Software Licensing Terminolgy
Contract of Adhesion
A Contract of Adhesion is a contract between two parties that does not allow for negotiation.
Click-wrap license
A click- wrap licens is one that is accepted on screen during installation of the software.
Free Software License
A free software license is a software license which grants recipients rights to modify and redistribute the software which would otherwise be prohibited by copyright law.
software license agreement
A software is a contract between a software company and the purchase /user of that software.The software license grants the user specific rights to use the software in particular ways . It also allows a developer or a publisher to continue to own the software. This retained ownership is very important because it allows the developer or publisher to control the future development of the software, and to ensure that the software meets quality control standards on an ongoing basis.
Open Source License
An open source license is a copyright for computer software that makes the source code available under terms that allow for modification and redistribution without having to pay the original author. Such licenses may have additional restrictions such as a requirement to preserve the name of the authors and the copyright statement within the code.
Copyleft
Copy left is a play on the word copyright, and usually refers to a copyright licensing scheme in which an author surrenders some but not all rights under copyright law.
Copyright
Copyright is a form of intellectual property that gives the author of an exclusive right for a certain time period in relation to that work ,including its publication , distrubution and adaption.
Eula (End-User License Agreement)
EULA stands for End-User License Agreement. This is a legal document that governs the use of all software applications. When software is purchased, the purchaser does not actually "own" the software itself. What is actually purchased is a license to use that software. The software publisher retains all rights, including copyrights, to the software and accompanying media. The EULA document outlines the terms of the software license, spelling out all rights and restrictions relating to the ownership, use, distribution, and warranty of the software product.
Freeware
Freeware is computer software that is available for use at no cost or for an optional fee.
Poroprietary software
Poroprietary software is software that is owned by an individual or a company (usually the one that developed it). There are almost always major restrictions on its use, and its source code is almost always kept secret.
Public domain
Public domain refers to "materials" (including software) that is not owned or controlled by anyone. The materials are "public property", and are available for use at no cost or for an optional fee.
Secure code
Secure code any colletion of statements or declaraions written in some human-readable computer programming language. It is is the maechanism most often used by programmers to specify the actions to be performed by computers.
Shareware
Shareware refers to propriety software that is provided to users without payment on a trial basis and is often limited in its features. The idea is to give buyers the opportunity to use the program and judge its usefulness before purchasing a license for the full version of the software.
GNU General Public License
The GNU General Public License (GNU GPL or simply GPL) is a widely used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU project. It is an example of a powerful copyleft license that requires derived works to be available under the same copyleft. Under this philosophy, the GPL grants the recipients of a computer program the rights of the free software definition and uses copyleft to ensure the freedoms are preserved, even when the work is changed or added to.
First-sale doctrine
The first sale doctrine is a limitation on copyright. The doctrine allows the purchaser to transfer (i.e., sell or give away) a particular lawfully made copy of the copyrighted work without permission once it has been obtained. This means that the copyright holder's rights to control the change of ownership of a particular copy end once that copy is sold,as long as no additional copies are made.
Shrink-wrap license
The term shrink-wrap license refers to a software license agreement which is enclosed within a software package and inaccesible to the customer until after purchase. Typically, the license aggreement is printed on paper included inside the boxed software.
