[python-uk] copyright info in source

Jonathan Hartley tartley at tartley.com
Tue Sep 10 14:33:51 CEST 2013


Thanks Doug.

I'd be interested if you wanted to expand on why you like that license. 
Is it anything other than what I could glean from a layman's reading of 
the text?

That Apache license page is puzzling to me, no doubt due to my 
inexperience in such matters.

Why does the boilerplate attached to every file contain a partial, 
reworded version of clause 7 of the license, but not of any other 
clauses? Why is this copy reworded? Are the rewordings legally 
significant? If so, what do the differences mean, if not, why are they 
there? Presumably only a lawyer is qualified to answer.

Presumably the  ':::text' boilerplate prefix just an erroneous markup snafu?

     Jonathan


On 10/09/13 10:02, Doug Winter wrote:
> On 09/09/13 19:53, Russel Winder wrote:
>> Sadly, although it would be nice to have a file that says it applies 
>> to all files and so be very DRY, this will not work in UK and USA 
>> law, possibly also other jurisdictions. The licence statement has to 
>> be in each and every individual file since in UK and USA law each 
>> file is deemed a separate work. If you check FSF and other FOSS 
>> licence places they will set this out as the process because of this 
>> problem. Some IDEs even have plugins to sort this out for you!
>
> This.
>
> There have been many, many cases of open source projects with valid 
> LICENSE files that turn out to have a couple of files from somewhere 
> else that are not appropriately licensed.  I don't know if anyone 
> remembers the mplayer saga on debian-legal, for example.
>
> By putting a (c) statement and license summary in every file you are 
> removing the risk from someone who uses your code that they are going 
> to end up in a difficult position later.  Google are being reasonable 
> in protecting themselves here.
>
> Although getting licensing right is amazingly dull, it is relatively 
> easy if you use a good license just follow the instructions provided 
> with it.
>
> FWIW, personally I recommend the Apache License 2.0 as the best 
> license available right now (if you don't care about copylefting), and 
> it has very clear instructions in the appendix:
>
> http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
>
> That notice should be included in every file, because each is a 
> potentially independent work.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Doug.
>

-- 
Jonathan Hartley    tartley at tartley.com    http://tartley.com
Made of meat.       +44 7737 062 225       twitter/skype: tartley



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