License categories
There is an endless variety of licenses used for open-source and other types of publicly available software. From open-source boilerplate license texts to commercial licenses for enterprise use that allow access to source code. Many licenses are similar to each other, especially the ones who try to fulfil similar purposes. However, there are no crystal-clear categorisations as small differences in wording can yield very different outcomes. At FossID we’ve encountered over 2000 licenses throughout the years and, based on many years of open-source audits and customer feedback, we have decided to categorise them as follows:
Permissive licenses Fulfils the Open Source Definition and does not place limitations on licensing of derivative works.
Weak copyleft licenses Fulfils the Open Source Definition and, in line with the Free Software Foundations definition of Copyleft, contains terms to require all modified and extended versions of the program to be Free Software as well. This category of licenses places a weaker definition of what is modified and extended. Typically this is limited to modifications to the same source code files or only to statically linked derivatives.
Strong copyleft licenses Fulfils the Open Source Definition and, in line with the Free Software Foundations definition of Copyleft, contains terms to require all modified and extended versions of the program to be Free Software as well. This category of licenses places a stronger definition of what is modified and extended. Typically this includes the weak copyleft definitions and additionally dynamically or network linked software as well.
Source-available licenses Does not fulfil the Open Source Definition but does not explicitly limit publishing the software source or object code publicly.
Source-available Non-commercial licenses Does not fulfil the Open Source Definition and contains clauses explicitly limiting the licensed material from being used commercially.
Commercial licenses Does not fulfil the Open Source Definition and is also a commercial license agreement like a EULA or ToS-agreement.
Non license Not a software license. Could be a contributor agreement, code of conduct or similar.
This info will be imported via licenseupdate.php at installation/update. Licenses must only belong to one category.
Disclaimer
Informational Purposes Only
The contents of this report, including any references to license categories, are provided for informational purposes only. This information does not constitute legal advice or a recommendation regarding legal compliance. License categories and their associated terms may be updated or revised at any time. The information contained in this report may not always reflect the most recent changes.
No Warranty
As mutually agreed in the FossID Workbench Master Subscription Agreement, FossID makes no representations or warranties, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability, or availability of the license categories or other information referenced in this report.
Compliance with Laws
The inclusion of license categories or related information in this report does not ensure or guarantee legal compliance. Compliance with all applicable laws, regulations, and other legal requirements is strictly the responsibility of the User or User’s company
Third-Party Rights and Licenses
To the degree this report references products or services that involve third-party components, it is the User or User’s Company who is responsible for determining what, if any, action is required to comply with such Licenses.