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Publishing an open-source project, is it enough to add a COPYING file to the package or do I need to copy and paste it on top of every project's source file?
On famous public repositories like github or Google code I've seen different mixed approaches so I would like to know how this aspect should be handled correctly.
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Closed source means computer programs whose source code is not published except to licensees. It is available to be edited only by the organization that developed it and those licensed to use the software.
No, you don't have to put the license in each source code file.
License headers allow someone examining the file to know the terms governing use of the work, even when it is distributed without the rest of the distribution. Without a licensing notice, it must be assumed that the author has reserved all rights, including the right to copy, modify, and redistribute.
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.
Working for a company that takes copyrights very seriously, we are required to put copyright/licence messages in every single file, despite the fact it's not technically required under US law.
I suspect it's so that, if a file was somehow separated from the product as a whole, it would still be easily identifiable.
However, we don't maintain that message in every single file. We have scripts which automatically add in the copyright messages to every file that's released to the wild. That way you only have to change one file.
We also have scripts that check every single release file has the correct message.
However, in terms of licensing, the lack of an explicit licence means that standard copyright would apply so it may be that you're happy with the single LICENCE.txt file.
As always, my legal opinion is worth every cent you paid me for it (which is zero). I am not a lawyer, I am certainly not your lawyer.
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