From 0b7ac504fd8e6a70733f1754152ccbda7b36d34f Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: David Schwartz Date: Thu, 1 Nov 2018 03:08:21 -0700 Subject: [PATCH] Remove "use" list of things that require a license At least in the United States, you can use a copyrighted work without having a license. 17 USC 106 lists the things you need a license to do and it does not include the ordinary use of a lawfully-acquired copy of a work. If this wasn't true, you couldn't even read a book you owned unless that book included an explicit license (and most don't). --- no-permission.md | 2 +- 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-) diff --git a/no-permission.md b/no-permission.md index 02a31f0..6fb7104 100644 --- a/no-permission.md +++ b/no-permission.md @@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ title: No License description: "You're under no obligation to choose a license and it's your right not to include one with your code or project. But please note that opting out of open source licenses doesn't mean you're opting out of copyright law." --- -When you make a creative work (which includes code), the work is under exclusive copyright by default. Unless you include a license that specifies otherwise, nobody else can use, copy, distribute, or modify your work without being at risk of take-downs, shake-downs, or litigation. Once the work has other contributors (each a copyright holder), “nobody” starts including you. +When you make a creative work (which includes code), the work is under exclusive copyright by default. Unless you include a license that specifies otherwise, nobody else can copy, distribute, or modify your work without being at risk of take-downs, shake-downs, or litigation. Once the work has other contributors (each a copyright holder), “nobody” starts including you. Even in the absence of a license file, you may grant some rights in cases where you publish your source code to a site that requires accepting terms of service. For example, if you publish your source code in a public repository on GitHub, you have accepted the [Terms of Service](https://help.github.com/articles/github-terms-of-service), by which you allow others to view and fork your repository. Others may not need your permission if [limitations and exceptions to copyright](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limitations_and_exceptions_to_copyright) apply to their particular situation. Neither site terms nor jurisdiction-specific copyright limitations are sufficient for the kinds of collaboration that people usually seek on a public code host, such as experimentation, modification, and sharing as fostered by an open source license.