Software licenses

What is software lisence

If you write code, you also reuse code, including code snippets, libraries, functions, frameworks, and entire applications. All software code comes with certain rights and obligations if you want to add it to your codebase. Free and open source software (FOSS) is free of cost, but you aren’t free to use it as you wish. Even unlicensed code snippets copied from Stack Overflow have obligations for reuse. But formally developed code usually comes with a specific software license.

There are many different types of software licenses, and the penalties for license noncompliance can be harsh. If you reuse a component without following the obligations of its license, the licensor might sue, and you might be forced to publish your own source code.

Software licensing describes the legal rights pertaining to the authorized use of digital material. Failure to adhere to software license agreement terms often incurs criminal charges related to licensed intellectual property (IP) and copyrighted material.

Free and open source licenses include free software with no monetary usage charge, but users, or licensees, are legally required to abide by agreement terms. Generally purchased software is sold with proprietary licenses, and despite much legal jargon, many license term particulars have no legal basis or are unenforceable.

different types of software licenses

Here are five types of common software license models. Four are examples of open source licenses and one disallows any reuse whatsoever.

Public domain-

This is the most permissive type of software license. When software is in the public domain, anyone can modify and use the software without any restrictions. But you should always make sure it’s secure before adding it to your own codebase. Warning: Code that doesn’t have an explicit license is NOT automatically in the public domain. This includes code snippets you find on the internet.

Permissive-

Permissive licenses are also known as “Apache style” or “BSD style.” They contain minimal requirements about how the software can be modified or redistributed. This type of software license is perhaps the most popular license used with free and open source software. Aside from the Apache License and the BSD License, another common variant is the MIT License.

LGPL

The GNU Lesser General Public License allows you to link to open source libraries in your software. If you simply compile or link an LGPL-licensed library with your own code, you can release your application under any license you want, even a proprietary license. But if you modify the library or copy parts of it into your code, you’ll have to release your application under similar terms as the LGPL.

Copyleft-

Copyleft licenses are also known as reciprocal licenses or restrictive licenses. The most well-known example of a copyleft or reciprocal license is the GPL. These licenses allow you to modify the licensed code and distribute new works based on it, as long as you distribute any new works or adaptations under the same software license. For example, a component’s license might say the work is free to use and distribute for personal use only. So any derivative you create would also be limited to personal use only. (A derivative is any new software you develop that contains the component.)

The catch here is that the users of your software would also have the right to modify the code. Therefore, you’d have to make your own source code available. But of course, exposing your source code may not be in your best interests.

Proprietary-

Of all types of software licenses, this is the most restrictive. The idea behind it is that all rights are reserved. It’s generally used for proprietary software where the work may not be modified or redistributed.

Copyright low

A copyright is a collection of rights that automatically vest to someone who creates an original work of authorship like a literary work, song, movie or software. These rights include the right to reproduce the work, to prepare derivative works, to distribute copies, and to perform and display the work publicly.

While copyright law is intended to serve the purpose of enriching the general public through access to creative works, it’s important to understand that it imposes no obligation upon creators to make their copyrighted works available.

There are, of course, some limitations on the rights granted to copyright owners. Under certain circumstances, anyone can use a work without getting the copyright owner’s permission or paying the copyright owner to use it.

There are three basic requirements that a work must meet to be protected by copyright.

Original: To be original, a work must merely be independently created. In other words, it cannot be copied from another.

A Work of Authorship: To qualify as a work of authorship for the purposes of copyright protection, a work must be a product of creative expression that falls under a category of copyrightable subject matter. Copyrightable subject matter includes a wide range of works, including literary works, musical works, motion pictures and other audiovisual works, derivative works, compilations, and many others.

Fixed: To meet the fixation requirement a work must be fixed in a tangible medium of expression. Protection attaches automatically to an eligible work the moment the work is fixed. A work is considered to be fixed so long as it is sufficiently permanent or stable to permit it to be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated for a period of more than transitory duration.

Ownership VS Licensing

Ownership-

Possession of a copy of software. The possession implies right to use, even if such use implies a violation of the license

usage Pro : Own your work , you own you future

Con : Can be more expensive than licensed use

Example : Logo design , photography , written content that you create and therefore can sell

Licensing-

The software is not sold , but merely “ licensed “ , namely permitted to be used , under the conditions of a End — user license agreement ( EULA ) . This schema , which prevents e.g reselling , is currently being challenged at the EU level

Pro : Can be cheaper than acquiring full ownership

Con : Usage rights can be limited and subject to restrictions by owner including royaltios

Example : Stock photos and images from Shutterstock . Stock Photo Dreamstime

Thank you!