Reply to article by: Scott Ellsworth <scott@alodar.com>
Date written: Mon, 17 Apr 2006 14:38:52 -0700
MsgID:<scott-B2CBE8.14385217042006@news.west.cox.net>
I want to release some free source code, but not all code is done by
me. (ex: I use some code from others into my project... )
Then you do not have the right to release the source. (Unless, of
course, that other code was written under contract such that you _do_
own it.)
I think it is too complicate to check every function/routine belongs to
whom, what should I do to avoid the copyright problem?
You should contact every single copyright holder involved with the code,
and get a signed blanket permission. At the least, do something like
Elliote Rusty Harold recently did with Jaxen when he relicensed it,
where very copyright holder had to publicly affirm that they approved
the license change.
Hire the most expensive copyright lawyer you can find to defend you in
court.
You may need this anyway, but having those statements will help.
Remember, if one of the contributors wrote some of that code on a
university machine, or while at work, they may not be _able_ to sign
over permission. Thus, even with written permission, you may end up on
the wrong end of a suit.
You have to set these things up before you start, if you do not want
headaches later. Given that you did not, you have a headache ahead, and
thus the best plan is trying to minimize it. Start with getting
permission, and see if something worse happens.