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571975c0 GM |
1 | NOTES ON COPYRIGHTS AND LICENSES |
2 | ||
3 | Some terminology: | |
4 | ||
5 | A "copyright notice" consists of one or a few lines of this format: | |
6 | "Copyright (C) 2006, 2007 Free Software Foundation, Inc." | |
7 | ||
8 | A "license notice" is a statement of permissions, and is usually much | |
9 | longer, eg the text "GNU Emacs is free software...". | |
10 | ||
11 | ||
12 | Every non-trivial file distributed through the Emacs CVS should be | |
13 | self-explanatory in terms of copyright and license. This includes | |
14 | files that are not distributed in Emacs releases (for example, the | |
15 | admin/ directory), because the whole Emacs CVS is publicly | |
16 | available. | |
17 | ||
18 | The definition of triviality is a little vague, but a rule of thumb is | |
19 | that any file with less than 15 lines of actual content is trivial. If | |
20 | a file is auto-generated (eg ldefs-boot.el) from another one in the | |
21 | CVS, then it does not really matter about adding a copyright statement | |
22 | to the generated file. | |
23 | ||
24 | The years in the copyright notice should be updated every year (see | |
25 | file "years" in this directory). The PS versions of refcards etc | |
26 | should display copyright notices (an exception to the rule about | |
27 | "generated" files), but these can just display the latest year. The | |
28 | full list of years should be kept in comments in the source file. If | |
29 | these are distributed in CVS, check in a regenerated version when the | |
30 | tex files are updated. | |
31 | ||
32 | Copyright changes should be propagated to any associated repositories | |
33 | (eg Gnus, MH-E), but I think in every case this happens automatically | |
34 | (?). | |
35 | ||
36 | All README (and other such text files) that are non-trivial and were | |
37 | added by Emacs developers need copyright and copying permission | |
38 | statements (see eg INSTALL in the top-level directory). | |
39 | ||
40 | All images files that allow for comments should have copyright and | |
41 | license statements. Whether or not this is possible, the information | |
42 | should be recorded in a README file in each directory with images. | |
43 | ||
44 | When installing a file with an "unusual" license (after checking first | |
45 | it is ok), put a copy of the copyright and license in the file (if | |
46 | possible. It's ok if this makes the file incompatible with its | |
47 | original format, if it can still be used by Emacs), or in a README | |
48 | file in the relevant directory. | |
49 | ||
50 | The vast majority of files are copyright FSF and distributed under the | |
51 | GPL. A few files (mainly related to language and charset support) are | |
52 | copyright AIST alone, or both AIST and FSF. (Contact Kenichi Handa | |
53 | with questions about legal issues in such files.) In all these cases, | |
54 | the copyright years in each file should be updated each year. | |
55 | ||
56 | There are some exceptions to the points in the previous paragraph, and | |
57 | these are listed below for reference, together with any files where | |
58 | the copyright needs to be updated in "unusual" ways. | |
59 | ||
60 | If you find any other such cases, please consult to check they are ok, | |
61 | and note them in this file. This includes missing copyright notices, | |
62 | and "odd" copyright holders. In most cases, individual authors should | |
63 | not appear in copyright statements. Either the copyright has been | |
64 | assigned (check copyright.list) to the FSF (in which case the original | |
65 | author should be removed and the year(s) transferred to the FSF); or | |
66 | else it is possible the file should not be in Emacs at all (please | |
67 | report!). | |
68 | ||
69 | [For reference, most of these points were established via email with | |
70 | rms, 2007/1, "Copyright years".] | |
71 | ||
72 | ||
73 | <top-level>/install-sh | |
74 | lispintro/install-sh | |
75 | - this file is copyright MIT, which is OK. Leave the copyright alone. | |
76 | ||
77 | etc/edt-user.doc | |
78 | - update BOTH notices in this file | |
79 | ||
80 | leim/CXTERM-DIC/4Corner.tit, ARRAY30.tit, [CCDOSPY.tit], ECDICT.tit, | |
81 | ETZY.tit, [PY-b5.tit], Punct-b5.tit, Punct.tit, QJ-b5.tit, QJ.tit, | |
82 | [SW.tit, TONEPY.tit,] ZOZY.tit | |
83 | - leave the copyrights alone. | |
84 | ||
85 | leim/MISC-DIC/CTLau-b5.html, CTLau.html, cangjie-table.b5, cangjie-table.cns, | |
86 | [pinyin.map, ziranma.cin] | |
87 | - leave the copyright alone. | |
88 | ||
89 | leim/SKK-DIC/SKK-JISYO.L | |
90 | ja-dic/ja-dic.el | |
91 | (the latter is auto-generated from the former). Leave the copyright alone. | |
92 | ||
93 | lib-src/etags.c | |
94 | - this has a copyright Ken Arnold. We are still deciding what should | |
95 | be done here (see below). | |
96 | ||
97 | lib-src/getopt1.c, getopt_int.h | |
98 | - these are from the GNU C library. Leave the copyrights alone. | |
99 | ||
1fbfb0b5 GM |
100 | lisp/play/tetris.el |
