Understanding Project Licenses

Open Source Licenses (Software/Code)

These licenses typically allow users to freely use, modify, and distribute software. They are broadly categorized into "permissive" and "copyleft" licenses.

• Permissive Licenses (e.g., MIT, Apache 2.0, BSD): Grant extensive rights with minimal restrictions, primarily requiring attribution. They allow proprietary derivatives.
• Copyleft Licenses (e.g., GPL, LGPL, AGPL): Require that derivative works also be licensed under the same or a compatible open-source license, ensuring that the software remains "free." Strong copyleft (GPL, AGPL) applies to the entire work, while weak copyleft (LGPL, MPL) applies more narrowly, often to the licensed component itself.

Creative Commons Licenses (Creative Content)

Creative Commons provides a suite of public licenses that allow creators to communicate which rights they reserve and which rights they waive for the benefit of recipients or other creators. They are built on a "some rights reserved" approach.

• CC BY (Attribution): Allows others to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon your work, even commercially, as long as they credit you for the original creation.
• CC BY-SA (Attribution-ShareAlike): Allows others to remix, adapt, and build upon your work, even commercially, as long as they credit you and license their new creations under the identical terms.
• CC BY-ND (Attribution-NoDerivatives): Allows for redistribution, commercial and non-commercial, as long as it is passed along unchanged and in whole, with credit to you.
• CC BY-NC (Attribution-NonCommercial): Allows others to remix, adapt, and build upon your work non-commercially, and although their new works must also acknowledge you and be non-commercial, they don’t have to license their derivative works on the same terms.
• CC BY-NC-SA (Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike): Allows others to remix, adapt, and build upon your work non-commercially, as long as they credit you and license their new creations under the identical terms.
• CC BY-NC-ND (Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives): The most restrictive of the six main licenses, allowing others to download your works and share them with others as long as they credit you, but they can’t change them in any way or use them commercially.
• CC0 (Public Domain Dedication): Waives all copyright and related rights, effectively placing the work in the public domain.

Font Licenses

Font licenses dictate how a typeface can be used. These can vary significantly, from free for personal use to requiring commercial licenses for broader applications, embedding, or web use. Always check the specific terms of a font license.

• Open Font License (OFL): A free, libre and open source license for fonts. It permits fonts to be used, studied, modified and redistributed freely as long as they are not sold by themselves. It's common for Google Fonts.
• Desktop Licenses: For installing on a computer for design work.
• Webfont Licenses: For embedding fonts on websites using @font-face.
• App/E-book Licenses: For embedding fonts within applications or e-books.

Commercial Licenses

These licenses are typically used for proprietary software or content sold commercially. They are highly restrictive, only granting specific rights (e.g., installation, limited use) and often come with an End User License Agreement (EULA). Redistribution, modification, and reverse engineering are almost always prohibited.