| 4 | | The copyright is still assigned to !MetaCarta, Inc., because the copyright must be assigned to an organization in order for the license to be valid in Europe (and possibly elsewhere?). Would assigning the copyright to some non-profit, like the FSF, make you more likely to use/contribute to !OpenLayers? If so, let us know. |
| | 4 | Code and content in the !OpenLayers '''SVN repository''' at http://svn.openlayers.org/, and in the !OpenLayers '''Trac database''' at http://trac.openlayers.org/ is provided under [http://svn.openlayers.org/trunk/openlayers/repository-license.txt a modified BSD license], with an additional provision that excludes from the license grant any technologies for which !MetaCarta has a patent or has applied for a patent. |
| | 5 | |
| | 6 | This special repository license allows the project to offer SVN commit rights to a broader group of contributors. The reason for this is legal: Having funded the initial development of !OpenLayers, !MetaCarta holds copyright on the project's source, as dictated by international copyright law. The company also holds or has applied for patents in related technical domains. The repository license is a compromise taken on by the !OpenLayers SteeringCommittee, in the interests of supporting the Open Source development process, without risking infringement of MetaCarta's patents. When !MetaCarta transfers copyright ownership to another party, like the OSGeo Foundation, this special repository license can be changed or removed. |