101 | - no special rules about the copyright. We note here that we believe | |
102 | (2007/1) there is no problem with our use of the name "tetris" or | |
103 | the concept. | |
104 | rms: "My understanding is that game rules as such are not copyrightable." | |
105 | <http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/emacs-devel/2007-01/msg00960.html> | |
106 | ||
571975c0 GM |
107 | lispref/doclicense.texi |
108 | man/doclicense.texi | |
109 | - leave the copyright alone in this imported file. | |
110 | ||
111 | lisp/net/tramp.el | |
112 | - there are also copyrights in the body of the file. Update these too. | |
113 | ||
114 | msdos/is_exec.c, sigaction.c | |
115 | - these files are copyright DJ Delorie. Leave the copyrights alone. | |
116 | ||
117 | src/gmalloc.c | |
118 | - contains numerous copyrights from the GNU C library. Leave them alone. | |
119 | ||
120 | ||
121 | *** These are copyright issues still to be addressed: | |
122 | ||
123 | ||
124 | All README (and other such files) that are non-trivial and were added | |
125 | by Emacs developers need copyright statements and copying permissions | |
126 | to be added. | |
127 | ||
128 | ||
129 | All images files that allow for comments should have copyright and | |
130 | license statements added. Whether or not this is possible, the | |
131 | information should be recorded in a README file in each directory with | |
132 | images. | |
133 | ||
134 | ||
135 | admin/check-doc-strings | |
136 | Author is Martin Buchholz, but no assignment from him on file, and | |
137 | rms has no way to reach him. | |
138 | admin/make-announcement - no copyright | |
139 | admin/nt/makedist.bat - no copyright | |
140 | etc/ms-kermit - no copyright, but ms-7bkermit has one | |
141 | etc/e/eterm-color.ti - no copyright | |
142 | rms: "I think that is not copyrightable under the merger doctrine | |
143 | because the entries are all forced. At least that is the case in the | |
144 | US; I am not sure whether we can rely on that in general." | |
145 | ||
146 | For the above files, mail sent froam rms to Matthew (Martin?) Norwood | |
147 | asking what to do (via Eben Moglen), 2007/1/22 ("Copyright years"). | |
148 | ||
149 | ||
150 | etc/gnus-refcard.tex | |
151 | I (rgm) think the "Gnus Bugfixing Girls + Boys" copyright should | |
152 | probably be removed, but it may be ok (waiting for rms) | |
153 | ||
154 | ||
155 | etc/orgcard.tex - no Rooke in copyright.list | |
156 | rms will talk with Org mode author about this. | |
157 | ||
158 | ||
159 | etc/sk-refcard.ps, pl-refcard.ps, cs-refcard.ps | |
160 | These refcards need to be regenerated (by those with suitable TeX | |
161 | setups) to get updated copyrights. | |
162 | ||
163 | ||
164 | leim/CXTERM-DIC/CCDOSPY.tit, PY-b5.tit, SW.tit, TONEPY.tit | |
165 | leim/MISC-DIC/pinyin.map, ziranma.cin | |
166 | The copyright and license is stated in the README file, but we may as | |
167 | well copy them into the files themselves (possibly at the expense of | |
168 | making them incompatible with their original formats, but they will | |
169 | still be usable by Emacs). [Kenichi Handa] | |
170 | ||
171 | ||
172 | lib-src/etags.c - no 'k.* arnold' in copyright.list' | |
173 | rms: "That is ok, in principle. I used free code released by Ken | |
174 | Arnold as the starting point. However, it may be that we need to get | |
175 | and insert whatever his license was for his code." | |
176 | ||
177 | ||
d94114b2 GM |
178 | lispref/back.texi, elisp-covers.texi, lay-flat.texi, |
179 | two-volume-cross-refs.txt, two.el | |
180 | - add standard notices to any decided to be non-trivial. | |
181 | ||
182 | ||
571975c0 GM |
183 | lwlib/lwlib-int.h, lwlib.h - no copyright |
184 | lwlib/Makefile.in, lwlib-utils.c, lwlib.c - copyright Lucid | |
185 | lwlib/lwlib-Xaw.c - copyright Chuck Thompson | |
186 | lwlib/lwlib.c - copyright Lucid, but FSF copyright was added in 2002 - | |
187 | was that correct? | |
188 | rms: "I asked Matthew Norwood about these, I believe." | |
189 | ||
190 | ||
d94114b2 GM |
191 | man/back.texi, trampver.texi |
192 | - add standard notices to any decided to be non-trivial. | |
193 | ||
194 | ||
571975c0 GM |
195 | msdos/ |
196 | - do we need to add COPYING.LIB (because COPYING.DJ refers to it)? | |
197 | ||
198 | ||
199 | oldXMenu/ | |
200 | - should there be any FSF copyrights at all in here? Some were added | |
201 | in 2005, without licence notices. Was this right? | |
202 | oldXMenu/Makefile.in, Makefile, Imakefile, descrip.mms, insque.c | |
203 | - issues described in mail to rms, 2006/12/17. | |
204 | rms: "I have asked for lawyer's advice about these." | |
205 | ||
206 | ||
207 | src/acldef.h, chpdef.h, gnu.h, ndir.h | |
208 | src/m/mips4.h, news-r6.h, news-risc.h, pmax.h | |
209 | src/s/aix3-2.h, bsd386.h, hpux8.h, hpux9.h, irix4-0.h, irix5-0.h, | |
210 | isc2-2.h, netbsd.h, osf1.h, sol2-3.h, sunos4-0.h, umips.h, usg5-4-2.h | |
211 | - all these (not obviously trivial) files are missing copyrights. | |
212 | rms: "I should talk about these with Matthew Norwood." |