[License-discuss] International Licenses

[Maximilian]

Presumably the European Union Public Licence was discussed during that meeting (and I note it here for those who haven't yet come across it).

https://joinup.ec.europa.eu/software/page/eupl/licence-eupl

Whilst I make no comment as to the content of the licence, it boasts official translations and compatibility with 22 European languages and therefore IMHO is a good yardstick to consider/compare other international multilingual licences by.


Max

On 5 Jun 2015 02:53, Mike Milinkovich <mike at opensource.org> wrote:
>
> At our last face-to-face meeting, the OSI Board discussed the topic of FLOSS licenses targeted at specific languages and jurisdictions. As you can imagine, with the interest in reducing license proliferation, the conversation was quite lively. However, if we want open source to be a truly worldwide movement, it seems unreasonable to insist that English be the only language allowed. 
>
> As a result, we would like to propose the following:
> A new category of open source licenses would be created for those targeting specific languages and jurisdictions.
>
> The normal public license review process would be used to debate the merits of the license. However, we would add a criteria targeted at preventing code under the class of licenses from being "orphaned". (This may, for example, be addressed in candidate licenses by explicitly allowing re-licensing under other well-known licenses.)
>
> A certified English translation must accompany the license. We require a certified English language translation of the license in order to conduct the license review process, which uses open discussion between many people who share English as a second language regardless of their first language. Submitters can meet this requirement by accompanying the translation with an affidavit from the translator on which the translator has sworn, in the presence of a commissioner authorized to administer oaths in the place where the affidavit is sworn, that the contents of the translation are a true translation and representation of the contents of the original document. The affidavit must include the date of the translation and the full name and contact details of the translator.
>
> When you offer your license(s) to the review process, you should be aware that change to the license is probable and be prepared to iterate. Certified translations will not be essential for every iteration but the final iteration must be accompanied by a certified translation.
> We would appreciate your thoughts and comments.