[ubuntu-in] General OpenSourcing Doubt !

[Parthan SR]

Venkatesan Padmanabhan wrote:
> Hi all,
>            Am just curious on how to release a software we built under 
> GPL? Like, Should I own a copyright for it and then release it under 
> GPL inorder to take the credit?
>
> Venkatesan Padmanabhan
> venkatesanp89 at gmail.com <mailto:venkatesanp89 at gmail.com>
As far my understanding is considered,
[1] Copyright and Licensing are entirely separate though often work 
together.
[2] If you have created the code/content yourself, i.e. you wrote the 
code, then you own it's copyrights (unless and until you work for an 
organization who pays for your work and hence in your agreement you have 
signed to the condition that whatever you do during the period of 
employment under than all your code will belong to them) and you have 
the right to decide under what license your creation can be put under.
[3] If you are using someone else's code or content for what you are 
creating, then whatever you have obtained from others should confirm to 
their licensing terms. Still they hold the copyright of the same, unless 
they explicitly permit you to take ownership of the copyright.
[4] License informs what you can do with a code/content and how to 
further derive out of it. Like it might tell who and what for you can 
use it, whether you can modify it, whether you can give it to others, 
whether you can modify it and give it to others, etc.
[5] Just because a content is licensed under specific terms it doesn't 
mean you can modify the copyrights of it's creators. You just have the 
freedom and restrictions as stated by the license. If you want to take 
the credit for other's work, which is evil IMVHO, you have to explicitly 
ask them to transfer the copyrights over to you.

Correct me if my understanding is wrong in any case :)

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With Regards,

Parthan "technofreak"
<gpg>  2FF01026
<blog> http://blog.technofreak.in