Re: [Savannah-help-public] How to change the licensing of a project?

[Sylvain Beucler]

On Sat, Jul 23, 2005 at 10:58:57AM +0200, Mats Lidell wrote:
> >By the way, you should update the notice in your files, so they
> >include the standart GNU GPL license notice, and maybe also update the
> >years in your copyright notices :)
> 
> OK. Three related questions.
> 
> 1. I have updated the GPL notice where they occur now in a few 
> administrative files like README. The actual Emacs lisp files in the 
> package does as yet not contain the GPL notice but does contain the 
> copyright notice. I take it from the "Licens Notices"-link you included 
> that I should add the Licens Notice to all files over a small size, say 
> 10 lines of code. Right?

Yes.

> 2. Hyperbole was developed by one prime author, Bob Weiner, that used a 
> file header that didn't contain the GPL Notice. Including that now will 
> change the file header and I would like to do some other changes as well 
> if and when I do that change. Weiner also gives acknowledgement to 
> Motorola for funding the project.
> 
> I would want to keep some referens or acknowledgment to the original 
> author and maybe as well to Motorola. I know it is history since it is a 
> GPL2 package but it seems fair to give some credit to the original 
> author. Do you have any suggestion. Keep the referens in each file or 
> just in the README and/or info file. I need some guidance. Do you have 
> any suggestion?

You can acknowledge the original author by any means: in each file, or
in a README file.

Did the other authors assigned their copyright to the FSF as well? If
not, you need to include their copyright notice in all files they
contributed to, or ask them to assign their copyright.

Note that this should be a "GPL2 or later" package rather than a "GPL2
strictly" one :)

> 3. What is the policy of updating the years in the copyright notice. Is 
> it customary to update it seperately in each file dependent on what 
> years the files was changes? Or should there be one common copyright 
> notice, e.g. the same text, in all files dependent on what years the 
> package as a whole was released?

All files can be modified by different authors at different dates. As
far as I'm concerned I manage each file independently and update the
notices as I modify them.

-- 
Sylvain