4 ms·

I really don't understand this reasoning of "there's not a license" Take an existing one you like and amend whatever you want to it.

nitrogen 6y ago
IIRC the GPL, for example, is itself covered by copyright and doesn't permit modification of its own text.
- matthewaveryusa 6y ago
  That is super interesting, I was actually thinking about it as I was writing that response. Isn't that non-enforceable? As in, if you write a legal document, and then make that document law, and then copyright it, it would mean that you wouldn't be able to modify the law without breaching copyright law. Is this really true and enforceable?
  - lwh 6y ago
    You can modify or add extra terms to the GPL, they even have templates: https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.en.html#GPLIncompatibleLibs https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.en.html#GPLIncompatible... Totem has an example https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/totem/-/blob/b4050524d6cd961b544ba834451a6c67e9142cc9/COPYING https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/totem/-/blob/b4050524d6cd961b...
- duckerude 6y ago
  You're allowed to modify it as long as you make it very clear that the new license is distinct from the old one: https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#ModifyGPL https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#ModifyGPL
  - nitrogen 6y ago
    Ah, cool. It sounds like they have a specific way they want you to avoid modifying the text at the end of the paragraph about modifying it (for version 3): > Rather than modifying the GPL, please use the exception mechanism offered by GPL version 3.
- garmaine 6y ago
  You cannot copyright a license.
  - mkl 6y ago
    A license is a written document, so like any other document, it is protected by copyright law. See e.g. https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/55720/is-it-legal-to-copy-a-software-license-text-from-other-companies-to-write-my-own https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/55720/is-it-legal-to... and https://opensource.stackexchange.com/questions/4543/is-the-mit-license-itself-copyrighted https://opensource.stackexchange.com/questions/4543/is-the-m...
duckerude 6y ago
Rolling your own license isn't trivial. You could end up with something that nobody wants to touch because the legal implications are unclear, or something that's unenforceable, or both. Somewhat relevant: https://opensource.google/docs/thirdparty/licenses/#wtfpl-not-allowed https://opensource.google/docs/thirdparty/licenses/#wtfpl-no...

nitrogen 6y ago

IIRC the GPL, for example, is itself covered by copyright and doesn't permit modification of its own text.

matthewaveryusa 6y ago
That is super interesting, I was actually thinking about it as I was writing that response. Isn't that non-enforceable? As in, if you write a legal document, and then make that document law, and then copyright it, it would mean that you wouldn't be able to modify the law without breaching copyright law. Is this really true and enforceable?
- lwh 6y ago
  You can modify or add extra terms to the GPL, they even have templates: https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.en.html#GPLIncompatibleLibs https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.en.html#GPLIncompatible... Totem has an example https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/totem/-/blob/b4050524d6cd961b544ba834451a6c67e9142cc9/COPYING https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/totem/-/blob/b4050524d6cd961b...
duckerude 6y ago
You're allowed to modify it as long as you make it very clear that the new license is distinct from the old one: https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#ModifyGPL https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#ModifyGPL
- nitrogen 6y ago
  Ah, cool. It sounds like they have a specific way they want you to avoid modifying the text at the end of the paragraph about modifying it (for version 3): > Rather than modifying the GPL, please use the exception mechanism offered by GPL version 3.
garmaine 6y ago
You cannot copyright a license.
- mkl 6y ago
  A license is a written document, so like any other document, it is protected by copyright law. See e.g. https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/55720/is-it-legal-to-copy-a-software-license-text-from-other-companies-to-write-my-own https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/55720/is-it-legal-to... and https://opensource.stackexchange.com/questions/4543/is-the-mit-license-itself-copyrighted https://opensource.stackexchange.com/questions/4543/is-the-m...

duckerude 6y ago

Rolling your own license isn't trivial. You could end up with something that nobody wants to touch because the legal implications are unclear, or something that's unenforceable, or both. Somewhat relevant: https://opensource.google/docs/thirdparty/licenses/#wtfpl-not-allowed https://opensource.google/docs/thirdparty/licenses/#wtfpl-no...