[Fedora-legal-list] I've got a permission "to use the code in any way I choose", but no license

[Tom Callaway]

On 10/05/2012 08:52 AM, Miro Hrončok wrote:
> Hello, I asked an author of a public code I want to package to Fedora,
> this is his answer:
> 
>> You are free to use the code in any way you choose, including attempting to sell it for
>> a profit (I think people have).  The code was written long before licenses became standardized.
>> Best regards,
>> Steve Fortune
> 
> When I asked him to specify the license, he added:
> 
>> It's unlicensed.  I just gave you permission to use it.
> 
> Is it possible to package this into Fedora?
> Thanks for your help.

Unfortunately, no. His wording is inconsistent and confusing. Saying
something is unlicensed means that we only have the minimum permissions
granted by copyright law, which is not enough for us to include it in
Fedora. If we ignore that (which we can't), his statement of permission
to use the code in any way we choose is also incomplete, because "use"
has a specific legal meaning, and it does not include things like
modification or distribution (although, the latter is somewhat implied
in his "permission" to attempt to sell the code for a profit).

I would ask him politely if he would be willing to permit us to
distribute his code under the terms of the MIT license (extremely
permissive terms):

  Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining
  a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the
  "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including
  without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish,
  distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to
  permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to
  the following conditions:

  The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be
  included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

  THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND,
  EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF
  MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT.
  IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY
  CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT,
  TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE
  SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.

He can grant us this permission without needing to change his code,
since he is the copyright holder, and it will make this software
permissible in Fedora.

Hope that helps,

~tom

==
Fedora Project