Open source Licensing manual
From LiquidPubWiki
This manual would guide you with basic overview on when and how to use Open source licenses mainly AGPL V3.0, FDL V1.3 and CC-SA 3.0.
Source Code
AGPL : GNU AFFERO GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE V3.0
When to use: Incase your software runs over network (e.g. internet) AGPL is the best licensing option for you. If certain parts of your code are licensed under GPL V3, then AGPL V3 is the best option to choose, as both GPL V3.0 and AGPL V 3.0 are compatible.
Requirement: If your software can interact with users remotely through a computer network, you should also make sure that it provides a way for users to get its source. For example, if your program is a web application, its interface could display a "Source" link that leads users to an archive of the code.
Code structure: If you are decided to license your code under AGPL V3.0 .
The following you need to do:
Step1. Under the source code folder create a folder Licenses-> under that create a txt file copying.txt. where you can save the text version of the legal terms pertaining to AGPLV3.0. , The legal terms are also available in docbook , Latex ,html and text info format.
Step2. Append the copyright terms before every files ( source, readme, config etc) , which you have created. This should be placed before the header for the source.
For java coding style , the copyright terms would look like.
/*
Copyright (C) 2010 University of Trento, Italy. http://disi.unitn.it/
This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU Affero General Public License for more details.
You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License along with this program. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
*/
For more information on the different license header formats (.jsp,html etc) visit COMPAS SourceForge website
Step3.
If you have included any third party code in to your code (or derivative work), then both of the copyright terms (your copyright terms as shown above as well as the other party’s copyright information) must be placed in sequence in the header of the source code.
Source Code related documentations
FDL : GNU Free Documentation License V1.3
When to use: lf you wish to make a manual, textbook, or other functional and useful document "free" in the sense of freedom: to assure everyone the effective freedom to copy and redistribute it, with or without modifying it, either commercially or non-commercially. Secondarily, this License preserves for the author and publisher a way to get credit for their work, while not being considered responsible for modifications made by others.
Requirements: You may copy and distribute the Document in any medium, either commercially or non-commercially, provided that this License, the copyright notices, and the license notice saying this License applies to the Document are reproduced in all copies, and that you add no other conditions whatsoever to those of this License. If you publish printed copies (or copies in media that commonly have printed covers) of the Document, numbering more than 100, and the Document's license notice requires Cover Texts, you must enclose the copies in covers that carry, clearly and legibly, all these Cover Texts: Front-Cover Texts on the front cover, and Back-Cover Texts on the back cover. Both covers must also clearly and legibly identify you as the publisher of these copies.
If you want to modify the existing licensed (FDL) documents then follow section 4 conditions from [ http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html GNU FDL]
Structure: In the document folder create a directory by name licenses and put the license legal terms there.
To use this License in a document you have written, include a copy of the License in the document and put the following copyright and license notices just after the title page:
Copyright (C) 2010 University of Trento, Italy. Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU Free Documentation License" .
If you have Invariant Sections, Front-Cover Texts and Back-Cover Texts, replace the "with … Texts." line with this:
with the Invariant Sections being< LIST THEIR TITLES >, with the Front-Cover Texts being <LIST>, and with the Back-Cover Texts being <LIST>.
If you have Invariant Sections without Cover Texts, or some other combination of the three, merge those two alternatives to suit the situation. If your document contains nontrivial examples of program code, we recommend releasing these examples in parallel under your choice of free software license, such as the GNU General Public License, to permit their use in free software.
Website Content
Creative Common Attribution-Share Alike 3.0
When to use:
When you want creative contents e.g. videos, images etc which are used in the project website to be copy-righted so that people can freely copy, adapt, distribute and transmit the content of the website.
Requirements:
Attribution - People must attribute the work in the manner specified in the license terms. Share Alike - If people alter, transform the content, then they must distribute the resultant work under the same, similar or a compatible license.
Structure: There must be a link to Creative Common license site from your website, so that people can see the license terms and legal code related to Creative Common Attribution-Share Alike 3.0. e .g. Refer to COMPAS-CGD website's License terms&conditions.
