Menu
I am working on a library and would like to dual license it:
However, I was approached by an organizer of a "coding fest" which wanted to use my project for an open source coding event. I am not sure if it would be smart to let other developers work on the project as I want to keep the legal right to release it under a commercial license as well as an open source one. How should I handle that ?
PS: The open source license I have chosen is GNU Affero GPLv3 license (AGPLv3).
748
Yes, it is possible to make an open source project into a closed source project. The copyright holder can change the license of a project at any time, or cease to distribute source code of new releases. New releases can therefore be made closed source.
Open source licenses are licenses that comply with the Open Source Definition — in brief, they allow software to be freely used, modified, and shared. To be approved by the Open Source Initiative (also known as the OSI), a license must go through the Open Source Initiative's license review process.
Can I restrict how people use an Open Source licensed program? No. The freedom to use the program for any purpose is part of the Open Source Definition. Open source licenses do not discriminate against fields of endeavor.
If you're the sole contributor to your project then either you or your company is the project's sole copyright holder. You can add or change to whatever license you or your company wants to.
It's pretty easy to handle this situation. If you're the only person working on the project, you control the copyright to the whole thing, and can dictate the licensing terms, including separate licensing for commercial or open source projects. If you allow contributions from other developers, then get them to either (a) sign the copyright on their work over to you, or (b) agree to your licensing terms when submitting their own contributions.
99
If you love us? You can donate to us via Paypal or buy me a coffee so we can maintain and grow! Thank you!
Donate Us With
