View file File name : copyright-format-1.0.html Content :<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"> <title>Machine-readable debian/copyright file</title><meta name="generator" content="DocBook XSL Stylesheets Vsnapshot"></meta><meta name="description" content="Establishes a standard, machine-readable format for debian/copyright files within Debian packages to facilitate automated checking and reporting of licenses for packages and sets of packages. This specification was originally drafted as DEP-5."></meta></head><body><div xml:lang="en" class="article"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title"><a id="copyright-format-1.0"></a> Machine-readable <code class="filename">debian/copyright</code> file </h2></div><div><h3 class="subtitle"><em>Version 1.0</em></h3></div><div><p class="releaseinfo">Debian Policy 4.6.0.1, 2021-08-18</p></div><div><div class="legalnotice"><a id="id-1.1.4"></a><p> Copying and distribution of this file, with or without modification, are permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice is preserved. </p></div></div><div><div class="abstract"><p class="title"><strong>Abstract</strong></p><p> Establishes a standard, machine-readable format for <code class="filename">debian/copyright</code> files within Debian packages to facilitate automated checking and reporting of licenses for packages and sets of packages. This specification was originally drafted as <a class="ulink" href="http://dep.debian.net/deps/dep5/" target="_top">DEP-5</a>. </p></div></div></div><hr></hr></div><div class="toc"><p><strong>Table of Contents</strong></p><dl class="toc"><dt><span class="section"><a href="#introduction">1. Introduction</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#rationale">2. Rationale</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#acknowledgements">3. Acknowledgements</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#file-syntax">4. File syntax</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="section"><a href="#single-line">4.1. Single-line values</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#white-space-lists">4.2. Whitespace-separated lists</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#line-based-lists">4.3. Line-based lists</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#formatted-text">4.4. Formatted text</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="section"><a href="#paragraphs">5. Paragraphs</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="section"><a href="#header-paragraph">5.1. Header paragraph (once)</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#files-paragraph">5.2. Files paragraph (repeatable)</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#stand-alone-license-paragraph">5.3. Stand-alone License Paragraph (optional, repeatable)</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="section"><a href="#fields">6. Fields</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="section"><a href="#format-field">6.1. <code class="varname">Format</code></a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#upstream-name-field">6.2. <code class="varname">Upstream-Name</code></a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#upstream-contact-field">6.3. <code class="varname">Upstream-Contact</code></a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#source-field">6.4. <code class="varname">Source</code></a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#disclaimer-field">6.5. <code class="varname">Disclaimer</code></a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#comment-field">6.6. <code class="varname">Comment</code></a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#license-field">6.7. <code class="varname">License</code></a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#copyright-field">6.8. <code class="varname">Copyright</code></a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#files-field">6.9. <code class="varname">Files</code></a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="section"><a href="#license-specification">7. License specification</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="section"><a href="#license-short-name">7.1. Short name</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#license-syntax">7.2. Syntax</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#spdx">7.3. SPDX</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="section"><a href="#examples">8. Examples</a></span></dt></dl></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="introduction"></a>1. Introduction</h2></div></div></div><p> This document describes a standard, machine-interpretable format for the <code class="filename">debian/copyright</code> file. This file is one of the most important files in Debian packaging, but, prior to this specification, no standard format was defined for it and its contents varied tremendously across packages. This made it difficult to automatically extract licensing information. </p><p> Use of this specification is optional. </p><p> Nothing in this proposal supersedes or modifies any of the requirements specified in Debian Policy regarding the appropriate detail or granularity to use when documenting copyright and license status in <code class="filename">debian/copyright</code>. </p></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="rationale"></a>2. Rationale</h2></div></div></div><p> The diversity of free software licenses means that Debian needs to care not only about the freeness of a given work, but also its license's compatibility with the other parts of Debian it uses. </p><p> The arrival of the GPL version 3, its incompatibility with version 2, and our inability to spot the software where the incompatibility might be problematic is one prominent occurrence of this limitation. </p><p> There are earlier precedents, also. One is the GPL/OpenSSL incompatibility. Apart from grepping <code class="filename">debian/copyright</code>, which is prone to numerous false positives (packaging under the GPL but software under another license) or negatives (GPL software but with an <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">OpenSSL special exception</span>”</span> dual licensing form), there is no reliable way to know which software in Debian might be problematic. </p><p> And there is more to come. There are issues with shipping GPLv2-only software with a CDDL operating system such as Nexenta. The GPL version 3 solves this issue, but not all GPL software can switch to it and we