Free license

Type of license agreement

"Open licence" redirects here. For the use in France, see Licence Ouverte.

For other uses, see Free license (disambiguation).

A free license or open license is a license that allows copyrighted work to be reused, modified, and redistributed. These uses are normally prohibited by copyright, patent or other Intellectual property (IP) laws. The term broadly covers free content licenses and open-source licenses, also known as free software licenses.

## History

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Network of licenses (and years of license creation)

The invention of the term "free license" and the focus on the rights of users were connected to the sharing traditions of the hacker culture of the 1970s public domain software ecosystem, the social and political free software movement (since 1980) and the open source movement (since the 1990s).[1] These rights were codified by different groups and organizations for different domains in Free Software Definition, Open Source Definition, Debian Free Software Guidelines, Definition of Free Cultural Works and The Open Definition.[2] These definitions were then transformed into licenses, using the copyright as legal mechanism. Ideas of free/open licenses have since spread into different spheres of society.

Open source, free culture (unified as free and open-source movement), anticopyright, Wikimedia Foundation projects, public domain advocacy groups and pirate parties are connected with free and open licenses.

## Free software license

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Main articles: Open-source license and Free-software license

Popular free and open source licenses include the Apache License, the MIT License, the GNU General Public License (GPL), the BSD Licenses, the GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL) and the Mozilla Public License (MPL).

Free software licenses, also known as open-source licenses, are software licenses that allow content to be used, modified, and shared.[3] They facilitate free and open-source software (FOSS) development.[4] Intellectual property (IP) laws restrict the modification and sharing of creative works.[5] Free and open-source licenses use these existing legal structures for an inverse purpose.[6] They grant the recipient the rights to use the software, examine the source code, modify it, and distribute the modifications. These criteria are outlined in the Open Source Definition and The Free Software Definition.[7]

After 1980, the United States began to treat software as a literary work covered by copyright law.[8] Richard Stallman founded the free software movement in response to the rise of proprietary software.[9] The term "open source" was used by the Open Source Initiative (OSI), founded by free software developers Bruce Perens and Eric S. Raymond.[10][11] "Open source" is alternative label that emphasizes the strengths of the open development model rather than software freedoms.[12] While the goals behind the terms are different, open-source licenses and free software licenses describe the same type of licenses.[13]

The two main categories of free and open-source licenses are permissive and copyleft.[14] Both grant permission to change and distribute software. Typically, they require attribution and disclaim liability.[15][16] Permissive licenses come from academia.[17] Copyleft licenses come from the free software movement.[18] Copyleft licenses require derivative works to be distributed with the source code and under a similar license.[15][16] Since the mid-2000s, courts in multiple countries have upheld the terms of both types of license.[19] Software developers have filed cases as copyright infringement and as breaches of contract.[20]

## Free content license

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Main article: Free content § Licenses

Definition of Free Cultural Works logo, selected in a logo contest in 2006[21]

According to the current definition of open content on the OpenContent website, any general, royalty-free copyright license would qualify as an open license because it 'provides users with the right to make more kinds of uses than those normally permitted under the law. These permissions are granted to users free of charge.' However, the narrower definition used in the Open Definition effectively limits open content to libre content. Any free content license, defined by the Definition of Free Cultural Works, would qualify as an open content license.

## Licenses

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### By type of license

[edit]

* Public domain licenses
* Creative Commons CC0
* WTFPL
* Unlicense
* Public Domain Dedication and License (PDDL)[22]
* Permissive licenses
* Apache License
* BSD License
* MIT License
* Mozilla Public License (file-based permissive copyleft)
* Creative Commons Attribution
* Copyleft & patentleft licenses
* GNU GPL, LGPL (weaker copyleft), AGPL (stronger copyleft)
* Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike
* Mozilla Public License
* Common Development and Distribution License
* GFDL (without invariant sections)
* Free Art License

### By type of content

[edit]

* Open-source software
* The Open Source Definition
* Open Content
* Open Content License
* Open Publication License
* Open-source hardware
* Open database
* Creative Commons v4
* Open Database License

### By authors

[edit]

* Creative Commons
* Free Software Foundation
* Open Source Initiative
* Microsoft
* Microsoft Public License
* Microsoft Reciprocal License
* Open Content Project
* Open Data Commons from Open Knowledge Foundation
* Public Domain Dedication and License (PDDL)
* Attribution License (ODC-By)
* Open Database License (ODC-ODbL)
* European Union
* European Union Public Licence

## See also

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* License compatibility
* License proliferation

