Policy for attribution

Lawrence Rosen lrosen at rosenlaw.com
Tue Jul 11 16:32:14 UTC 2006


> I think we need to develop a policy for attribution, e.g. "Based on
> TrueCrypt, freely available at http://www.truecrypt.org/".  This is
> just one example of many.  I don't see community consensus surrounding
> attribution.  Please discuss.

Perhaps we can distinguish two different situations:

1) Requirements for attribution notices in source code have been accepted
practice for some time. See OSL/AFL § 6.

2) Requirements for attribution notices in displays, advertising,
documentation, and other run-time notices have never previously been allowed
in open source licenses. (See, e.g., the BSD advertising clause). 

I think Russ is asking whether #2 should now be allowed, and if so under
what circumstances.

/Larry

Lawrence Rosen
Rosenlaw & Einschlag, a technology law firm (www.rosenlaw.com)
Stanford University, Lecturer in Law
3001 King Ranch Road, Ukiah, CA 95482
707-485-1242  *  fax: 707-485-1243
Author of "Open Source Licensing: Software Freedom and 
                Intellectual Property Law" (Prentice Hall 2004)

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Russ Nelson [mailto:nelson at crynwr.com]
> Sent: Tuesday, July 11, 2006 9:14 AM
> To: license-discuss at opensource.org
> Subject: Policy for attribution
> 
> I think we need to develop a policy for attribution, e.g. "Based on
> TrueCrypt, freely available at http://www.truecrypt.org/".  This is
> just one example of many.  I don't see community consensus surrounding
> attribution.  Please discuss.
> 
> --
> --my blog is at    http://blog.russnelson.com   | When immigration is
> Crynwr sells support for free software  | PGPok | outlawed, only criminals
> 521 Pleasant Valley Rd. | +1 315-323-1241       | will immigrate.  Illegal
> Potsdam, NY 13676-3213  |     Sheepdog          | immigration causes
> crime.




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