Questions: Software Licensing and Intellectual Property

Question 1

A student finds a useful function in a public code repository that has no LICENSE file and no statement about permissions. What is the safest accurate description of the student's position?

• A. The code is in the public domain because anyone can see it
• B. The code may be used freely as long as the author is credited
• C. The author still holds copyright, so copying it into another project needs the author's permission
• D. The code may be used freely in school projects, but not in paid products, under every country's law

Answer: (C)

Copyright applies automatically when code is written. Making code visible does not grant a license. Without one, the default is that the author keeps the exclusive right to copy and distribute it, so the student should ask or find another source. Some limited uses may fall under exceptions such as fair use in the United States, but that depends on the facts.

Question 2

A company modifies an open-source library and ships the modified version inside a product it distributes to customers. Under which license is the company required to make the source code of its modified library available under the same license?

• A. MIT License
• B. BSD 2-Clause License
• C. GNU General Public License (GPL)
• D. Apache License 2.0

Answer: (C)

The GPL is a copyleft license: if you distribute a modified version, you must offer its source code under the GPL as well. MIT, BSD and Apache 2.0 are permissive licenses that allow modified versions to be distributed under other terms, including closed-source ones, as long as their conditions (such as keeping notices) are met.

Question 3

Copyright law protects the general idea of an algorithm, such as 'sort a list by repeatedly swapping neighbors that are out of order', so no one else may write their own code for it.

• T. True
• F. False

Answer: False

Copyright covers a particular written expression, such as one specific implementation. Anyone may write their own independent code for the same idea. Patents can protect some technical inventions, but that is a separate system with its own requirements.

Question 4

What problem do Creative Commons licenses solve for people who create images, music or text?

Model answer: They give creators a simple, standard way to grant the public some rights in advance, such as permission to share or adapt a work as long as the creator is credited, without each user having to ask for permission individually.

Creative Commons licenses come in a few combinations of conditions, such as attribution (BY), share-alike (SA), noncommercial (NC) and no derivatives (ND). Creative Commons itself recommends software-specific licenses such as MIT or the GPL for code.