I have a few FOSS projects that I want to release under the BSD license, since I only wish to maintain the intellectual property of the code, that others will know I’ve been writing it.
I suppose all I need to do is:
- Have a file called
LICENSEonly in the main folder of the software. - Write at the top of each source file the following text:
This software is released under the BSD License.
Full text of the
license can be found in the file named ‘LICENSE’ at the main folder of
the software.
Copyright (c) 2013, Dor.
Am I correct? Is there anything to add/remove/change?
Should I include my full name,
or may I just use the first name and first letter of last name (e.g. Dor K.)?
The BSD license text that’s contained in the file LICENSE is:
------------------------------------------------------------------------ This software is released under the BSD License ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Copyright (c) 2013, Dor K. All rights reserved. Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met: * Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer. * Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution. THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE. ------------------------------------------------------------------------
1
Adding a license file and the license header to each source file should be okay though I would add my full name to the Copyright notice.
You can also call the file COPYING. If you have contributors and depending on your license, you will also need to list their name for the copyright or get them to assign their copyright to you.