5. Copyleft
• Open Source Licensing – FOSS: many licenses,
apache, BSD, GPL
• Wordpress: FSF GNU GPLv2
– a foundation, an animal, a license
– Richard Stallman, MIT, 1983, Unix, Linux
– Frustration with proprietary software
• Copyright vs Copyleft: Copyleft derives from copyright to
accomplish opposite: allows holder to control use & distrib’n via
licensing
6. Copyleft
• Applies only if you distribute
• Must provide source code under the terms of
the GPL.
– So they may modify and redistribute it under the
terms of the GPL
– Version 2.0 or later
• Free not required – you can sell.
• Viral – positive or negative?
7. Copyleft
• The GPL requires that I distribute the "source code" of my files.
What does that mean for a web application?
• The "source code" of a file means the format that is intended for
people to edit. What that means depends on the file in question.
PHP, JavaScript, CSS – files themselves, without any compression or
obfuscation.
• For images . . . production version of the file as a PNG or GIF, or
original high-resolution JPG, or a Photoshop, Illustrator, or GIMP
file. The "source code" is whichever version is intended to be edited
by people.
• For Flash files, the source code is the editable FLA and AS files, and
any other files needed to build the final SWF. The SWF file itself is
the "object code" version, not the source version.
8. Copyleft
• GPL on code applies to any code that
“interacts” with it. (http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html)
• Enforcement:
– Software Freedom Law Center
– gpl-violations.org (Germany)
• FortiOS, D-Link
10. Employment
• Pursuant to California overtime laws, an employee may only be considered exempt from overtime
pay under the Computer/Software-Related Professional Exemption if the employee meets all of the
requirements set forth by California Labor Code §515.5. An employee in the computer software
field is considered to be exempt under the professional exemption, only if all of the following apply:
• The employee is paid an hourly rate of at least $40.38 per hour (effective Jan. 1, 2014) or a salary of
at least $7,010.88 per month ($84,130.56 annually).
• The employee is primarily engaged in work that is intellectual or creative.
• The employee is engaged in work that requires the exercise of discretion and independent
judgment.
• The employee is primarily engaged in duties that consist of one or more of the following:
o Responsible for applying systems analysis techniques and procedures, including consulting with
users, to determine hardware, software or system functional specifications.
o Responsible for designing, developing, documenting, analyzing, creating, testing or modifying
computer systems or programs, including prototypes, based on and related to user or system
design specifications.
o Responsible for documenting, testing, creating or modifying computer programs related to the
design of software or hardware for computer operating systems.
• The employee is highly skilled and proficient in the theoretical and practical application of highly
specialized information to computer systems analysis, programming and software engineering.
• - See more at: http://www.shrm.org/templatestools/hrqa/pages/california-
minsalarycomputerexemption.aspx#sthash.bKxASEey.dpuf
11. Contracts
• Yes – for clarification, not legal necessity.
• Scope – expectations
• Attorney’s fees, Arbitration, Choice of Venue,
Indemnification, Compliance?
• Change orders
• Client’s responsibilities
• Images, see above.
12. Copyright & Trademark
• Trademark – opposite of SEO – affordable, do
early
• Copyright – applies to “original work”
– Text, images, art, etc.
– Life of author + 70 years
– Exceptions
• Fair use, public domain (e.g., U.S. Gov. sites),
permission (including commons licenses)
• Evidence (trolls, screenshots, etc.)
13. Taxation
–Sales tax
• Seller pays - http://blog.taxjar.com/sales-tax-for-california/
• Digital goods – based on state, not in California
• Out of state sellers – “Amazon Tax” –
– affiliates, nexus,
– 23 states
– VAT
• Chris Lema: My site will be changing…all because of VAT -
http://chrislema.com/vat/ - On January 1st, 2015, new legislation in Europe stipulates that VAT
must be applied (regardless of how much money your online store makes) to electronic goods and services.
Editor's Notes
From Drupal - https://www.drupal.org/licensing/faq/#q4
The GPL on code applies to code that interacts with that code, but not to data. That is, Drupal's PHP code is under the GPL, and so all PHP code that interacts with it must also be under the GPL or GPL compatible. Images, JavaScript, and Flash files that PHP sends to the browser are not affected by the GPL because they are data. However, Drupal's JavaScript, including the copy of jQuery that is included with Drupal, is itself under the GPL as well, so any Javascript that interacts with Drupal's JavaScript in the browser must also be under the GPL or a GPL compatible license.
