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IIRC the GPL, for example, is itself covered by copyright and doesn't permit modification of its own text.
by nitrogen 6y ago
IIRC the GPL, for example, is itself covered by copyright and doesn't permit modification of its own text.
- matthewaveryusa 6y agoThat 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 agoYou 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 agoYou'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 agoAh, 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 agoYou cannot copyright a license.
- mkl 6y agoA 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...