Enki

The copyleft , literally left copy or " copy gauche" in English (royalty saying copyright , right copy), is the possibility given by the author of a work subjected to the Royalty (work of Art, text, Computer program, etc) to copy, use, study, modify and distribute its work insofar as these possibilities are preserved.

The author of a modification (a correction, the addition of a functionality, a re-use of a work of art, etc) are thus subjected to the restriction/obligation to redistribute his own contributions only with the same conditions of use. In other words, creations starting from elements under copyleft inherit this characteristic.

Bases

The central idea of the left of author is to give to whoever the permission to carry out the program, to copy it, to modify it, and to distribute of it modified versions - but not the permission to add restrictions of its vintage. Thus crucial freedoms which define the “free software” are guaranteed for whoever has a copy of it; they become rights inaliénables.

The copyleft is an idea of Don Hopkins installation and popularized from 1984 by Richard Stallman within the framework of the Projet GNU in particular by the creation of the Free Software Foundation in 1985 and of the License LPG published in 1989.

The term copyleft is a double word game referring on the one hand to the traditional Copyright (opposition right (right, in the legal direction of the term) and left (left)) and in addition with the expression Copy left ( left copy or authorized copy ). It is sometimes translated in the same way into left French by of author in opposition to royalty , but by losing the visibility of the concept of authorized copy .

In the legal field, the base of the copyleft is the contract law: the license is a unilateral contract which respects the legal requirements of the intellectual property. This license then acts as law between the parts.

The free License most known using the copyleft is the public License general GNU, but there also exists of other licenses, specifically created for certain very diverse fields (art, roleplays, scientific magazine, etc), which can be regarded as “licenses copyleft”.

All the licenses of Free software are not based on the principle of the copyleft. Some make it possible to employ basic creation while applying to it of other conditions. It is said sometimes that they are freer, because the perenniality of the use potential is not imposed. There is then no possible contagion , and the free software can be exploited without any limitation.

Appearance of the term

Drawn from the Project GNU by Richard Stallman:

“In 1984 or 1985, Don Hopkins (of which imagination was without terminal) sent a letter to me. He had written on the envelope several amusing sentences, and in particular this one: " Copyleft - all rights reversed." (N.d.T. : “Left of author - reversed straight. ”). I used the word copyleft to give a name to the concept of distribution which I developed then. ”

The Copyleft licenses

  • LPG, for “ General Public License ”;

  • GFDL, for “ GNU Free Documentation License ”;
  • the CeCILL, for “ ECA CNRS INRIA Free software ”, a French free license;
  • Some Licenses Creative Commons (the licenses “NC” and “ND are excluded”);
  • the Free License Art;
  • Design Science License

  • More free licenses here.

See too

  • Copyright

Internal bonds

External bonds

  • GNU.org: What the copyleft? - Copyleft: Pragmatic idealism - Why Copyleft?
  • Creative Commons (only the license By-Its (Attribution - Share Alike) is copyleft. However, the license By (Attribution) is free but not copyleft because no matter who can return owner a work placed under this license.)
  • free Art: Copyleft Free Attitude
  • Culture: Gate of the Free Culture
  • Free Editions
  • In Libro Veritas: Publication under Creative license Commons of books, as well as the possibility of an edition paper via ILV-Edition
  • Free Net: Presentations of works copyleft
  • Veni, Vidi, Libri - Promotion and popularization of the Free licenses, Glossary…
  • Analysis of the principal licenses OpenSource

copyleft

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