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I have been making some Java and Perl Programs. I Was thinking about software Licenses. How do I obtain them? For Example "GPL". What do I Have to do to obtain them. Do I have to request permission, or can I Just claim it as GPL?
It is relatively easy, thanks to Google, to fetch the actual text of these licenses (in their various versions) as well as plenty of authoritative discussion of them.
If you live in the United States, you can find authoritative information about copyright laws at http://www.copyright.gov.
You will need to first make sure that you have the legal right to claim copyright on the material, then you should register your claim. Having done so (the cost is quite nominal), you can now choose which copyright license you wish to use ... or, by the sovereign prerogatives of the Copyright Owner, you are free to create your own. You can even change your mind. (The law's take on this is quite simple: "you own it ... it's yours ... good luck selling the use of it, tho' we're not in the marketing department.")
Last edited by sundialsvcs; 11-04-2011 at 02:54 PM.
1) There is no charge for a copyright. (There is one to register a copyright, but registration is optional - in the U.S.A. If you live elsewhere, the rules may differ.)
2) "Copyleft" is not a legal term, and a "copyleft" license is just a copyright with specific terms of usage added.
Again, to copyright a work in the USA, all you need to do is create the work and add a statement the it is copyrighted by you. When you add the wording of the GPL (or any other OSS "license") all you're doing is asserting that you, personally, created the copyrighted work, and that you are granting permission ("license") for other people to use your work if they abide by the conditions that you've specified in the grant you've made.
Note: I am not a lawyer, and the above is my personal understanding, not legal advice. If you have any questions, consult a lawyer. (But, if you actually read the GPL, etc., it should be clear that the prior paragraph is, I hope, basically correct.)
Last edited by PTrenholme; 11-04-2011 at 05:10 PM.
Reason: Poorly worded sentence
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