Software Licensing

A software license is a document which indicates how others can expect to use the software. In many cases it also contains provisions to specify the copyright holder and to limit the authors from liability.

The license of a software repository is usually located in the repository's root directory in a file called called "LICENSE", "LICENSE.txt", or "LICENSE.md".

References:

• https://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-general.html#what

• https://help.github.com/articles/licensing-a-repository/

• https://choosealicense.com/

• https://choosealicense.com/licenses/

• https://choosealicense.com/appendix/

• https://github.com/blog/1530-choosing-an-open-source-license

Copyright refers to the author's (creators of all sorts such as writers, photographers, artists, film producers, composers, and programmers) exclusive right to reproduce, prepare derivative works, distribute copies, and publicly perform and display their works. These rights may be transferred or assigned in whole or in part in writing by the author. Unless otherwise agreed in writing, work created by an employee is usually owned by the employer. The U.S. Copyright Act gets its authority from Article 1, Section 8, cl. 8 of the U.S. Constitution. - Library of Congress website

Open Source Software

The term Open Source Software (OSS) holds both a generic and specific meaning. In a generic and practical sense, software is said to be "open source" if its source code is publicly viewable. Some hold a more specific definition of the term which requires additional characteristics before characterizing software as truly "open".

The MIT License is one of the most permissive and popular open source licenses:

Copyright <YEAR> <COPYRIGHT HOLDER>

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.

There are many more standard licenses to choose from. An argument for choosing a standard license describes the benefits which arise from a user's ability to commonly understand the license's terms without need for experienced legal assistance. Ultimately, you should feel free to either choose a standard license or create your own.

Implied License

Even if a repository's source code is publicly viewable on GitHub, that does not grant someone permission to use the software without limitations.

Absence of a license implies retention of the author's rights:

You're under no obligation to choose a license. However, without a license, the default copyright laws apply, meaning that you retain all rights to your source code and no one may reproduce, distribute, or create derivative works from your work. If you're creating an open source project, we strongly encourage you to include an open source license. The Open Source Guide provides additional guidance on choosing the correct license for your project. - GitHub Help Article