have no way to know how much of Debian should be stripped from such a system. </p><p> Even where licenses are DFSG-free and mutually compatible, users may wish for a way to identify software under certain licenses (if, for example, they have special reasons to avoid certain licenses). </p></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="acknowledgements"></a>3. Acknowledgements</h2></div></div></div><p> Many people have worked on this specification over the years. The following alphabetical list is incomplete; please suggest missing people: Russ Allbery, Ben Finney, Sam Hocevar, Steve Langasek, Charles Plessy, Noah Slater, Jonas Smedegaard, Lars Wirzenius. </p></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="file-syntax"></a>4. File syntax</h2></div></div></div><p> The <code class="filename">debian/copyright</code> file must be machine-interpretable, yet human-readable, while communicating all mandated upstream information, copyright notices and licensing details. </p><p> The syntax of the file is the same as for other Debian control files, as specified in the Debian Policy Manual. See its <a class="ulink" href="https://www.debian.org/doc/debian-policy/ch-controlfields#s-controlsyntax" target="_top">section 5.1</a> for details. Extra fields can be added to any paragraph. No prefixing is necessary or desired, but please avoid names similar to standard ones so that mistakes are easier to catch. Future versions of the <code class="filename">debian/copyright</code> specification will attempt to avoid conflicting specifications for widely used extra fields. </p><p> The file consists of two or more paragraphs. At minimum, the file must include one <a class="link" href="#header-paragraph" title="5.1. Header paragraph (once)">header paragraph</a> and one <a class="link" href="#files-paragraph" title="5.2. Files paragraph (repeatable)">Files paragraph</a>. </p><p> There are four types of fields. The definition for each field in this document indicates which type of value it takes. </p><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="single-line"></a>4.1. Single-line values</h3></div></div></div><p> The entire value of a single-line field must be on a single line. For example, the <code class="varname">Format</code> field has a single-line value specifying the version of the machine-readable format that is used. </p></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="white-space-lists"></a>4.2. Whitespace-separated lists</h3></div></div></div><p> Field values defined as whitespace-separated lists may be on one line or many. Values in the list are separated by one or more whitespace characters (space, tab, or newline). For example, the <code class="varname">Files</code> field contains a whitespace-separated list of filename patterns. </p></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="line-based-lists"></a>4.3. Line-based lists</h3></div></div></div><p> Line-based lists have one value per line. For example, the <code class="varname">Upstream-Contact</code> field contains a line-based list of contact addresses. </p></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="formatted-text"></a>4.4. Formatted text</h3></div></div></div><p> Formatted text fields use the same rules as the long description in a package's <code class="varname">Description</code> field in Debian control files. </p><p> In some but not all cases, the first line may have special meaning as a synopsis, similar to how the <code class="varname">Description</code> field uses the first line for the short description. See Debian Policy's section 5.6.13, <a class="ulink" href="https://www.debian.org/doc/debian-policy/ch-controlfields#s-f-Description" target="_top"><span class="quote">“<span class="quote">Description</span>”</span></a>, for details. For example, <code class="varname">Disclaimer</code> is a formatted text field that has no special first line, and <code class="varname">License</code> is a formatted text field where the first line indicates the short name or names of the licenses. </p></div></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="paragraphs"></a>5. Paragraphs</h2></div></div></div><p> There are three kinds of paragraphs. The first paragraph in the file is called the <a class="link" href="#header-paragraph" title="5.1. Header paragraph (once)">header paragraph</a>. Every other paragraph is either a <a class="link" href="#files-paragraph" title="5.2. Files paragraph (repeatable)">Files paragraph</a> or a <a class="link" href="#stand-alone-license-paragraph" title="5.3. Stand-alone License Paragraph (optional, repeatable)">stand-alone License paragraph</a>. This is similar to source and binary package paragraphs in <code class="filename">debian/control</code> files. </p><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="header-paragraph"></a>5.1. Header paragraph (once)</h3></div></div></div><p> The following fields may be present in a header paragraph. </p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem"><p> <a class="link" href="#format-field" title="6.1. Format">Format</a>: required. </p></li><li class="listitem"><p> <a class="link" href="#upstream-name-field" title="6.2. Upstream-Name">Upstream-Name</a>: optional. </p></li><li class="listitem"><p> <a class="link" href="#upstream-contact-field" title="6.3. Upstream-Contact">Upstream-Contact</a>: optional. </p></li><li class="listitem"><p> <a class="link" href="#source-field" title="6.4. Source">Source</a>: optional. </p></li><li class="listitem"><p> <a class="link" href="#disclaimer-field" title="6.5. Disclaimer">Disclaimer</a>: optional. </p></li><li class="listitem"><p> <a class="link" href="#comment-field" title="6.6. Comment">Comment</a>: optional. </p></li><li class="listitem"><p> <a class="link" href="#license-field" title="6.7. License">License</a>: optional. </p></li><li class="listitem"><p> <a class="link" href="#copyright-field" title="6.8. Copyright">Copyright</a>: optional. </p></li></ul></div><p> The <code class="varname">Copyright</code> and <code class="varname">License</code> fields in the <span class="emphasis"><em>header paragraph</em></span> may complement but do not replace the fields in the <span class="emphasis"><em>Files paragraphs</em></span>. If present, they summarise the copyright notices or redistribution terms for the package as a whole. </p><p> For example, when a work has a grant of license under both a permissive and a copyleft license, <code class="varname">License</code> can be used to clarify the license