - what license applies to beats generated with it?
If i am using the GNU-licensed software "Open Metronome" (https://sourceforge.net/projects/openmetronome/) to create the basic rhythm of my own music, I am wondering if I can freely ...
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How can I add a license for one file from a github repository?
I would like to use a text file from a GitHub repository that is under MIT License.
My repository is private and I'm distributing my software. My question is how can I use this file and put the right ...
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3
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224
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Notices.txt or Copyright file header when porting code
The following Java project contains an Apache 2.0 license https://github.com/apache/pdfbox-jbig2/blob/master/LICENSE.txt as well as a copyright header on every file in the project https://github.com/...
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Copyright notice in the file header (Apache v2 license)
Recently, about 50 top contributors (including myself) decided to fork Swagger Codegen to maintain a community-driven version called "OpenAPI Generator" (https://github.com/OpenAPITools/openapi-...
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Change copyright author after forking GPL v2 code? [duplicate]
Say I fork the source code here, modify the code, and finally distribute the source code and the derived work.
Can I change the copyright notice at the top from
# Copyright 1999-2022 Gentoo Authors
# ...
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can I use CC BY-SA 3.0 media (pictures) in a software partly licensed under a non-derivative license?
I am working on software that contains graphics I didn't make, that are licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Since the software contains other parts I didn't make, I want to put it under two different ...
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3
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Is there a license that prevents someone from copying the entirety of the source code and claiming it as their own or using it with ill intent?
I'm planning to make an open-source game engine/editor called the NWR Project https://github.com/NotWhiteRice/the-NWR-Project I don't care if people copy the visuals, menus, etc., but I don't want ...
2
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1
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172
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What's the difference between GPL licence and CECILL-2.1?
These two licenses are for open-source code. Does the CECILL-2.1 give rights to sell the open source code without author notification, as it says in Article 5?
5.3 RIGHT OF DISTRIBUTION
In particular,...
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3
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1
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What rights do Artistic 2.0 licence gives to the Author?
I am not sure that this license grants the Author the right of referencing its name in future modifications of Open-Source code. Does this license grant the Licensee the right to sell the modified ...
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