Copyleft

Copyleft is an alternative copyright policy initiated by the Free Software Foundation, Boston, MA, distributor of GNU software. Under the copyleft policy, those who distribute a software program must include the source code for that program, as well as the right to use, modify, and redistribute that code.

Copyleft has been extended by some to replace the standard copyright notice to offer free access to the text and data on a Web server.

URLs:

GNU Copyleft Terms And Conditions

The official statement of the copyleft policy.

gnu.misc.discuss

Discussions in this group frequently include issues of software patents, copyright, and "copyleft."

GNU Software Index

Answers to the questions: "What is fsf?" and "What is copyleft?"

W3E References:

GNU tools

Detail:

The Free Software Foundation defines itself as an organization "dedicated to eliminating restrictions on people's right to use, copy, modify, and redistribute computer programs." They have developed a complete, integrated software system named "GNU" (pronounced "guh- new," "GNU's Not Unix"). In so doing they have worked toward a unified system eliminating the need for proprietary systems.

The GNU Project's copyleft policy combines a regular copyright notice and the GNU General Public License. At present, the copyleft license is a quasi-legal instrument, untested in the courts.