All Questions
Tagged with copyright open-source-software
94
questions
5
votes
1
answer
1k
views
What is a binary form in software BSD license (and other licenses that didn't define it)?
BSD license says (emphasis mine):
Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met...
It sounds "...
- 203
2
votes
1
answer
291
views
Is each version of a software considered a "derivative work"?
Originally asked in Software Engineering but a user raised it is more a legal question than an engineering one.
Let's suppose there is a software at version a1 in code repository A on an online code ...
- 203
2
votes
2
answers
187
views
Can minors publish open source software?
If a minor releases software under a FOSS license, is the license binding? Could the minor sue a violator?
- 17.1k
2
votes
1
answer
93
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Is a website using behind the scenes software X a "copy" or "substantial portion" of software X?
The MIT license says:
The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
copies or substantial portions of the Software.
Bob finds a nice piece of MIT-licensed software ...
- 27.2k
0
votes
1
answer
140
views
Can a developer use someone else's product name as an Open Source project name?
Suppose that an open source developer wants to use the product name ninjago owed by Lego for the name of an Open Source project. Is it allowed to base the project name on Lego brand? Also can the ...
- 123
16
votes
1
answer
3k
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How long does a GPL licencee have to respond to a source code request before it becomes a GPL violation?
I have requested source code for a product that contains software licensed under GPL 2. The product includes a written offer to provide source code if you send a written request by email. The offer is ...
- 161
0
votes
2
answers
194
views
Is my programming knowledge contaminated?
We know that ideas are not copyrightable (except for patent related issues), but expressions are (idea–expression dichotomy). However, after reading about clean room design, I got somewhat confused. ...
- 105
2
votes
1
answer
216
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If commercial use is not mentioned in a software license like BSD, is it implied to freely do so?
BSD talks mostly about redistribution and doesn't even mention commercial use or something like "for any purpose". Therefore they don't need to explicitly state "commercial use is ...
- 31
0
votes
1
answer
175
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Why does the open source license BSD-Clause 2/3 not have something like "to deal in the Software without restriction?
Every article that I've read about BSD-Clause 2 and 3 pretty much said that the licensed software is free of restrictions/any purpose as long as you follow what the licenses say, but the actual ...
- 31
0
votes
1
answer
63
views
Can I impose the requirement of a paid license if and only if my software is offered as a service?
I'm getting ready to open source a project that facilitates the deployment, maintenance, and orchestration of data platforms on just about any architecture (locally, on any cloud of your choosing, on ...
- 101
1
vote
1
answer
113
views
Can I develop open source software to parse a copyrighted document for private use?
I obtained a foreign language dictionary in PDF format, whose copyright information states the following:
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part
of ...
- 111
1
vote
1
answer
116
views
Making public/open-source datasets from royalty-free image sources
I am working on a small face-related dataset that will be publicly available for open research. I have looked into many copyright-free image sources like https://pikwizard.com/ and https://www.pexels....
- 111
4
votes
3
answers
253
views
If I post my own code to Stack Overflow, can I then use that code in a project that uses a license other than CC-BY-SA?
Suppose that I have a block of code that represents my own original work (i.e. I am the copyright holder), and that I would like to post this code on Stack Overflow--either to answer someone else's ...
- 233
1
vote
1
answer
228
views
Collecting chess games for an open source database
There are a few questions on copyright and chess already, but I'm going to be a bit more specific.
There currently are big, commercial databases of chess games, such as Chessbase's Mega Database. ...
- 13
11
votes
2
answers
4k
views
Obtaining source code from an uncooperative company when you're an author
According to an answer on Methods for obtaining source code from an uncooperative company:
You're probably out of luck. The company distributing this firmware has an obligation to provide you the ...
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