3 ms·

How do you propose open source projects get the revenue to offer a royalty program? Also, in what countries is volunteering for free illegal?

• harwoodleon 6y ago
  Well there’s https://gitcoin.co/ https://gitcoin.co/ Not royalties, but dues at least. A DAO structure would work well, but not many people seem to see it as viable.
• varispeed 6y ago
  Royalties should be based on % of revenue generated by a product where particular software is being used and distributed among contributors. You are conflating volunteering with internship. If a company recruits volunteers as software developers, this is a disguised internship and they'll get themselves liable. This is illegal in the UK.
  • Aloha 6y ago
    and if the open source project generates no revenue? Like, if Y is controlled by the Y foundation which is in part funded by Z company, Y foundation isnt really getting a direct revenue stream from the software - thats the thing about open source software, you dont have a say in how its used, and you cannot force payment. I think your read of the law on what is or isnt an internship is a wee bit of a hot take, but IANAL, and certainly not a UK Labor Lawyer.
    • varispeed 6y ago
      > and if the open source project generates no revenue? For example 0.1% of 0 is 0 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percentage https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percentage) Whoever gets the revenue from the software should be paying. Regarding any constructs with foundations and other tax avoidance schemes, that's probably another topic.
      • Aloha 6y ago
        So, basically, you're saying that if you make money from the software, you should be required to pay money to the copyright holders (aka, the developers). At that point, what sets aside open source software from any other kind of software?