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Open Source License Explained And Its Copyright

An open-source license is a form of license for computer software and other items that permit the use, modification, and/or sharing of the source code, blueprint, or design under specified terms and conditions. This enables end-users and commercial organizations to inspect and edit the source code, blueprint, or design for purposes of customization, curiosity, or troubleshooting. While most open-source licensed software is available for free, this is not always the case.

Author:James Pierce
Reviewer:Elisa Mueller
Feb 25, 2022615 Shares204.9K Views
Many software consumers – and even novice developers – misinterpret the phrase "open source" to suggest that the program is free to use, copy, change, and distribute as one wishes, when it actually means the opposite. When people think of open source, they often think of public domain or shareware, both of which are free to use and alter without the need for special permits or licensing. While open-source software is generally free to use, it is subject to one of many types of open-source licenses and is not always available for download free.
You are probably well aware that open-source software may be found almost anywhere. The popularity of open-source software, how it serves as the foundation for the technology that people use on a daily basis, and the rising acceptance of open source software by corporate organizations have all been well-covered in the media. The importance of open source software licensing in this story is something that is sometimes neglected.
It is the open-source license that has allowed open source software to flourish. Because after all, software, like art or music, is protected by copyright, which grants a creator the exclusive right to create copies of his or her own creation. If you want to create copies or do anything else with it, you'll need the author's permission first. A license is one type of authorization that you may obtain from the government.
Traditionally, software licenses for closed source/proprietary software would provide you rights to use the product in the manner specified. Instead, open-source licenses grant you access to use, modify, and redistribute the program without restriction.

What Is An Open Source License?

Open-Source License Explained in 5 minutes

To put it simply, open-source licenses are legally binding agreements between the inventor and the user of a software component, stating that the program may be used in commercial applications under certain terms. The license is what defines a piece of code as open source. Without an open-source license, the software component is inaccessible to others, even if it is publicly available on GitHub.
Each open source license specifies what users may do with the software components, their responsibilities, and what they are not entitled to do in accordance with the terms and restrictions. This may seem straightforward, but with over 200 open source licenses available, good luck keeping them all straight. With varying degrees of complexity and restrictions, enterprises must choose which licenses are most consistent with their policies in order to remain compliant.

What Is GNU- General Public License (GPL)?

GNU GPL v3 - General Public License in a nutshell

The GNU General Public License (GPL) is a free, copyleft license that is widely utilized in the software development community. The GNU General Public License (GNU GPL) permits users to modify and distribute all versions of software. A free copy of the GPL is available through the Free Software Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing a free software for the GNU Project.
Through the GNU Program, Richard Stallman created the initial version of the GPL in 1989. When the GNU Program was founded in 1984, it was with the explicit objective of building operating systems that were similar to Unix but were free and open-source, rather than proprietary.
Owners of programs licensed under the GPL may sell copies of their programs or distribute them for free, according to the terms of the license. As a condition of doing so, licensees must abide by the terms and restrictions set forth in the GPLs. Owners of digital resources are entitled to make changes to them under the terms of a GPL license. The GNU General Public License (GPL) is extensively used and is the most popular free license of its kind.

What Is MIT License?

MIT Open Source License in a nutshell

The MIT license grants users explicit rights to reuse code for any purpose, even repurposing code that is part of proprietary software, as is sometimes the case. As long as users include a copy of the original MIT license with their distribution, they are free to make any changes or modifications to the code that is necessary to meet their specific requirements.
It is one of the simplest open-source licensing agreements that can be found. The goal was to make the license wording accessible to the typical user while also avoiding the potential for considerable litigation that may result from other similar Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) licenses.
There are several important advantages to utilizing an MIT license, one of which is that it serves all sides of the discussion equally well. Some developers believe the GNU GPL licenses are overly permissive, but others believe that all software should eventually be made proprietary to protect intellectual property rights. Given the open language of the MIT License, it is ideal for both community developers and teams wishing to construct proprietary software by repurposing existing portions of MIT licensed code.
Open source licenses are broadly classified into two types: copyleft and permissive. This classification is based on the obligations and constraints imposed by the license on users.
Copyright is a legal term that refers to the right to use, adapt, and share creative works without the owner's consent. Consider music, films, and other works of art that are the intellectual property of their creators. When an author distributes software under a copyleft license, they assert their claim on the work's copyright and declare that others have the right to use, alter, and share the work as long as the responsibility is reciprocal. In brief, if they are utilizing a component that is licensed under an open-source license, they must also make their code available for use by others.
A permissive open source license is a non-copyleft open source license that protects the right to use, alter, and redistribute the source code while also allowing proprietary derivative works. Permissive open source agreements, often dubbed "Anything Goes," impose little constraints on how others may utilize open source components. This implies that this form of license enables varying degrees of freedom to use, change, and redistribute open source code, while also allowing for the use of the code in proprietary derivative works and demanding little in the way of future commitments.

What Is CLA?

The Contributor License Agreement is the more established of the two approaches and is frequently employed by major institutionally backed organizations (either corporate or nonprofit). CLAs, in contrast to software licenses, are not standardized. CLAs might vary considerably between projects.
They may simply say that you are contributing work that you are permitted to contribute and that you grant the project permission to use it. Other CLAs (for instance, those of the Apache Software Foundation) may include provisions granting copyright and/or patent licenses.

What Is DCO?

The Linux Foundation launched the Developer Certificate of Origin in 2004. Rather than a legally binding contract that must be given to the project, it's a simple mechanism for stating, "Yes, I have the authority to provide this and understand that you will use it.
Utilizing it needs just that the contributor signs the git commit. The reduced entrance barrier, proponents of this strategy argue, is the primary feature of the DCO. It eliminates the need for a contributor to read and comprehend a lengthy legal document.

Which Should You Use Between CLA And DCO?

So, which one should you go with? The answer to this question, as with many others (licenses, text editors, and so on), is "it depends." If you're a juicy target for a lawsuit and you want some protection, a CLA may be the best course of action for you.
You should consider adopting a DCO if you wish to reduce the hurdles for contribution while still needing your contributors to pinky swear that they are delivering their own work to the project. The most essential thing is to take into account the requirements of your project and the demands of your community before making a decision.

Conclusion

You should also consider why a license in one area could be more enticing to use than a license in another category if you haven't already. There is no proper answer, and it will ultimately rely on how you want to use the code as well as the goal of the project you are currently working on.
It would be a good idea to look into the precise terms of different open source software licenses if you are interested in finding out more about open source software licensing. Many open-source software licenses include clauses relating to warranty disclaimers, patent licensing, and other similar provisions, among other things. These clauses can be significant, and they may affect your decision to pick one permissive license over another, for example. Although categorizing licenses in the manner described in this post can be useful for a basic understanding, it is not a substitute for thoroughly examining the conditions of a given license.
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James Pierce

James Pierce

Author
Elisa Mueller

Elisa Mueller

Reviewer
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