Questions tagged [licensing]

Permission to use, copy, distribute, and/or modify copyrighted works. Very important for free/open source software.

For example, the Expat license:

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining
a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the
"Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including
without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish,
distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to
permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to
the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included
in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND,
EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF
MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT.
IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY
CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT,
TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE
SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.

See also .

56 questions
29
votes
2 answers

Is a PDF output from a LaTeX document, a "derived work" from the LPPL standard packages?

If I write a LaTeX document that uses LPPL packages, since (La)TeX is a macro-replacement language, and I generate its output, to PDF for example, is the resultant output, in any form, a derived work from the LPPL packages? I would like to be clear…
ABu
  • 1,625
21
votes
1 answer

The GPL and LaTeX packages

The GPL is viral. How does this apply to the LaTeX eco system if one uses a package licensed under the GPL2++? If I use it in a document, must the document also be licensed under the GPL? If I use it in a package, must that package also be licensed…
16
votes
1 answer

Can I release a class file created by me under gpl?

I have created a LaTeX class file. Can I release a class file created by me under gpl?
tex
  • 3,445
10
votes
2 answers

How to put a LaTeX project (template) under a license

This is mostly off topic, but related to LaTeX. I have a template which contains about 40 files in different folders. And additionally some packages (.sty files) which shall be published soon. The packages contain the typical copyright statement and…
5
votes
1 answer

How can I license my .tex files for open source?

I would like to release some .tex files to the open source community using the MIT license but am unsure of the implication. Specifically, I want to make sure that generated output (PDF/DVI) files don't need to have a license included with them.…
vmrob
  • 151
5
votes
0 answers

is the lppl license suitable also for templates or use lgpl

I have almost no knowledge about licences and there differences. I use the standard LaTeX licence (lppl) for my sty files. Now I wonder if this licence is also suitable for a template. Previously I had not put any licence to my template and that…
3
votes
0 answers

License in LaTeX document, packages and answers

A serie of questions related themselves. Context: I'm writting a LaTeX document and I want to license it under a GPL v3 license. I have a own package with some macros, the great majority insignificants, but any of them can be useful to other users.…
ABu
  • 1,625
2
votes
1 answer

How to properly write the LPPL 1.3c license preamble?

I recently uploaded a few packages to CTAN, and for the license in the preamble I copied the following text from the documentation of dtxtut: %% This file may be distributed and/or modified under the %% conditions of the LaTeX Project Public…
Jinwen
  • 8,518
1
vote
0 answers

LPPL 1.3c: What is a "compiled work"?

I recently took over maintenance of a university thesis class. A user had a question about the LPPL 1.3c: whether PDF outputs are covered by the license. According to this answer they are "unambiguously not". Fine that they are not, but it's hardly…
jessexknight
  • 2,732
1
vote
0 answers

Can institutions use LaTeX without a license?

I refer to the LaTeX project public license, which concerns the distribution of LaTeX itself. What am I concerned with is - can my institution use LaTeX to typeset (and subsequently distribute) a document, without a license? For info, we do not plan…
Thev
  • 1,568
1
vote
0 answers

Open source published papers

Is there an open source movement for published scientific papers in the sense that the TeX source of a paper published under such an open source policy is made publicly available?
Evan Aad
  • 11,066
1
vote
0 answers

package to include the software license

I want to include the text of software licenses (MIT, Apache, etc) in my report. Is there a package to package to do this? Basically i'm looking for something similar to lipsum, where i…
XoXo
  • 111
0
votes
0 answers

Is it legal to sell pdf made in LaTeX?

I know that using LaTex is free, but is selling pdf made in LaTeX legal? I looked up the license https://www.latex-project.org/lppl/ , but got nowhere to reading, "Selling pdf made in LaTeX is legal". Is there something I missed? Edit: And also…