Placing of copyright notice in source code

Posted by Diana Dcn on Programmers See other posts from Programmers or by Diana Dcn
Published on 2012-07-01T17:34:14Z Indexed on 2012/07/01 21:24 UTC
Read the original article Hit count: 275

Filed under:

gpl

|

copyright

I'm about to release a project of mine that I'm really proud of under the GNU GPL and I have some questions:

Should one attach a copyright notice on each and every source code file from their project? I think it's a bit ridiculous to claim copyright on a 3 line abstract class. Should I attach a copyright notice only to really important source code files?
Can I not attach the whole standard thingy? Because it's big and bulky and gets in the way... If so, is the variant below ok/enough?

Copyright year firstname lastname. This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation.

© Programmers or respective owner

Related posts about gpl

GPL code allowing non-GPL local copies of nondistributed code

as seen on Programmers - Search for 'Programmers'
I have come across a book that claims that alterations and augmentations to GPL works can be kept close-source as long as these are not redistributed into the wild. Therefore, customizations of websites deriving from GPL packages need not be released under the GPL and developers can earn profit on… >>> More
Licensing software that uses GPL code with licenses other than GPL

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
Let's say I write some code, which we'll call X. It uses some GPL code, let's call it library Y. Clearly I would have to release X with a GPL license. That's fine. My question is, can I additionally release X under a license such as MIT, so that if someone only wants X but not Y they don't need to… >>> More
Does using GCC specific builtins qualify as incorporation within a project?

as seen on Programmers - Search for 'Programmers'
I understand that linking to a program licensed under the GPL requires that you release the source of your program under the GPL as well, while the LGPL does not require this. The terminology of the (L)GPL is very clear about this. #include "gpl_program.h" means you'd have to license GPL, because… >>> More
"Integratable" but not "integrated" GPL

as seen on Programmers - Search for 'Programmers'
There has been much debate over whether or not merely linking to a piece of code makes it a derivative work. I know FSF says "yes", so according to them I can't dynamically link a non-GPL compatible program to a GPL library and distribute the whole. But I could do that for private use, as long as… >>> More
GPL: does one line of GPLed code make program a "derived work"

as seen on Programmers - Search for 'Programmers'
I've recently run into some argument with a person that claims to be a lawyer (I have my suspicions about this not being completely true, though). As far as I know, copying even one line of code from GPLed program into proprietary body of code requires you to release the whole thing under GPL, if… >>> More

Related posts about copyright

How to insert a blank line above my copyright text inside the comment lines in intelliJ IDEA?

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
I'm using intelliJ IDEA 9. It has a function to make a copyright profile and apply to all files I create. What I'm trying to do is to format the copyright comment right. Suppose I have a copyright text as this: Copyright (c) 2010 my.company. All rights reserved. I wish it to be inserted in files… >>> More
How (and Why) to Copyright your Web Images

as seen on Internet.com - Search for 'Internet.com'
Helen Bradley explains the basics of protecting your ecommerce product photos on the Web. >>> More
Making a copyright system that works

as seen on Internet.com - Search for 'Internet.com'
<b>Free Software Magazine:</b> "Aside from a few vested interests in the entertainment industry, nearly everyone hates the system we’ve got — it’s clearly overreaching and ill-adapted to the electronic world of the internet. But what sort of system would… >>> More
Copyright infringement - inside the legal minefield

as seen on Internet.com - Search for 'Internet.com'
<b>New Zealand Herald:</b> "Several weeks ago the Australian high court ruled in favour of Aussie ISP iiNet in a landmark legal battle where AFACT (Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft) argued that iiNet was as guilty as some of its subscribers of online copyright infringement… >>> More
Music Rhythm Game: Copyright Music Question for Independent (Indie) Game Developers

as seen on Game Development - Search for 'Game Development'
I have a curious question regarding on musics used in music rhythm game. In Guitar Hero for example, they used all different music albums in one program. Then, each album requires to ask permission to the owner, composer of the music, or the copyright owner of the music. Let's say, if you used 15… >>> More