What is a software license?

In a previous article, we discussed the intellectual property of code, who it belongs to depending on the context in which the software was created, as well as the special cases worth knowing about.

Today, we're coming back to another legal aspect of computer code by tackling the topic of "software licenses".

What can you do with a piece of software?

That's precisely the big question that a software license answers... Because a piece of software is a complex legal "object", it's an intangible asset that can (often) be copied, modified, exchanged, and used without any real control being exercised over it.

But then, can you do anything at all with a piece of software, given that it's hard to control?

Well, no, or at least it's really not advisable, and what you're allowed to do, or not do, with a piece of software is precisely defined by this famous license!

A software license will generally define the rights (or restrictions) around these themes:

• The transfer (or not) of intellectual property (for public domain works, for example)
• The right to use
• The right to display
• The right to copy
• The right to modify
• The right to distribute
• The right to create a sub-license

The two main families

There are hundreds of software licenses that specify in great detail the rights and duties of users, such as those mentioned above, so it would be pointless and too long to list them all.

Nevertheless, there are two main, fairly distinct families of licenses: "open" licenses and "proprietary" (or closed) licenses.

Proprietary licenses

As the name suggests, a proprietary license restricts the use of a piece of software according to commercial conditions decided by the owner of the software.

This is the type of license you'll find in every piece of software you have to pay to buy, whether it's a one-time payment or a subscription (which is why we talk about purchasing a license).

But this also applies to licenses that grant restricted or temporary access to the software (Freeware, Shareware, Freemium, etc.).

Most of the time, this kind of license doesn't let you access the source code or redistribute/copy/modify it, but simply use it!

Open licenses

"Open" licenses are generally referred to by the acronym FOSS, for "Free and Open-Source Software". Broadly speaking, these are licenses that, in addition to giving access to the source code, allow modification, and even the right to redistribute the software within paid solutions.

It's based on the type of license that a piece of software can be described as "open-source" or sometimes "free" (as in "libre").

While the difference between open-source and free/libre is sometimes blurry, these are two quite different philosophies!

The best-known open licenses are MIT, GPL, BSD, and Creative Commons.

Can you create a license yourself?

Yes, that's possible, nothing stops you, but it's not recommended.

A license is nothing more than a set of rights and conditions granted to the user of a piece of software, formulated in a legal text tied to the software in question.

But like any legal text, the content, the wording, the smallest little detail can be interpreted and twisted in the event of a dispute, which is why it's essential to have it drafted by someone with the required legal expertise.

And the best approach is even to reuse a license that has already proven itself and whose ins and outs are already known to everyone!

In conclusion

A software license is a legal document that lists the rights and constraints of a piece of software's user. This license can be open (as is the case for open-source or free/libre software), or it can be proprietary (closed and often paid for).

Failing to comply with the rules set out in a piece of software's license exposes the user to legal and criminal penalties.