Lesson 3

Copyright, Copyleft

Copyright? Legalese? Software licenses? Can you think up something more likely to evoke a huge yawn?

Actually, legalese aside, the impact of copyright law on the field of educational technology is both enormous and fascinating. By now, you’ve probably heard of Creative Commons, or even taken advantage of resources that were made available under Creative Commons terms of use. Those cool icons that tell us we can use someone else’s stuff? – those represent licenses. The licenses authorize you to use someone else’s work with minimal strings attached. Just like Creative Commons has popularized open culture, sharing, and cooperation in media; the licenses attached to Free and Open-Source software tell us how we can use, remix, and redistribute free software. They’re also philosophical statements on cooperation and societal values!

The lesson addresses these topics:

  • Copyright and Licensing
  • “Copyleft” and the GPL
  • Affero GPL

Advanced Organizer

During the lesson, look for answers to the following questions:

  • What is copyright?
  • Computer programs are not one of the 8 categories of copyrightable works, so how is it that they receive copyright protection?
  • In what circumstances can the author of an original work, NOT claim copyright protections?
  • What is copyleft, and what does it achieve?
  • What is the LGPL? How and why does it differ from the GPL?
  • Is it impossible to use GPL-licensed code in proprietary software?
  • What is dual licensing, and why is it possible?

Walk-through

1. Read the following sections of  Copyright Basics, from the United States Copyright Office:

  • What is Copyright? (pp. 1-2)
  • Who Can Claim Copyright (p. 2)
  • What Works Are Protected (p. 3)
  • International Copyright Protection (p. 6)

Copyright is a legal protection given to the authors of original works, usually for a limited time. Copyright is specific to legal jurisdictions, so US copyright law differs from other countries. Reviewing the required sections of  Copyright Basics, from the United States Copyright Office will help you to understand the basics of who enjoys protection, and what qualifies.

Copyright prevents others from making specific uses of a protected (copyrighted) work. A license specifies the terms under which others can use such protected works. Thus, copyright law is the basis for nearly all software licensing. (Patents offer a different form of protection, and can also be licensed)

free-software-free-society-32. Read Stallman’s Free Software, Free Society on Copyleft:

  • Chapter 25: Introduction to the licenses (pp. 169-174)
  • Chapter 30: What is Copyleft? (pp. 184-186)
  • Chapter 31 Copyleft: Pragmatic Idealism (pp. 188-190)

Copyleft uses copyright law to achieve the opposite of it’s usual purpose. Rather than creating an artificial monopoly, copyleft enforces universal availability. In Stallman’s words “Proprietary software developers use copyright to take away the users’ freedom; we use copyright to guarantee their freedom.” The GNU General Public License (GPL) is the specific copyleft implementation used for most copyleft software. It prevents anyone from turning GPL-licensed code into proprietary software, ensuring the four freedoms of Free Software. Other “permissive” free software licenses allow incorporation of free software into proprietary code.

We’re also introduced to most of the FSF’s specific license versions and their rationales: GPL, LGPL, FDL, and the evolution of the latest versions of GPL and LGPL (version 3). The GPL is the most widely-used free software license in the world by most accounts.

3. Read Interview: Jonathan Thomas of the OpenShot Video Editor

Jonathon Thomas talks about what inspired him to start the OpenShot project, and why he chose the GPLv3 license.

4. Read Why the Affero GPL

One other license, the Affero GPL, is described by this online article: Why the Affero GPL. This license is a simple modification that enforces GPL terms on software that is made for access over a network, ie web applications. Wikipedia’s list of AGPL web applications give us an idea of the extensive reach of this license. You might recognize a few high profile applications from the Educational Technology field such as the edX MOOC platform, the Instructure Canvas learning management system, and ownCloud file storage.

producing oss5. Read Chapter 9, in Producing Open Source Software:

Read only (PDF pp. 203-204)

  • Proprietary Relicensing
  • Problems with Proprietary Relicensing

In his chapter, Fogel describes a common method of making money with FOSS – the dual licensing arrangement. The Canvas LMS is a great example of dual licensing. Instructure makes the software available under the AGPL, but has the option to release the code under other (including proprietary) licenses as well. How can this be? See this feature comparison matrix which shows how Instructure is able to offer additional features with its hosted (“cloud” version) Canvas LMS, despite the AGPL license on the community (open-source) version. Artifex Software Inc. is another company using a similar business model. Artifex sells exceptions to the GPL-license for its software – something a copyright owner is entitled to do (provide different licenses to the same material to different parties).

Assignments

Test: Module 1

You will find the test in Laulima, under the Tests tool.  Tests are timed, and allow only one submission. Cooperating on test responses is prohibited, and evidence of cheating will be addressed through the UHM Student Code of Conduct. Study well, and good luck!

Synchronous Meeting

indexCollaborate Web Conference

Please join the web conference 15 minutes early to re-test your microphone and headset. During class; we will be discussing some of the material from the past two weeks. Be prepared to ask questions and to participate in answering those posed. You should be socially present and participate – that means listening, “raising your hand”, responding in a manner that evidences that you’re familiar with the past two weeks of material.

Additional Material

  1. Comparative Table of Free and Open-Source Licenses (wikipedia)
  2. List of Copyleft Licenses, with synopses
  3. Quick comparator for Licenses
  4. A Legal Issues Primer for Open Source and Free Software Projects (HTML)
  5. Free Software, Free Society
    • The Initial Announcement of the GNU Operating System
    • Why Software Should be Free
      • In this essay, Stallman articulates his stance that software should not have owners – that in effect, copyright law creates negative consequences for society when applied to software. He carefully dismantles the assumptions and arguments commonly accepted about software, providing fascinating analogies that argue for alternate methods of financing software development.
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