terms for the combination. <code class="varname">Copyright</code> and <code class="varname">License</code> together can also be used to document a <span class="emphasis"><em>compilation copyright</em></span> and license. </p><p> It is valid to use <code class="varname">License</code> in the header paragraph without an accompanying <code class="varname">Copyright</code> field, but <code class="varname">Copyright</code> alone is not sufficient. </p><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h4 class="title"><a id="example-header-paragraph"></a>5.1.1. Example header paragraph</h4></div></div></div><pre class="programlisting">Format: https://www.debian.org/doc/packaging-manuals/copyright-format/1.0/ Upstream-Name: SOFTware Upstream-Contact: John Doe <john.doe@example.com> Source: https://www.example.com/software/project</pre></div></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="files-paragraph"></a>5.2. Files paragraph (repeatable)</h3></div></div></div><p> The declaration of copyright and license for files may consist of one or more paragraphs. In the simplest case, a single paragraph with <code class="literal">Files: *</code> can be used to state the license and copyright for the whole package. Only the license and copyright information required by the Debian archive is required to be listed here. </p><p> The following fields may be present in a Files paragraph. </p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem"><p> <a class="link" href="#files-field" title="6.9. Files">Files</a>: required. </p></li><li class="listitem"><p> <a class="link" href="#copyright-field" title="6.8. Copyright">Copyright</a>: required. </p></li><li class="listitem"><p> <a class="link" href="#license-field" title="6.7. License">License</a>: required. </p></li><li class="listitem"><p> <a class="link" href="#comment-field" title="6.6. Comment">Comment</a>: optional. </p></li></ul></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h4 class="title"><a id="example-files-paragraph"></a>5.2.1. Example files paragraphs</h4></div></div></div><pre class="programlisting">Files: * Copyright: 1975-2010 Ulla Upstream License: GPL-2+ Files: debian/* Copyright: 2010 Daniela Debianizer License: GPL-2+ Files: debian/patches/fancy-feature Copyright: 2010 Daniela Debianizer License: GPL-3+ Files: */*.1 Copyright: 2010 Manuela Manpager License: GPL-2+</pre><p> In this example, copyright in all files is held by the upstream, and that copyright holder grants license under the GPL, version 2 or later. There are three exceptions. All the Debian packaging files have copyright held by the packager, and further one specific file providing a new feature has a different grant of license. Finally, there are some manual pages added to the package, with copyright held by a third person. </p><p> Since the license of the manual pages is the same as most other files in the package, the final paragraph above could instead be combined with the first paragraph, listing both copyright statements in one <code class="varname">Copyright</code> field. Whether to combine paragraphs with the same grant of license is left to the discretion of the author of the <code class="filename">debian/copyright</code> file. </p></div></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="stand-alone-license-paragraph"></a>5.3. Stand-alone License Paragraph (optional, repeatable)</h3></div></div></div><p> Stand-alone <code class="varname">License</code> paragraphs can be used to provide the full license text for a given license once, instead of repeating it in each <code class="varname">Files</code> paragraph that refers to it. </p><p> The synopsis (on the first line) of the <code class="varname">License</code> field must be a single license short name or a short name followed by a license exception. </p><p> The following fields may be present in a stand-alone License paragraph. </p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem"><p> <a class="link" href="#license-field" title="6.7. License">License</a>: required. </p></li><li class="listitem"><p> <a class="link" href="#comment-field" title="6.6. Comment">Comment</a>: optional. </p></li></ul></div><div class="example"><a id="id-1.6.5.6"></a><p class="title"><strong>Example 1. tri-licensed files</strong></p><div class="example-contents"><pre class="programlisting">Files: src/js/editline/* Copyright: 1993, John Doe 1993, Joe Average License: MPL-1.1 or GPL-2 or LGPL-2.1 License: MPL-1.1 [LICENSE TEXT] License: GPL-2 [LICENSE TEXT] License: LGPL-2.1 [LICENSE TEXT]</pre></div></div><br class="example-break"></br><div class="example"><a id="id-1.6.5.7"></a><p class="title"><strong>Example 2. recurrent license</strong></p><div class="example-contents"><pre class="programlisting">Files: src/js/editline/* Copyright: 1993, John Doe 1993, Joe Average License: MPL-1.1 Files: src/js/fdlibm/* Copyright: 1993, J-Random Corporation License: MPL-1.1 License: MPL-1.1 [LICENSE TEXT]</pre></div></div><br class="example-break"></br></div></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="fields"></a>6. Fields</h2></div></div></div><p> The following fields are defined for use in <code class="filename">debian/copyright</code>. </p><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="format-field"></a>6.1. <code class="varname">Format</code></h3></div></div></div><p> Single-line: URI of the format specification. The field that should be used for the current version of this document is: </p><pre class="programlisting">Format: https://www.debian.org/doc/packaging-manuals/copyright-format/1.0/</pre><p> </p><p> The original version of this specification used the non-https version of this URL as its URI, namely: </p><pre class="programlisting">Format: http://www.debian.org/doc/packaging-manuals/copyright-format/1.0/</pre><p> Both versions are valid and refer to the same specification, and parsers should interpret both as referencing the same format. The https URI is preferred. </p></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="upstream-name-field"></a>6.2. <code class="varname">Upstream-Name</code></h3></div></div></div><p> Single-line: the name upstream uses for the software </p></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="upstream-contact-field"></a>6.3. <code class="varname">Upstream-Contact</code></h3></div></div></div><p> Line-based list: the preferred address(es) to reach the upstream project. May be free-form text, but by convention will usually be written as a list of RFC5322 addresses or