Lesson 2: Licensing Your Own Software and Other Works

Lesson 2: Licensing Your Own Software and Other Works#

Vignette: So Much to Share

Dr. Leonor Cruz, a researcher in computational physics, has been working on a new simulation code for modeling complex fluids. The code builds upon existing open-source libraries and incorporates novel algorithms developed by Dr. Cruz and her colleagues. As she prepares to publish her research findings, Dr. Cruz decides that she wants to make her code available to the wider scientific community. She believes that sharing her work openly will not only enhance the reproducibility and transparency of her research but also enable other researchers to build upon and extend her work. She wants to not only allow other researchers to use, modify, and share the code, but also to receive attribution for her work. Additionally, she is aware that some of the libraries her code depends on have specific licensing requirements that need to be considered.

Dr. Cruz is also thinking about how to handle the licensing of the data generated by her simulations. She plans to publish the data alongside her code and wants to ensure that it is licensed in a way that allows for reuse and redistribution.

What’s more, Dr. Cruz has written detailed documentation and tutorials to accompany her code, and she wants to make sure that these materials are licensed appropriately as well. As she grapples with these questions, Dr. Cruz seeks guidance on choosing the right licenses for her research outputs by contacting her institution’s Open Source Program Office. She wants to understand the implications of different licensing options and how they align with her goals of enabling collaboration and building upon existing work.

Dr. Cruz is also aware that her institution has specific policies and processes related to intellectual property and technology transfer. She wants to ensure that she is following these policies while navigating the licensing questions.

In the following sections, we will explore key considerations and best practices for licensing research outputs, including code, data, and other content types. We will discuss how to choose appropriate open licenses, work with institutional policies and processes, and effectively communicate and share openly licensed research outputs with the scientific community.

Let’s dive into the importance of licensing your own research outputs and how it can benefit you, your collaborators, and the scientific community as a whole.

Why license your research outputs?#

As a researcher, you pour your heart and soul into your work, whether it’s writing software, collecting and analyzing datasets, or creating insightful visualizations and content. So what happens to your research outputs once you’ve completed your findings?

Publishing and licensing your work outputs is an important step in ensuring that your contributions have the greatest possible impact and reach. By choosing the right license, you can control how others use, modify, and share your work, while also receiving proper credit and recognition for your efforts.

Here are some reasons why licensing your research outputs is important.

Reproducibility, transparency, and scientific norms#

In scientific research, reproducibility and transparency are essential. By licensing your code, data, and other materials, you make it possible for other researchers to verify your results, build upon your work, and push your field forward.

Openly licensing your research outputs shows your commitment to these scientific norms and helps to foster a culture of openness and collaboration. It shows that you stand behind your work and are willing to subject it to the scrutiny and feedback of your peers.

Moreover, many funding agencies and journals now require or strongly encourage researchers to make their outputs publicly available under open licenses. By proactively licensing your work, you can stay ahead of these requirements and demonstrate your dedication to open and transparent research practices.

Collaboration and building on existing work#

One of the most powerful aspects of openly licensing your research outputs is that it facilitates (and even invites) others to collaborate with you and build upon your work. By pre-emptively granting permissions for others to use, modify, and share your code, data, and materials, you open up new opportunities for collaboration and innovation.

Imagine a scenario where another researcher comes across your openly licensed software and realizes that it could be adapted to solve a problem they’ve been working on. By building upon your work, they are able to make new discoveries and advance their own research. In turn, they may contribute back to your project, leading to a virtuous cycle of collaboration and mutual benefit.

Or perhaps a teacher discovers your openly licensed dataset and incorporates it into a lesson plan, exposing a new generation of students to your work and inspiring them to pursue careers in your field.

By licensing your research outputs, you create a ripple effect of impact that extends far beyond your own lab or institution. You enable others to stand on your shoulders and push the boundaries of what’s possible.

Maximizing your impact and future opportunities#

As you progress in your career, the impact and reach of your work compounds over time. Licensing your research outputs is one strategy for maximizing your impact and opening up new opportunities for collaboration, funding, and recognition. You can establish yourself as a leader in open and reproducible research, and thus attract top collaborators, secure funding from agencies that prioritize openness, and build a reputation as an innovator in your field.

What’s more, the skills and knowledge you gain by navigating the licensing process will serve you well throughout your career. You’ll be equipped to understand and manage intellectual property, work effectively with technology transfer offices, and make informed decisions about how to share and promote your work.

So, as we move forward in this section, keep in mind the many benefits of licensing your research outputs. By taking control of how your work is used and shared, you can amplify your impact, accelerate discovery, and unlock new opportunities for your career and your field.

Examples of OSS policies and initiatives#

Licensing code, data, and other content types#

As a researcher, you produce a wide variety of outputs, each with its own unique characteristics and licensing considerations. In this section, we’ll break down some factors to keep in mind when licensing software, data, and other content types.

Considerations for licensing software#

When it comes to licensing software, it’s essential to use standard, widely-recognized licenses that have been vetted by the open-source community. The Open Source Initiative (OSI) maintains a list of approved licenses that are well-understood and legally sound.

Choose a license that aligns with your values and goals. For academic and research software, we strongly recommend using permissive open-source licenses like the MIT, BSD-3, or Apache 2.0 licenses. These licenses place minimal restrictions on how others can use, modify, and distribute your code, while still ensuring that you receive proper credit and attribution.

Note

Permissive licenses are particularly well-suited for academic settings, as they allow for the greatest flexibility and potential for collaboration and reuse. They also reduce barriers to adoption and make it easier for others to integrate your code into their own projects, even if they are using different licenses.

When choosing a license for your software, be sure to consider any dependencies or third-party libraries that you are using, as their licenses may impact your choice. Aim for license compatibility to avoid legal conflicts and make it easier for others to use and build upon your work.

Licensing options for research data#

Data licensing is a complex and evolving area, but keep in mind some basic principles. As a general rule, aim to make your data as open and accessible as possible, while still respecting any privacy, security, or ethical concerns.

For most research data, we recommend using a permissive license like the Creative Commons CC0 public-domain dedication or the CC-BY license. These options allow others to freely use, share, and adapt your data, while still giving you credit as the original creator.

In some cases, you may need to use a more restrictive license or distribution method to protect sensitive or confidential data. However, whenever possible, try to provide at least a subset or aggregated version of your data under an open license to support reproducibility and reuse.

When licensing your data, be sure to clearly document any terms of use, attribution requirements, or other conditions. This will help others understand how they can responsibly use and share your data.

Creative Commons licenses for text, media, and other content#

For non-software outputs like text, images, videos, and other creative works, the Creative Commons (CC) licenses are the gold standard. These licenses provide a simple, standardized way to grant permissions and specify attribution requirements for your work.

The CC-BY license is the most permissive option, allowing others to freely use, share, and adapt your work as long as they give you credit. The CC-BY-SA license adds a “share-alike” requirement, meaning that any adaptations must be shared under the same license terms. The CC-BY-ND license prohibits derivative works, while the CC-BY-NC license restricts commercial use.

When choosing a CC license, consider your goals and the potential impact you want your work to have. In general, we recommend using the most permissive license that still aligns with your needs and values.

Warning

It’s important to note that CC licenses are not appropriate for software, as they do not address important issues like source code distribution, patent rights, and warranty disclaimers. