Software Licenses
All you need to know is outlined!!!
Do you know?
According to GitHub, 85% percent of the projects it hosts are unlicensed. Similarly, more than 52,000 license-free user scripts can be found on the website Userscripts.org.
In today’s article, we gonna talk about the following subtopics..
➢ What is a software license?
➢ Types of software licenses
➢ Copyright law
➢ Ownership vs Licensing
➢ What is a software license?
A software license is a legal agreement, which governs the use and distribution of software. A licensing agreement is legally binding and software license compliance means only using software in accordance with the software developers' conditions of usage.
Some small scripts are frequently released without specifying a license. For example, the website Userscripts.org hosts more than 52,000 license-free user scripts. Similarly, GitHub reported in 2015 that 85% of the projects it hosts are unlicensed. With license-free software, you can back it up, compile it, run it, share it and even modify it as necessary, without permission from the copyright holder. The same is not true for licensed software. In general, you purchase the right to use the software according to the terms of the software agreement, however, you do not own it and you are not permitted to modify or re-distribute it.
Usually, software ownership remains with the software developer, and end-users license a copy for private usage. Proprietary ownership of both the original software and the software copies remains with the software developer (or software vendor) and the software is essentially ‘rented’ by the end-user. Software license compliance essentially means not breaching any of the conditions set out in the software license agreement associated with the purchase of software.
➢ Types of software licenses
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 non-compliance 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. To protect your code and your organization, you need to understand these software licenses before using any code, including libraries and frameworks, you didn’t write yourself. See our list of the top open source licenses and their potential legal risks.
Here are five types of common software license models you should know about. Four are examples of open source licenses (which allow you to reuse code to some extent), and one disallows any reuse whatsoever.
1.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.
2.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.
3.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.
4.Copyleft
Copyleft licenses are also known as reciprocal licenses or restrictive licenses. The most well-known example of 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.
5.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 law
The terms of a software license usually dictate whether the copyright is retained by the software developer plus usage restrictions governing:
✅ right to perform
✅ right to display
✅ right to copy
✅ right to modify
✅ right to distribute
✅ right to sub-license
Software Copyright is the most common method used to protect software.
A programmer automatically owns the copyright of any program they write (it does not need to be applied for) and it lasts until 70 years after the death of the author.
Copyright does not protect facts, ideas, systems, or methods of operation, but instead protects the way that these things are expressed. You can outline your ideas in writing or drawings, but copyright cannot protect the idea itself. Instead, it protects fixed, tangible mediums of expression that can be reproduced, i.e. the final written or artistic work.
Historically, computer programs were not protected by copyright because until 1974 computer programs were not viewed as fixed, tangible objects. However, in 1983 traditional copyright law was extended to include machine-readable software and the Copyright Act awarded computer programs the same copyright status as literary works. While many of the same legal principles and policies apply, there are a number of distinct issues that arise with software copyright.
Software Copyright Infringement
When you run a program on a computer it is often impossible to avoid copying some of the code as there is normally some automatic copying of the program that takes place within the computer’s memory in order to enable the software to function. Also uniquely with software, copyright is not only infringed by taking a direct copy of the original work, but also by adapting versions of the original.
So for example, if the code (source code or compiled code) is re-written or otherwise converted into another computer language, this is also deemed an infringement of software copyright law as it is a ‘derivative’ work, and an appropriate license is required to do this.
Software copyright can also be infringed without even taking a copy of the code. For example, using an original computer program for “inspiration”, to create the same functionality in a new program. Even if none of the original code is actually used, the copyright in the original program may in some cases be infringed.
Software copyright is a complex and evolving area of law and unlike other artistic works, software copies are sold with specific terms attached, in order to highlight what constitutes acceptable usage.
How to copyright software
Software copyright is predominantly used by software developers and proprietary software owners to prevent unauthorized copying of their software. The copyright holder is typically the work’s creator, or a publisher or other business to whom copyright has been assigned. Copyright holders routinely invoke legal and technological measures to prevent and penalize copyright infringement (more commonly referred to as piracy) where works protected by copyright law are used without permission.
For works such as software and web applications, the source code is primarily where copyright exists and a copyright notice should be inserted in the headers of all source code files, help files, user manuals, and/or ‘about this software’ pages, to make the assertion of copyright explicit.
Where there is no direct copying of code, line-for-line, it can be difficult to prove that copying has actually occurred. One way of trying to make copying easier to detect is to include redundant code or program components in the real code. If an alleged copy includes the same redundant program components, even if they are not line-for-line copies, it can provide a very strong inference that copying has occurred.
Independent software vendors should be very careful about disclosing source code. If someone can independently create from scratch what you have produced, just by looking at your source code, providing that the code is substantively different then your software copyright has not been infringed. The modification of your copyrighted software for personal use may also be deemed acceptable under the caveat of ‘fair use’ and also code-breaking and reverse engineering when a ‘legitimate reason’ can be provided for doing so. However, ultimately any unauthorized use of the software is deemed to be piracy or theft, in recognition of the commercial harm of infringement of copyright holders.
Software copyright can be difficult to enforce. However, using an identity-based licensing solution will ensure that you always know who your end-users are.
In enterprise environments, comparing the number of software installations and concurrent use with the number of software licenses purchased is a core component of software license compliance. End users should only be using software that they are legally entitled to use, which usually means only using what they have paid for.
An unauthorized installation of software is more commonly known as software piracy and this is the most publicized example of software license non-compliance. However, non-compliance can also be accidental, for example where there is a mistaken belief that having a license for an earlier version of the software will suffice, or in large organizations where it becomes difficult to reconcile software deployed against permitted allowances. Mergers and acquisitions can also introduce software license compliance issues.
Software license compliance is a very prevalent business concern. Software audits will always uncover non-compliance and trigger ‘true-up’ charges and possibly fines. 56% of software audits result in additional charges to compensate for historical under-licensing and according to the IDC “true-up” charges exceed 1 million dollars in more than 20% of cases. Software license compliance is often regarded as a CIO issue, however, company directors are ultimately responsible for the commercial agreements associated with the purchase and use of the software by their organizations.
➢ Ownership vs Licensing
When you purchase software, you receive a copy of the software and a license to use it. You don’t actually own the software — ownership rights belong to the software company, and you’re still limited by the terms and conditions of the license.
A software license gives you the right to use a software product. It also governs the use of the software along with the copyright laws, which prevent the unauthorized distribution or reproduction of the software. A license might also specify, among other terms and conditions, whether or not you may install the software on more than one computer and whether or not you can create backup copies of the software.
Even free software, otherwise known as freeware, might come with a license that dictates its use. This is generally in order to prevent a user from altering the software in an attempt to resell it.
Before you install an application, always read the license. Most vendors won’t negotiate or modify a software license; if it includes unfair or unreasonable terms, your only recourse might be to return the software to the vendor.
Thank you very much for reading!
Hope to see you again with another article. Till then, STAY SAFE!!!
-Nipuni Perera-