URIs. </p></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="source-field"></a>6.4. <code class="varname">Source</code></h3></div></div></div><p> Formatted text, no synopsis: an explanation of where the upstream source came from. Typically this would be a URL, but it might be a free-form explanation. The Debian Policy section <a class="ulink" href="https://www.debian.org/doc/debian-policy/ch-docs#s-copyrightfile" target="_top">12.5</a> requires this information unless there are no upstream sources, which is mainly the case for native Debian packages. If the upstream source has been modified to remove non-free parts, that should be explained in this field. </p></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="disclaimer-field"></a>6.5. <code class="varname">Disclaimer</code></h3></div></div></div><p> Formatted text, no synopsis: this field is used for non-free or contrib packages to state that they are not part of Debian and to explain why (see Debian Policy section <a class="ulink" href="https://www.debian.org/doc/debian-policy/ch-docs#s-copyrightfile" target="_top">12.5</a>). </p></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="comment-field"></a>6.6. <code class="varname">Comment</code></h3></div></div></div><p> Formatted text, no synopsis: this field can provide additional information. For example, it might quote an e-mail from upstream justifying why the license is acceptable to the main archive, or an explanation of how this version of the package has been forked from a version known to be DFSG-free, even though the current upstream version is not. </p></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="license-field"></a>6.7. <code class="varname">License</code></h3></div></div></div><p> Formatted text, with synopsis. </p><p> In the <a class="link" href="#header-paragraph" title="5.1. Header paragraph (once)">header paragraph</a>, this field gives the license information for the package as a whole, which may be different or simplified from a combination of all the per-file license information. In a <a class="link" href="#files-paragraph" title="5.2. Files paragraph (repeatable)">Files paragraph</a>, this field gives the licensing terms for the files listed in the <code class="varname">Files</code> field for this paragraph. In a <a class="link" href="#stand-alone-license-paragraph" title="5.3. Stand-alone License Paragraph (optional, repeatable)">stand-alone License paragraph</a>, it gives the licensing terms for those paragraphs which reference it. </p><p> First line (synopsis): an abbreviated name for the license, or expression giving alternatives (see the <a class="link" href="#license-short-name" title="7.1. Short name">Short name</a> section for a list of standard abbreviations). If there are licenses present in the package without a standard short name, an arbitrary short name may be assigned for these licenses. These arbitrary names are only guaranteed to be unique within a single copyright file. </p><p> If there are no remaining lines, then all of the short names or short names followed by license exceptions in the synopsis must be described in <a class="link" href="#stand-alone-license-paragraph" title="5.3. Stand-alone License Paragraph (optional, repeatable)">stand-alone License paragraphs</a>. Otherwise, this field should either include the full text of the license(s) or include a pointer to the license file under <code class="filename">/usr/share/common-licenses</code>. This field should include all text needed in order to fulfill both Debian Policy's requirement for including a copy of the software's distribution license (<a class="ulink" href="https://www.debian.org/doc/debian-policy/ch-docs#s-copyrightfile" target="_top">12.5</a>), and any license requirements to include warranty disclaimers or other notices with the binary package. </p></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="copyright-field"></a>6.8. <code class="varname">Copyright</code></h3></div></div></div><p> Formatted text, no synopsis: one or more free-form copyright statements. Any formatting is permitted; see the examples below for some ideas for how to structure the field to make it easier to read. In the header paragraph, this field gives the copyright information for the package as a whole, which may be different or simplified from a combination of all the per-file copyright information. In the Files paragraphs, it gives the copyright information that applies to the files matched by the <code class="varname">Files</code> pattern. If a work has no copyright holder (i.e., it is in the public domain), that information should be recorded here. </p><p> The <code class="varname">Copyright</code> field collects all relevant copyright notices for the files of this paragraph. Not all copyright notices may apply to every individual file, and years of publication for one copyright holder may be gathered together. For example, if file A has: </p><pre class="programlisting">Copyright 2008 John Smith Copyright 2009 Angela Watts</pre><p> and file B has: </p><pre class="programlisting">Copyright 2010 Angela Watts</pre><p> a single paragraph may still be used for both files. The <code class="varname">Copyright</code> field for that paragraph would contain: </p><pre class="programlisting">Copyright 2008 John Smith Copyright 2009, 2010 Angela Watts</pre><p> </p><p> The <code class="varname">Copyright</code> field may contain the original copyright statement copied exactly (including the word <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">Copyright</span>”</span>), or it may shorten the text or merge it with other copyright statements as described above, as long as it does not sacrifice information. Examples in this specification use both forms. </p></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="files-field"></a>6.9. <code class="varname">Files</code></h3></div></div></div><p> Whitespace-separated list: list of patterns indicating files covered by the license and copyright specified in this paragraph. </p><p> Filename patterns in the <code class="varname">Files</code> field are specified using a simplified shell glob syntax. Patterns are separated by whitespace. </p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem"><p> Only the wildcards <code class="literal">*</code> and <code class="literal">?