wiki:Copyright

Version 15 (modified by jdreed, 11 years ago) (diff)

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Copyright Statements

The Debathena repository has used a variety of copyright statements over the years, largely variations of the MIT/X license. Given the ambiguity concerning the definition of "MIT License" or "X License", as of June 2012, we are standardizing on the "3-clause BSD license" ( http://www.opensource.org/licenses/BSD-3-Clause/). The GPLv2 ( http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.html) is also acceptable with advance notice.

No other licenses should be used without discussion with the Athena release team.

For the background behind this, see #564.

Licenses Currently Used

In addition to the 3-clause BSD license, these other licenses can be found in the repository:

  • The "original" or "no advertising" version of the MIT/X11 license
  • The "MIT License" as defined by the OSI.
  • LGPLv2.1+ (libnss-nonlocal)
  • GPLv2+ (config-packge-dev, pyhesiodfs)
  • GPL, unspecified (debathena-live, deprecated)

Updating a package's license

With the explicit written approval of all copyright holders, a package using one of the older MIT licenses can be updated to the 3-clause BSD license. If the only copyright holder of a package is "MIT" (that is, it was created and modified by MIT staff), permission is hereby given to update the license to 3-clause BSD.

Selecting a license

There are two types of copyright statements. The first ("Debathena Native Software Copyright Statement") is the most common, and is used for software we write for Debathena. The second is used only when we are packaging software that exists elsewhere ("Debathena-Packaged Non-Native Software Copyright Statement"). Select the statement accordingly and copy and paste it into the copyright file for the package.

Notes:

  • Volunteers (e.g. students) not employed by MIT may substitute their names for "Massachusetts Institute of Technology" in the text below.
  • Please replace <year> with the current year at the time of packaging.

Do not alter the license text. If you wish to license your contributions to Debathena under a license other than the one listed here, please contact release-team@…. Please provide an explanation that is more compelling than "Because I want to", particularly if you're looking to license your code under something other than 3-clause BSD or GPLv2.

Debathena Native Software Copyright Statement

Format: http://www.debian.org/doc/packaging-manuals/copyright-format/1.0/

Files: *
Copyright: (c) <YEAR> Massachusetts Institute of Technology
License: BSD-3-clause
 Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
 modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are
 met:
    * Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
      notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
    * Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above
      copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following
      disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided
      with the distribution.
    * Neither the name of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
      nor the names of its contributors may be used to endorse or
      promote products derived from this software without specific
      prior written permission.

 THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS
 "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT
 LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR
 A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL MASSACHUSETTS
 INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT,
 INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING,
 BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS
 OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND
 ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR
 TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE
 USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
 DAMAGE.

Debathena-Packaged Non-Native Software Copyright Statement

Please read through  http://www.debian.org/doc/packaging-manuals/copyright-format/1.0/ to understand precisely what goes in the upstream fields. Note that you can have multiple "Files" paragraphs if the software is from a variety of sources.

Format: http://www.debian.org/doc/packaging-manuals/copyright-format/1.0/
Upstream-Name: <NAME OF PACKAGE>
Source: <UPSTREAM SOURCE OF PACKAGE>

Files: *
Copyright: <INSERT SOFTWARE COPYRIGHT NOTICE HERE OR A URI POINTING TO SAID NOTICE>
License: <INSERT SHORT LICENSE NAME HERE>
 <INSERT FULL LICENSE TEXT HERE, INDENTED BY ONE SPACE>

Files: debian/*
Copyright: (c) <YEAR> Massachusetts Institute of Technology
License: BSD-3-clause
 Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
 modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are
 met:
    * Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
      notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
    * Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above
      copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following
      disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided
      with the distribution.
    * Neither the name of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
      nor the names of its contributors may be used to endorse or
      promote products derived from this software without specific
      prior written permission.

 THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS
 "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT
 LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR
 A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL MASSACHUSETTS
 INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT,
 INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING,
 BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS
 OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND
 ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR
 TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE
 USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
 DAMAGE.