Software lincensing

This article is a general introduction to software licensing. A software license is an agreement between you and the owner of a software program that allows you to do certain things that would otherwise be an infringement of copyright law. The software license usually answers questions such as.

The price of the software and the licensing fees, if any, is sometimes discussed in the license agreement, but usually it's described elsewhere. We'll cover these terms in greater detail below, but these are some basic things you should know about software licenses.

The process for installing software varies from product to product. You'll need to read the specific instructions you receive in order to properly install and for some products activate your software.

Most major vendors offer some type of bulk purchasing and volume licensing option for software. The terms vary, but if you order enough software to qualify, volume licensing can be cheaper and more convenient for your organization.

Nonprofits sometimes qualify for volume licensing with very small initial purchases. Also, volume licensing often provides you with a central place to manage all your licenses for a particular product or group of products.

Some volume licensing options can also help make installation easier with a single, organization-wide activation code for a particular product. Site Licensing may be another option.

A site license allows an organization to make multiple copies of a software package to use on multiple computers. As mentioned earlier, if the software is proprietary or closed-source, the license agreement will usually limit the ways you can use the software, copy it, alter it, and redistribute it.

Also, you usually won't have access to the underlying source code. In everyday conversation, there's not much difference between "free software" and "free and open-source software" FOSS. However, the official definitions and underlying philosophies do differ. See how the official definition of free software differs from the official definition of open-source software.

For a short description of the difference, read Live and Let License. Categories of Free and Non-Free Software covers topics like copyleft and public domain software. You may be trying to access this site from a secured browser on the server.

Please enable scripts and reload this page. Turn on more accessible mode. Turn off more accessible mode. Skip Ribbon Commands. If you intend to create and distribute software, or if you plan to utilize software in your business, being aware of the different forms of licensing uses can be a critical part of your business structure.

According to Wisegeek, software licensing is a form of contract between a person in a company that creates a type of software and the person who downloads or buys the software to use for his or her own purposes.

Software licensing exists to protect a copyright of software and can restrict the way that the user can use it. In general, the restrictions consist of copying the software or having it installed on more than one device.

Every EULA contains a clause that stipulates when its conditions are activated by an end user. The developer retains ownership, but the re-branding company is permitted to resell the software product. There are five main software license categories or types used to cover different kinds of software and various business arrangements.

These encompass a wide spectrum of licensing scenarios, from free software public domain to paid commercial software proprietary. When software is defined as being in the public domain, anyone is free to use and modify the software without restrictions. For many reasons, businesses must exercise caution when adopting public domain software in projects or other important applications:. Under an LGPL license, developers have rights to link to open source libraries within their own software. Resulting code can be licensed under any other type of license — even proprietary — when projects are compiled or linked to include an LGPL-licensed library.

The caveat is that if any part of the library is copied into the code or modified, the terms of the original LGPL license will apply to the developed code that used the library. This type of license is one of the most common and popular among open-source software licenses. Variants in permissive licenses include differences in requirements for preserving license notices and copyrights for the software, as well as how the software may be used commercial or private , trademark requirements, and other stipulations.

Under the terms of a copyleft license, the licensed code may be modified or distributed as part of a software project if the new code is distributed under the same software license. Since the original software included with the new project allowed modifications and distribution, this may not be the best license for software developers because the resulting code must also carry the copyleft license type — including the availability of the source code.

These software licenses make the software ineligible for copying, modifying, or distribution. This is the most restrictive type of software license, protecting the developer or owner from unauthorized use of the software.

A software license agreement is a legal document that stipulates several key conditions between a software company or developer and a user to allow use of the software. In some cases, pricing and terms of payment may also be included, though this is often covered in a separate document.

The primary purpose of the agreement, however, is to provide detailed ground rules for use of the software:. Developers release software for a number of reasons, whether it be to demonstrate a new idea, provide benefit to as many people as possible, or for financial and economic gain.

In order to ensure that all parties involved in the process are able to benefit from the software, the terms and conditions for its use must be clearly defined. These terms and conditions are expressed as a licensing agreement. Software licenses are critical for software providers and users alike for many reasons:.

Software licenses define the complete agreement between the licensor and licensee.