</code> apply; the former matches any number of characters (including none), the latter a single character. Both match slashes (<code class="literal">/</code>) and leading dots, unlike shell globs. The pattern <code class="literal">*.in</code> therefore matches any file whose name ends in <code class="literal">.in</code> anywhere in the source tree, not just at the top level. </p></li><li class="listitem"><p> Patterns match pathnames that start at the root of the source tree. Thus, <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="filename">Makefile.in</code></span>”</span> matches only the file at the root of the tree, but <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="filename">*/Makefile.in</code></span>”</span> matches at any depth. </p></li><li class="listitem"><p> The backslash (<code class="literal">\</code>) is used to remove the magic from the next character; see table below. </p></li></ul></div><p> </p><div class="informaltable"><table class="informaltable" border="1"><colgroup><col></col><col></col></colgroup><thead><tr><th>Escape sequence</th><th>Matches</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><code class="literal">\*</code></td><td>star (asterisk)</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">\?</code></td><td>question mark</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">\\</code></td><td>backslash</td></tr></tbody></table></div><p> Any other character following a backslash is an error. </p><p> This is the same pattern syntax as <span class="citerefentry"><span class="refentrytitle">fnmatch</span>(3)</span> without the <code class="constant">FNM_PATHNAME</code> flag, or the argument to the <code class="literal">-path</code> test of the GNU <span class="command"><strong>find</strong></span> command, except that <code class="literal">[]</code> wildcards are not recognized. </p><p> Multiple <code class="varname">Files</code> paragraphs are allowed. The last paragraph that matches a particular file applies to it. More general paragraphs should therefore be given first, followed by more specific overrides. </p><p> Exclusions are only supported by adding <code class="varname">Files</code> paragraphs to override the previous match. </p><p> This syntax does not distinguish file names from directory names; a trailing slash in a pattern will never match any actual path. A whole directory tree may be selected with a pattern like "foo/*". </p><p> The space character, used to separate patterns, cannot be escaped with a backslash. A path like "foo bar" may be selected with a pattern like "foo?bar". </p></div></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="license-specification"></a>7. License specification</h2></div></div></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="license-short-name"></a>7.1. Short name</h3></div></div></div><p> Much of the value of a machine-parseable copyright file lies in being able to correlate the licenses of multiple pieces of software. To that end, this spec defines standard short names for a number of commonly used licenses, which can be used in the synopsis (first line) of a <code class="varname">License</code> field. </p><p> These short names have the specified meanings across all uses of this file format, and <span class="emphasis"><em>must not</em></span> be used to refer to any other licenses. Parsers may thus rely on these short names referring to the same licenses wherever they occur, without needing to parse or compare the full license text. </p><p> From time to time, licenses may be added to or removed from the list of standard short names. Such changes in the list of short names will always be accompanied by changes to the version of this standard and to the recommended <code class="varname">Format</code> value. Implementers who are parsing copyright files should take care not to assume anything about the meaning of license short names for unknown <code class="varname">Format</code> versions. </p><p> Use of a standard short name does not override the Debian Policy requirement to include the full license text in <code class="filename">debian/copyright</code>, nor any requirements in the license of the work regarding reproduction of legal notices. This information must still be included in the <code class="varname">License</code> field, either in a stand-alone License paragraph or in the relevant files paragraph. </p><p> For licenses that have multiple versions in use, the short name is formed from the general short name of the license family, followed by a dash and the version number. If the version number is omitted, the lowest version number is implied. When the license grant permits using the terms of any later version of that license, add a plus sign to the end of the short name. For example, the short name <code class="literal">GPL</code> refers to the GPL version 1 and is equivalent to <code class="literal">GPL-1</code>, although the latter is clearer and therefore preferred. If the package may be distributed under the GPL version 1 or any later version, use a short name of <code class="literal">GPL-1+</code>. </p><p> For <a class="link" href="#spdx" title="7.3. SPDX">SPDX</a> compatibility, versions with trailing <span class="emphasis"><em>dot-zeroes</em></span> are considered to be equivalent to versions without (e.g., <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">2.0.0</span>”</span> is considered equal to <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">2.0</span>”</span> and <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">2</span>”</span>). </p><p> Currently, the full text of the licenses is only available in the <a class="ulink" href="https://spdx.org/licenses" target="_top">SPDX Open Source License Registry</a>. </p><div class="informaltable"><table class="informaltable" border="1"><colgroup><col></col><col></col></colgroup><thead><tr><th>Keyword</th><th>Meaning</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>public-domain</td><td> No license required for any purpose; the work is not subject to copyright in any jurisdiction. </td></tr><tr><td> Apache </td><td> Apache license <a class="ulink" href="https://spdx.org/licenses/Apache-1.0" target="_top">1.0</a>, <a class="ulink" href="https://spdx.org/licenses/Apache-2.0" target="_top">2.0</a>. </td></tr><tr><td> Artistic </td><td> Artistic license <a class="ulink" href="https://spdx.org/licenses/Artistic-1.0" target="_top">1.0</a>, <a class="ulink" href="https://spdx.org/licenses/Artistic-2.0" target="_top">2.0</a>. </td></tr><tr><td> BSD-2-clause </td><td> Berkeley software distribution license, <a class="ulink" href="https://spdx.org/licenses/BSD-2-Clause" target="_top">2-clause version</a>. </td></tr><tr><td> BSD-3-clause </td><td> Berkeley software distribution license, <a class="ulink" href="https://spdx.org/licenses/BSD-3-Clause" target="_top">3-clause version</a>. </td></tr><tr><td> BSD-4-clause </td><td> Berkeley software distribution license, <a class="ulink" href="https://spdx.org/licenses/BSD-4-Clause" target="_top">4-clause version</a>. </td></tr><tr><td> ISC </td><td> <a class="ulink" href="https://spdx.org/licenses/ISC" target="_top">Internet Software Consortium</a>, sometimes also known as the OpenBSD License. </td></tr><tr><td> CC-BY </td><td> Creative Commons Attribution license <a class="ulink" href="https://spdx.org/licenses/CC-BY-1.0" target="_top">1.0</a>, <a class="ulink" href="https://spdx.org/licenses/CC-BY-2.0" target="_top">2.0</a>, <a class="ulink" href="https://spdx.org/licenses/CC-BY-2.5" target="_top">2.5</a>, <a class="ulink" href="https://spdx.org/licenses/CC-BY-3.0" target="_top">3.0</a>. </td></tr><tr><td> CC-BY-SA </td><td> Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike license <a class="ulink" href="https://spdx.org/licenses/CC-BY-SA-1.0" target="_top">1.0</a>, <a class="ulink" href="https://spdx.org/licenses/CC-BY-SA-2.0" target="_top">2.0</a>, <a class="ulink" href="https://spdx.org/licenses/CC-BY-SA-2.5" target="_top">2.5</a>, <a class="ulink" href="https://spdx.org/licenses/CC-BY-SA-3.0" target="_top">3.0</a>. </td></tr><tr><td> CC-BY-ND </td><td> Creative Commons Attribution No Derivatives license <a class="ulink" href="https://spdx.org/licenses/CC-BY-ND-1.0" target="_top">1.0</a>, <a class="ulink" href="https://spdx.org/licenses/CC-BY-ND-2.0" target="_top">2.0</a>, <a class="ulink" href="https://spdx.org/licenses/CC-BY-ND-2.5" target="_top">2.5</a>, <a class="ulink" href="https://spdx.org/licenses/CC-BY-ND-3.0" target="_top">3.0</a>. </td></tr><tr><td> CC-BY-NC </td><td> Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial license <a class="ulink" href="https://spdx.org/licenses/CC-BY-NC-1.0" target="_top">1.0</a>, <a class="ulink" href="https://spdx.org/licenses/CC-BY-NC-2.0" target="_top">2.0</a>, <a class="ulink" href="https://spdx.org/licenses/CC-BY-NC-2.5" target="_top">2.5</a>, <a class="ulink" href="https://spdx.org/licenses/CC-BY-NC-3.0" target="_top">3.0</a>. </td></tr><tr><td> CC-BY-NC-SA </td><td> Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike license <a class="ulink" href="https://spdx.org/licenses/CC-BY-NC-SA-1.0" target="_top">1.0</a>, <a class="ulink" href="https://spdx.org/licenses/CC-BY-NC-SA-2.0" target="_top">2.0</a>, <a class="ulink" href="https://spdx.org/licenses/CC-BY-NC-SA-2.5" target="_top">2.5</a>, <a class="ulink" href="https://spdx.org/licenses/CC-BY-NC-SA-3.0" target="_top">3.0</a>. </td></tr><tr><td> CC-BY-NC-ND </td><td> Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives license <a class="ulink" href="https://spdx.org/licenses/CC-BY-NC-ND-1.0" target="_top">1.0</a>, <a class="ulink" href="https://spdx.org/licenses/CC-BY-NC-ND-2.0" target="_top">2.0</a>, <a class="ulink" href="https://spdx.org/licenses/CC-BY-NC-ND-2.5" target="_top">2.5</a>, <a class="ulink" href="https://spdx.org/licenses/CC-BY-NC-ND-3.0" target="_top">3.0</a>. </td></tr><tr><td> CC0 </td><td> Creative Commons Zero <a class="ulink" href="https://spdx.org/licenses/CC0-1.0" target="_top">1.0 Universal</a>. Omit <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">Universal</span>”</span> from the license version when forming the short name. </td></tr><tr><td> CDDL </td><td> Common Development and Distribution License <a class="ulink" href="https://spdx.org/licenses/CDDL-1.0" target="_top">1.0</a>. </td></tr><tr><td> CPL </td><td> <a class="ulink" href="https://spdx.org/licenses/CPL-1.0" target="_top">Common Public License</a>. </td></tr><tr><td> EFL </td><td> The Eiffel Forum License <a class="ulink" href="https://spdx.org/licenses/EFL-1.0" target="_top">1.0</a>, <a class="ulink" href="https://spdx.org/licenses/EFL-2.0" target="_top">2.0</a>. </td></tr><tr><td> Expat </td><td> The <a class="ulink" href="http://www.jclark.com/xml/copying.txt" target="_top">Expat</a> license. </td></tr><tr><td> GPL </td><td> GNU General Public License <a class="ulink" href="https://spdx.org/licenses/GPL-1.0" target="_top">1.0</a>, <a class="ulink" href="https://spdx.org/licenses/GPL-2.0" target="_top">2.0</a>, <a class="ulink" href="https://spdx.org/licenses/GPL-3.0" target="_top">3.0</a>. </td></tr><tr><td> LGPL </td><td> GNU Lesser General Public License <a class="ulink" href="https://spdx.org/licenses/LGPL-2.1" target="_top">2.1</a>, <a class="ulink" href="https://spdx.org/licenses/LGPL-3.0" target="_top">3.0</a>, or GNU Library General Public License <a class="ulink" href="https://spdx.org/licenses/LGPL-2.0" target="_top">2.0</a>. </td></tr><tr><td> GFDL </td><td> GNU Free Documentation License 1.0, <a class="ulink" href="https://spdx.org/licenses/GFDL-1.1" target="_top">1.1</a>, <a class="ulink" href="https://spdx.org/licenses/GFDL-1.2" target="_top">1.2</a>, or <a class="ulink" href="https://spdx.org/licenses/GFDL-1.3" target="_top">1.3</a>. Use GFDL-NIV instead if there are no Front-Cover or Back-Cover Texts or Invariant Sections. </td></tr><tr><td> GFDL-NIV </td><td> GNU Free Documentation License, with no Front-Cover or Back-Cover Texts or Invariant Sections. Use the same version numbers as GFDL. </td></tr><tr><td> LPPL </td><td> <a class="ulink" href="https://www.latex-project.org/lppl/" target="_top">LaTeX Project Public License</a> <a class="ulink" href="https://spdx.org/licenses/LPPL-1.0" target="_top">1.0</a>, <a class="ulink" href="https://spdx.org/licenses/LPPL-1.1" target="_top">1.1</a>, <a class="ulink" href="https://spdx.org/licenses/LPPL-1.2" target="_top">1.2</a>, <a class="ulink" href="https://spdx.org/licenses/LPPL-1.3c" target="_top">1.3c</a>. </td></tr><tr><td> MPL </td><td> Mozilla Public License <a class="ulink" href="https://spdx.org/licenses/MPL-1.1" target="_top">1.1</a>. </td></tr><tr><td> Perl </td><td> <a class="ulink" href="https://dev.perl.org/licenses/" target="_top">Perl</a> license (use <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">GPL-1+ or Artistic-1</code></span>”</span> instead). </td></tr><tr><td> Python </td><td> Python license <a class="ulink" href="https://spdx.org/licenses/Python-2.0" target="_top">2.0</a>. </td></tr><tr><td> QPL </td><td> Q Public License <a class="ulink" href="https://spdx.org/licenses/QPL-1.0" target="_top">1.0</a>. </td></tr><tr><td> W3C </td><td> <a class="ulink" href="https://spdx.org/licenses/W3C" target="_top">W3C