## Notes

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1. ^ Kelty, Christpher M. (2018). "The Cultural Significance of free Software - Two Bits" (PDF). Duke University press - durham and london. p. 99\. "Prior to 1998, Free Software referred either to the Free Software Foundation (and the watchful, micromanaging eye of Stallman) or to one of thousands of different commercial, avocational, or university-research projects, processes, licenses, and ideologies that had a variety of names: sourceware, freeware, shareware, open software, public domain software, and so on. The term Open Source, by contrast, sought to encompass them all in one movement."
2. ^ Open Definition 2.1 on opendefinition.org "This essential meaning matches that of “open” with respect to software as in the Open Source Definition and is synonymous with “free” or “libre” as in the Free Software Definition and Definition of Free Cultural Works."
3. ^ Coleman 2004, "Political Agnosticism".
4. ^ Rosen 2005, pp. 73–90.
5. ^ Rosen 2005, pp. 22–23.
6. ^ Rosen 2005, pp. 103–106.
7. ^ Greenbaum 2016, pp. 1304–1305.
8. ^ Oman 2018, pp. 641–642.
9. ^ Williams 2002, ch. 1.
10. ^ Carver 2005, pp. 448–450.
11. ^ Greenbaum 2016, § I.A.
12. ^ Brock 2022, § 16.3.4.
13. ^ Byfield 2008.
14. ^ Smith 2022, § 3.2.
15. ^ a b Sen, Subramaniam & Nelson 2008, pp. 211–212.
16. ^ a b Meeker 2020, 16:13.
17. ^ Rosen 2005, p. 69.
18. ^ Joy 2022, pp. 990–992.
19. ^ Smith 2022, § 3.4.1.
20. ^ Smith 2022, § 3.4.
21. ^ Logo contest on freedomdefined.org (2006)
22. ^ PDDL 1.0 on opendatacommons.org

## References

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* Brock, Amanda, ed. (2022). Open Source Law, Policy and Practice (Second ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/oso/9780198862345.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-19-886234-5.
* Smith, P McCoy. "Copyright, Contract, and Licensing in Open Source". In Brock (2022).
* Byfield, Bruce (March 4, 2008). ""Free" and "Open Source" Software: Navigating the Shibboleths". Datamation. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
* Carver, Brian W. (2005). "Share and Share Alike: Understanding and Enforcing Open Source and Free Software Licenses". Berkeley Technology Law Journal. 20 (1): 443–481\. ISSN 1086-3818. JSTOR 24117523.
* Coleman, Gabriella (2004). "The Political Agnosticism of Free and Open Source Software and the Inadvertent Politics of Contrast". Anthropological Quarterly. 77 (3): 507–519\. doi:10.1353/anq.2004.0035. hdl:10524/1583. ISSN 0003-5491. JSTOR 3318232.
* Greenbaum, Eli (April 2016). "The Non-Discrimination Principle in Open Source Licensing" (PDF). Cardoza Law Review. 37 (4).
* Joy, Reagan (2022). "The Tragedy of the Creative Commons: An Analysis of How Overlapping Intellectual Property Rights Undermine the Use of Permissive Licensing". Case Western Reserve Law Review. 72 (4): 977–1013.
* Meeker, Heather (January 2020). Open Source Software Licensing Basics for Corporate Users. Open Source Software Licensing. Retrieved December 7, 2023.
* Oman, Ralph (Spring 2018). "Computer Software as Copyrightable Subject Matter: Oracle V. Google, Legislative Intent, and the Scope of Rights in Digital Works". Harvard Journal of Law & Technology. 31 (2): 639–652.
* Rosen, Lawrence (2005). Open Source Licensing: Software Freedom and Intellectual Property Law (Paperback ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. ISBN 978-0-13-148787-1. Archived from the original on December 19, 2022. Retrieved January 21, 2023.
* Sen, Ravi; Subramaniam, Chandrasekar; Nelson, Matthew L. (Winter 2008). "Determinants of the Choice of Open Source Software License". Journal of Management Information Systems. 25 (3): 207–239\. doi:10.2753/MIS0742-1222250306.
* Williams, Sam (2002). Free as in Freedom: Richard Stallman's Crusade for Free Software (First ed.). Sebastopol, California : Farnham: O'Reilly Media. ISBN 978-0-596-00287-9. Archived from the original on February 7, 2023. Retrieved February 6, 2023.

## External links

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* Open software licenses
* Open licenses
* Various Licenses and Comments about Them – GNU Project – Free Software Foundation
* Licenses - Definition of Free Cultural Works
* proposed Open Source Hardware (OSHW) Statement of Principles and Definition v1.0

* v
* t
* e

Free and open-source software

General|

* Alternative terms for free software
* Comparison of open-source and closed-source software
* Comparison of source-code-hosting facilities
* Free software
* Free software project directories
* Gratis versus libre
* Long-term support
* Open-source software
* Open-source software development
* Outline
* Timeline

Software
packages|

* Audio
* Bioinformatics
* Codecs
* Configuration management
* Drivers
* Graphics
* Wireless
* Health
* Mathematics
* Office suites
* Operating systems
* Routing
* Television
* Video games
* Web applications
* E-commerce
* Android apps
* iOS apps
* Commercial
* Formerly proprietary
* Formerly open-source

