Software Engineering Stack Exchange
Software Engineering Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [copyright]

Software copyright is the extension of copyright law to machine-readable software

179 questions
125
votes
5 answers

How to manage a copyright notice in an open source project?

I'm working on, and adding to, a GitHub-hosted project that includes this LICENCE.md (apparently the MIT licence verbatim): Copyright (c) 2012 [Acme Corp] Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software…
Steve Bennett
  • 3,419
  • 4
  • 20
  • 24
84
votes
5 answers

Copyright notices/disclaimers in source files

It's a common practice to place copyright notices, various legal disclaimers and sometimes even full license agreements in each source file of an open-source project. Is this really necessary for a (1) open-source project and (2) closed-source…
mojuba
  • 5,583
  • 2
  • 24
  • 32
55
votes
6 answers

Open source code with no license... can I fork it?

Years ago somebody created a bunch of really awesome and popular scripts. But they were not updated for a long, now they no-longer work (target platform were updated, and some changes are needed). He hasn't released it under any license. I want to…
Abhi Beckert
  • 762
  • 1
  • 6
  • 11
48
votes
3 answers

Copyright statements in source code

Ever since I started programming I've seen a header at the top of most code files indicating some sort of copyright: e.g. /* Copyright (c) 1998 Innotech */ or /* Copyright (c) 1998-2008 Innotech */ Conceptually I get the idea... depending on your…
scunliffe
  • 684
  • 1
  • 6
  • 14
43
votes
2 answers

Is renewal of MIT license needed on github at the beginning of each year?

I am using the MIT LICENSE in all of my github projects. The second line says 2013 at the top. For having the copyright to hold in future(i.e. after 2013) does it need to be changed each year or is it good as it is? Do I add to it, modify it or…
Aseem Bansal
  • 2,954
  • 6
  • 20
  • 33
41
votes
4 answers

Can I minify Javascript that requires copyright notice?

I guess this is actually a legal question, but it relates to software. I'm about to include a JS plugin in a project. The comments include: Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the …
Nathan Long
  • 3,667
  • 3
  • 24
  • 28
34
votes
4 answers

What copyright date for an update to an open-source project from last year?

In 2011, I released some open-source code that was licensed using the Apache license. As such, all the source files have this boiler plate message at the top: /* Copyright 2011 My Name Licensed under the Apache License... */ So…
selbie
  • 633
  • 1
  • 5
  • 12
31
votes
10 answers

How can I hide my signature in a program?

We have a university programming course and fellow students are asking some programming questions in our Facebook group. I'm a little hesitant to share all of my programs, especially if it's something cool for one of the assignments, since these are…
MikeFoxtrot
  • 591
  • 4
  • 12
30
votes
4 answers

How does fair use apply to code snippets?

Is there a size where you can copy under fair use for code you don't have a license for the purpose? For example, what if I copy a snippet that is (normally) 3 lines of code? Is that fair use? If it is fair use, what length is required before I need…
Casebash
  • 7,662
  • 5
  • 41
  • 62
27
votes
4 answers

Do I have to remove my app from app store? (Copyright infringement)

I just got an copyright infringement notice that says my app infringes on the usage policies of the services my app uses. However, this mail does not come directly from the company that runs the website I pull information from. The mail comes from…
Smiden
  • 289
  • 3
  • 5
26
votes
1 answer

What's the right way to fork/re-use code from an open source project?

Let's say I am working on an open source project and want to re-use a trivial utility function from another open source project (for example, a file search/replace function). Is it legal to copy the function and simply write a small copyright notice…
Olivier Lalonde
  • 1,087
  • 1
  • 13
  • 16
20
votes
5 answers

Do I need to contact a lawyer to report a GPL violation in software distributed on Apple's App Store?

Some company is selling software through Apple's App Store which uses portions of code that I released publicly under the GPL. The company is violating the licensing terms in two ways, by (1) not preserving my copyright statement, and not releasing…
Rinzwind
  • 411
  • 3
  • 8
19
votes
5 answers

Can I use MIT license to give some of my previous written code to employer so that I protect myself and don't lose my copyright?

My situation: I have written a framework before I started my new job. I own the copyright. It has a bunch of boilerplate logic inside of it, like any piece of software. (duh!) I don't want to use the whole framework in my new job, but I do need to…
JohnPristine
  • 484
  • 4
  • 13
17
votes
3 answers

How do I properly credit authors of software released under the MIT license?

I have modified the source code of an MIT licensed project, and I have added new classes to it as well. Please correct me if I am wrong, but I think that it is legal to add my copyright notice above the license and remove the other one. But how…
kon psych
  • 281
  • 1
  • 2
  • 7
17
votes
2 answers

MIT and copyright

I am contributing to a library that is licensed under the MIT license. In the license and in each class file it has a comment at the top saying: Copyright (c) 2011 Joe Bloggs I assume that he owns the copyright to the…
Petah
  • 3,351
  • 3
  • 18
  • 21
1
2 3
…
11 12