Software License</a> For more information, consult the <a class="ulink" href="https://www.w3.org/Consortium/Legal/IPR-FAQ-20000620" target="_top">W3C Intellectual Rights FAQ</a>. </td></tr><tr><td> Zlib </td><td> <a class="ulink" href="https://spdx.org/licenses/Zlib" target="_top"> zlib/libpng license</a>. </td></tr><tr><td> Zope </td><td> Zope Public License 1.0, <a class="ulink" href="https://spdx.org/licenses/ZPL-1.1" target="_top">1.1</a>, <a class="ulink" href="https://spdx.org/licenses/ZPL-2.0" target="_top">2.0</a>, <a class="ulink" href="https://spdx.org/licenses/ZPL-2.1" target="_top">2.1</a>. </td></tr></tbody></table></div><p> There are <a class="ulink" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIT_License#Various_versions" target="_top">many versions of the MIT license</a>. Please use Expat instead, when it matches. </p><p> An exception or clarification to a license is signalled in plain text, by appending <code class="literal">with <code class="varname"><em class="replaceable"><code>keywords</code></em></code> exception</code> to the short name. This document provides a list of keywords that must be used when referring to the most frequent exceptions. When exceptions other than these are in effect that modify a common license by granting additional permissions, you may use an arbitrary keyword not taken from the below list of keywords. When a license differs from a common license because of added restrictions rather than because of added permissions, a distinct short name should be used instead of <code class="literal">with <code class="varname"><em class="replaceable"><code>keywords</code></em></code> exception</code>. </p><p> Only one exception may be specified for each license within a given license specification. If more than one exception applies to a single license, an arbitrary short name indicating that combination of multiple exceptions must be used instead. </p><p> The GPL <code class="literal">Font</code> exception refers to the text added to the license notice of each file as specified at <a class="ulink" href="https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq#FontException" target="_top">How does the GPL apply to fonts</a>. The precise text corresponding to this exception is: </p><pre class="programlisting">As a special exception, if you create a document which uses this font, and embed this font or unaltered portions of this font into the document, this font does not by itself cause the resulting document to be covered by the GNU General Public License. This exception does not however invalidate any other reasons why the document might be covered by the GNU General Public License. If you modify this font, you may extend this exception to your version of the font, but you are not obligated to do so. If you do not wish to do so, delete this exception statement from your version.</pre><p> </p><p> The GPL <code class="literal">OpenSSL</code> exception gives permission to link GPL-licensed code with the OpenSSL library, which contains GPL-incompatible clauses. For more information, see <a class="ulink" href="https://www.gnome.org/~markmc/openssl-and-the-gpl" target="_top">The OpenSSL License and The GPL</a> by Mark McLoughlin and the message <a class="ulink" href="https://lists.debian.org/debian-legal/2004/05/msg00595.html" target="_top">middleman software license conflicts with OpenSSL</a> by Mark McLoughlin on the <span class="emphasis"><em>debian-legal</em></span> mailing list. The text corresponding to this exception is: </p><pre class="programlisting">In addition, as a special exception, the copyright holders give permission to link the code of portions of this program with the OpenSSL library under certain conditions as described in each individual source file, and distribute linked combinations including the two. You must obey the GNU General Public License in all respects for all of the code used other than OpenSSL. If you modify file(s) with this exception, you may extend this exception to your version of the file(s), but you are not obligated to do so. If you do not wish to do so, delete this exception statement from your version. If you delete this exception statement from all source files in the program, then also delete it here.</pre><p> </p><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h4 class="title"><a id="public-domain"></a>7.1.1. Public domain</h4></div></div></div><p> The <code class="varname">License</code> short name <code class="literal">public-domain</code> does not refer to a set of license terms. There are some works which are not subject to copyright in any jurisdiction and therefore no license is required for any purpose covered by copyright law. This short name is an explicit declaration that the associated files are <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">in the public domain</span>”</span>. </p><p> Widespread misunderstanding about copyright in general, and the public domain in particular, results in the common assertion that a work is in the public domain when this is partly or wholly untrue for that work. The <a class="ulink" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_domain" target="_top">Wikipedia article on public domain</a> is a useful reference for this subject. </p><p> When the <code class="varname">License</code> field in a paragraph has the short name <code class="literal">public-domain</code>, the remaining lines of the field <span class="emphasis"><em>must</em></span> explain exactly what exemption the corresponding files for that paragraph have from default copyright restrictions. </p></div></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="license-syntax"></a>7.2. Syntax</h3></div></div></div><p> License names are case-insensitive, and may not contain spaces. </p><p> In case of multi-licensing, the license short names are separated by <code class="literal">or</code> when the user can chose between different licenses, and by <code class="literal">and</code> when use of the work must simultaneously comply with the terms of multiple licenses. </p><p> For instance, this is a simple, <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">GPL version 2 or later</span>”</span> field: </p><pre class="programlisting">License: GPL-2+</pre><p> This is a dual-licensed GPL/Artistic work such as Perl: </p><pre class="programlisting">License: GPL-1+ or Artistic</pre><p> This is for a file that has both GPL and classic BSD code in it: </p><pre class="programlisting">License: GPL-2+ and BSD-3-clause</pre><p> For