![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() In addition to granting rights and imposing restrictions on the use of copyrighted software, software licenses typically contain provisions which allocate liability and responsibility between the parties entering into the license agreement. The distinct conceptual difference between the two is the granting of rights to modify and re-use a software product obtained by a customer: FOSS software licenses both rights to the customer and therefore bundles the modifiable source code with the software (" open-source"), while proprietary software typically does not license these rights and therefore keeps the source code hidden (" closed source"). Two common categories for software under copyright law, and therefore with licenses which grant the licensee specific rights, are proprietary software and free and open-source software (FOSS). Most distributed software can be categorized according to its license type (see table). Traditional use of copyright no rights need be granted Grants rights for noncommercial use only. Grants use rights, forbids proprietization ![]() Grants use rights, including right to relicense (allows proprietization, license compatibility) Authors of copyrighted software can donate their software to the public domain, in which case it is also not covered by copyright and, as a result, cannot be licensed.Ī typical software license grants the licensee, typically an end-user, permission to use one or more copies of software in ways where such a use would otherwise potentially constitute copyright infringement of the software owner's exclusive rights under copyright.įree and open (software must have source code provided) Under United States copyright law, all software is copyright protected, in both source code and object code forms, unless that software was developed by the United States Government, in which case it cannot be copyrighted. Governs the use and/or redistribution of softwareĪ software license is a legal instrument (usually by way of contract law, with or without printed material) governing the use or redistribution of software. ![]()
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