Group E - Enrico Costanza Sam Holder, Jonathan Stephens-Jones, Joseph Buckingham, Crispin Clark, Benjamin Dixon Creative Commons, Open Source, Open Movements

Joseph Buckingham - Benjamin Dixon - Sam Holder - Crispin Clark - Jonathan Stephens-Jones

Licensing, Copyright and Patents What’s the difference?

Copyright Image Source:

Copyright “The right to copy”. Google say it is: The exclusive legal right, given to an originator or an assignee to print, publish, perform, film, or record literary, artistic, or musical material, and to authorize others to do the same. What about with software? The same idea applies. The originator holds the right to the software, and holds the right to allow or exclude others from using it. They exercise this right through licensing.

Licensing Image Source: DHzgALhz8eofQYfDYqUffMbojI3g

Licensing Dictionary.com definition: “3. permission to do or not to do something.” Wikipedia says: A licence may be granted by a party ("licensor") to another party ("licensee") as an element of an agreement between those parties. A shorthand definition of a licence is "an authorization (by the licensor) to use the licensed material (by the licensee).“ … It may require paying a fee... The requirement may also serve to give the authority the opportunity to set conditions and limitations.

Software Licensing In most countries, software is viewed as a literary work, so holds the same licensing and copyright laws as other examples of this. It is the developer’s prerogative to decide who can view and use the software.

So is a licence like a patent? Yes, but not the same. A patent is the exclusive right to the “public disclosure of an invention” (Wikipedia again…). Patents cost a lot more than most licences and apply more to physical items than literary work. Image Source: tongue_custom-36fb0ce35776dc2d92eda bf48a67e192-s6-c10.jpg

History of Copyright & Licensing Licensing Act - first law to recognise intellectual ownership Statute of Anne - introduced idea of copyright for a fixed period International Copyright Act - expands to cover media other than just written word Copyright Act - expands to cover audio, also no longer need to register copyright Universal Copyright Convention - now covers most of the world Copyright Act - expands to cover film, broadcasts, etc. Image Source:

Digital Copyright Today "written works" is taken to include software 1996 Digital Millennium Copyright Act (USA) - outlaws the circumvention of DRM measures and creates harsher penalties for online copyright infringement Image Source: content/uploads/2013/03/preview-the-pirate-bay jpg

Intellectual Property Licences Patents Protect inventions Trademarks Sign which distinguishes goods or services Designs The overall visual appearance of a product Copyright More complex… The four main types of IP Licences as defined by the UK Intellectual Property Office:

Copyright Automatic Only UK IP right that doesn't require an application Applies to any medium E.g. literary works, music, recordings, broadcasts Does not protect ideas behind a work Only the fixed form of a work is protected A work can have multiple copyrights along with other IP licences applied to it

Software-specific licensing End User Licence Agreement: The purchaser only secures the right to use the software in a certain fashion; ownership remains with the licensor. Digital Rights Management: Techniques used by software publishers and copyright holders to limit particular uses of digital content. Proprietary Software:

Creative Commons Six different levels of licensing, ranging from very permissive to very restrictive Not open-source, and can be used with materials other than software Image Source:

Open Source What is open source? Open source software criteria: Access to source code Allows derivative works Free redistribution No discrimination Image Source: logo-300x352.png

Open Source Licences GNU General Public Licence All derivatives must maintain the licence Keeps software from becoming closed source further down the line MIT & FreeBSD Complete freedom Closed source is allowed as long as licence notices are included Often used for small projects and example code

Open Source - the Pros and Cons What are the reasons for using open source software? What advantages does it have over other types of licensing? Image Source: Opensource.svg.png

The Advantages For end users: The software is often free to use. Not tied to the company which created it. Bugs can be fixed by anyone. For developers: No anti-piracy, activation needed. Can be adapted to new application. An author can make a name for themselves by releasing open source software. A relatively cheap and easy way to license. Image Source: PitNPFh_YCWJzWY

The Disadvantages For end users: Potentially less support from the authors of the software (compared to commercial). Parallel developments cause confusion as to which versions contain which features. May be difficult to use as many people have contributed - inconsistencies. For developers: Author's code is visible to all their competitors.

References UK Intellectual Property Office about/c-history.htmhttp:// about/c-history.htm United States Copyright Office Open Source Initiative Cloud Tweaks(2012) and-disadvantages-of-open-source/ and-disadvantages-of-open-source/ Creative Commons US Department of Health and Human Services (2013) urce/softwareadvantage.html urce/softwareadvantage.html