Community|

* Free software movement
* History
* Open-source-software movement
* Events
* Advocacy

Organisations|

* Free Software Movement of India
* Free Software Foundation

Licenses|

* AFL
* Apache
* APSL
* Artistic
* Beerware
* BSD
* Creative Commons
* CDDL
* EPL
* Free Software Foundation
* GNU GPL
* GNU AGPL
* GNU LGPL
* ISC
* MIT
* MPL
* Python
* Python Software Foundation License
* Shared Source Initiative
* Sleepycat
* Unlicense
* WTFPL
* zlib

| Types and
standards|

* Comparison of licenses
* Contributor License Agreement
* Copyleft
* Debian Free Software Guidelines
* Definition of Free Cultural Works
* Free license
* The Free Software Definition
* The Open Source Definition
* Open-source license
* Permissive software license
* Public domain

|

Challenges|

* Digital rights management
* License proliferation
* Mozilla software rebranding
* Proprietary device drivers
* Proprietary firmware
* Proprietary software
* SCO/Linux controversies
* Software patents
* Software security
* Tivoization
* Trusted Computing

Related
topics|

* Forking
* GNU Manifesto
* Microsoft Open Specification Promise
* Open-core model
* Open-source hardware
* Shared Source Initiative
* Source-available software
* The Cathedral and the Bazaar
* Revolution OS

* Portal
* Category

* v
* t
* e

Intellectual property activism

Issues|

* Artificial scarcity
* Censorship by copyright
* Copyright infringement
* Copyright troll
* Digital rights management
* Gripe site
* Legal aspects of file sharing
* Mashup
* digital
* music
* novel
* videos
* Monopolies of knowledge
* Music piracy
* Orphan works
* Biopiracy
* Bioprospecting
* Patents
* biological
* software
* software patent debate
* trolling
* Public domain

Concepts|

* All rights reversed
* Alternative compensation system
* Anti-copyright notice
* Business models for open-source software
* Copyleft
* Commercial use of copyleft works
* Commons-based peer production
* Electronic sell-through
* Free content
* Free-software license
* Libertarian positions
* Open content
* Open-design movement
* Open music model
* Open patent
* Open source
* hardware
* software
* Prizes instead of patents
* contests
* Share-alike
* Video on demand

Movements|

* Access to Knowledge movement
* Anti-copyright
* Cultural environmentalism
* Free-culture movement
* Free software movement

Organizations|

| Pro-copyright|

* Copyright Alliance

|

Pro-copyleft|

* Anna's Archive
* Creative Commons
* Electronic Frontier Foundation
* Free Software Foundation
* Library Genesis
* Open Rights Group
* Organization for Transformative Works
* The Anarchist Library
* The Pirate Bay
* Piratbyrån
* Pirate Party
* Public Knowledge
* Sci-Hub
* Shadow library
* Students for Free Culture
* Z-Library

People|

* Cory Doctorow
* Alexandra Elbakyan
* Rick Falkvinge
* Lawrence Lessig
* Richard Stallman
* Peter Suber
* Peter Sunde
* Aaron Swartz

Documentaries|

* Steal This Film
* Good Copy Bad Copy
* RiP!: A Remix Manifesto
* TPB AFK
* The Internet's Own Boy

* v
* t
* e

Software distribution

Licenses|

* Beerware
* Floating licensing
* Free and open-source
* Free
* Open source
* Freely redistributable
* License-free
* Proprietary
* Public domain
* Source-available

Compensation models|

* Adware
* Commercial software
* Retail software
* Crippleware
* Crowdfunding
* Freemium
* Freeware
* Pay what you want
* Careware
* Donationware
* Open-core model
* Postcardware
* Shareware
* Nagware
* Trialware

Delivery methods|

* Digital distribution
* File sharing
* On-premises
* Pre-installed
* Product bundling
* Retail software
* Sneakernet
* Software as a service

Deceptive and/or illicit|

* Unwanted software bundling
* Malware
* Infostealer
* Ransomware
* Spyware
* Trojan horse
* Worm
* Scareware
* Shovelware

Software release life cycle|

* Abandonware
* Long-term support
* Software maintenance
* Software maintainer
* Software publisher
* Vaporware
* list

Copy protection|

* Digital rights management
* Software protection dongle
* License manager
* Product activation
* Product key
* Software copyright
* Software license server
* Software patent
* Torrent poisoning

* v
* t
* e

Creative Commons

Works and projects|

* Licenses
* NonCommercial license
* Licensed works
* Category
* Public Domain Mark
* Content directories
* Jurisdiction ports

Major directories|

* Creative Commons
* ccMixter
* Free Music Archive
* Freesound
* OpenGameArt.org
* Openclipart
* Dogmazic
* Phlow
* Electrobel
* Jamendo
* Newgrounds Audio portal
* Scripped
* Wikimedia
* Commons

People|

* Lawrence Lessig
* Joi Ito

See also|

* Free and open content
* Free culture movement

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