In the french intellectual property code: “Art. L. 335-2 du CPI : Toute personne utilisant, copiant, modifiant ou diffusant le logiciel sans autorisation explicite des détenteurs des droits patrimoniaux est coupable de contrefaçon et passible de trois ans d’emprisonnement et de 300000 euros d’amende”
Using software without an explicit licence is tantamount to counterfeiting. Licences are contracts that govern the use of software and detail the rights granted to users.
No license == All rights reserved
There are two main types of licence:
- Free or Open Source Licenses
- Proprietary licences, meaning that at least one of these actions is prohibited or restricted by the owner: use, study, modify, redistribute.
It is possible to give a software product several licences. It is therefore possible to have software under both free and commercial licences.
This site explains the benefits of this approach.
The second national plan for open science includes a specific focus on research codes and software:
- Promote and support the distribution of source code from publicly-funded research under an open licence
- Highlighting the production of source code in higher education, research and innovation
- Define and promote an open source software policy
Therefore, making software developed as part of public research available as free software is an essential aspect of open science.
There are a number of guides and tools that can help you choose a licence
- The Etalab website offers a legal guide to help define the constraints associated with the publication of government (and therefore also research) source code,
- The choosealicense.com website also offers guidance on choosing your licence.
- Another tool developed by the EU.