OpenOffice license changes

2002-08-13

People,

There are some important announcements, and they are good. We have:
    *A new documentation license
    *A new copyright assignment strategy

*A New Documentation License

As you know, OpenOffice.org has historically used a dual license strategy
for source code: the LGPL and SISSL.  Both of these licenses allow for Open
Source work to be done.  They also allow for commercialization. However,
neither is particularly good for documents that are meant to be modified by
other people and used on the website or in publications.

So, over the last few months we (a group including Sun, CollabNet and
OpenOffice.org volunteers) have worked together to craft a new license, the
Public Document License, for meeting these needs.  This new license permits
the free modification of documents covered by it, thereby encouraging
collaboration on documents posted to the OpenOffice.org website.


*A New Copyright Assignment Structure

Since its beginning, OpenOffice.org has required committers to CVS
(including website content) to sign over their copyright to Sun to ensure
there is a single entity holding copyright.  The code is of course governed
by the Open Source licenses.  But the Copyright Assignment, as it is known,
does not accommodate contributors who wish to retain copyright over their
contributions. 

Thus, the new Joint Copyright Assignment.  Under the JCA, developers may now
also keep all rights to any code and related material they commit to the
source. Everyone benefits from this strategy: developers may do as they
please with their code and at the same time a single, coherent entity
jointly holds the copyright for the OpenOffice.org source.  This is
important for instance in the case of legal defense.

The new copyright structure also makes it easier for people to contribute to
the website.  People no longer need to fill out a copyright agreement to
submit material to the website; the PDL is adequate for this purpose.

For more information, please refer to these pages:
About OpenOffice.org: http://www.openoffice.org/about.html
License FAQ: http://www.openoffice.org/FAQs/faq-licensing.html
The Public Documentation License: http://www.openoffice.org/licenses/pdl.pdf
The Joint Copyright Assignment: http://www.openoffice.org/licenses/jca.pdf

This message is also on the Web:
http://www.openoffice.org/about_us/pdl_jca_announce.html

Don't hesitate to ask questions; post them to  discuss@OpenOffice.org list.
 
Regards,

-Louis Suarez-Potts
Community Manager
OpenOffice.org


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