the most complex cases, a comma is used to disambiguate the priority of <code class="literal">or</code>s and <code class="literal">and</code>s. The conjunction <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">and</code></span>”</span> has priority over <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">or</code></span>”</span> unless preceded by a comma. For instance: </p><p> <code class="literal">A or B and C</code> means <code class="literal">A or (B and C)</code>. </p><p> <code class="literal">A or B, and C</code> means <code class="literal">(A or B) and C</code>. </p><p> This is for a file that has Perl code and classic BSD code in it: </p><pre class="programlisting">License: GPL-2+ or Artistic-2.0, and BSD-3-clause</pre><p> A <code class="literal">GPL-2+</code> work with the <code class="literal">OpenSSL</code> exception is in effect a dual-licensed work that can be redistributed either under the <code class="literal">GPL-2+</code>, or under the <code class="literal">GPL-2+</code> with the <code class="literal">OpenSSL</code> exception. It is thus expressed as <code class="literal">GPL-2+ with OpenSSL exception</code>. A possible <code class="varname">License</code> field for such a license is: </p><pre class="programlisting">License: GPL-2+ with OpenSSL exception This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version. . In addition, as a special exception, the author of this program gives permission to link the code of its release with the OpenSSL project's "OpenSSL" library (or with modified versions of it that use the same license as the "OpenSSL" library), and distribute the linked executables. You must obey the GNU General Public License in all respects for all of the code used other than "OpenSSL". If you modify this file, you may extend this exception to your version of the file, but you are not obligated to do so. If you do not wish to do so, delete this exception statement from your version. . This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details. . You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this package; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA . On Debian systems, the full text of the GNU General Public License version 2 can be found in the file `/usr/share/common-licenses/GPL-2'.</pre><p> </p></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="spdx"></a>7.3. SPDX</h3></div></div></div><p> <a class="ulink" href="https://spdx.org/" target="_top">SPDX</a> is an attempt to standardize a format for communicating the components, licenses and copyrights associated with a software package. It and the machine-readable <code class="filename">debian/copyright</code> format attempt to be somewhat compatible. However, the two formats have different aims, and so the formats are different. The <a class="ulink" href="https://wiki.debian.org/Proposals/CopyrightFormat" target="_top">DEP5 wiki page</a> will be used to track the differences. </p></div></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="examples"></a>8. Examples</h2></div></div></div><div class="example"><a id="id-1.9.2"></a><p class="title"><strong>Example 3. Simple</strong></p><div class="example-contents"><p> A possible <code class="filename">debian/copyright</code> file for an program <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">X Solitaire</span>”</span> distributed in the Debian source package <code class="literal">xsol</code> (this is not a complete or correct copyright file for the actual <code class="literal">xsol</code> package): </p><pre class="programlisting"> Format: https://www.debian.org/doc/packaging-manuals/copyright-format/1.0/ Upstream-Name: X Solitaire Source: ftp://ftp.example.com/pub/games Files: * Copyright: 1998 John Doe <jdoe@example.com> 1998 Jane Smith <jsmith@example.net> License: GPL-2+ This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version. . This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details. . You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this package; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA . On Debian systems, the full text of the GNU General Public License version 2 can be found in the file `/usr/share/common-licenses/GPL-2'. </pre><p> </p></div></div><br class="example-break"></br><div class="example"><a id="id-1.9.3"></a><p class="title"><strong>Example 4. Complex</strong></p><div class="example-contents"><p> A possible <code class="filename">debian/copyright</code> file for the program <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">Planet Venus</span>”</span>, distributed in the Debian source package <code class="literal">planet-venus</code> (this is not a complete or correct copyright file for the actual <code class="literal">planet-venus</code> package): </p><pre class="programlisting"> Format: https://www.debian.org/doc/packaging-manuals/copyright-format/1.0/ Upstream-Name: Planet Venus Upstream-Contact: John Doe <jdoe@example.com> Source: https://www.example.com/code/venus Files: * Copyright: 2008, John Doe <jdoe@example.com> 2007, Jane Smith <jsmith@example.org> 2007, Joe Average <joe@example.org> 2007, J. Random User <jr@users.example.com> License: PSF-2 Files: debian/* Copyright: 2008, Dan Developer <dan@debian.example.com> License: permissive Copying and distribution of this package, with or without modification, are permitted in any medium without royalty provided the copyright notice and this notice are preserved. Files: debian/patches/theme-diveintomark.patch Copyright: 2008, Joe Hacker <hack@example.org> License: GPL-2+ Files: planet/vendor/compat_logging/* Copyright: 2002, Mark Smith <msmith@example.org> License: MIT [LICENSE TEXT] Files: planet/vendor/httplib2/* Copyright: 2006, John Brown <brown@example.org> License: MIT2 Unspecified MIT style license. Files: planet/vendor/feedparser.py Copyright: 2007, Mike Smith <mike@example.org> License: PSF-2 Files: planet/vendor/htmltmpl.py Copyright: 2004, Thomas Brown <coder@example.org> License: GPL-2+ License: PSF-2 [LICENSE TEXT] License: GPL-2+ This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version. . This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details. . You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this package; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA . On Debian systems, the full text of the GNU General Public License version 2 can be found in the file `/usr/share/common-licenses/GPL-2'.</pre><p> </p></div></div><br class="example-break"></br></div></div></body></html>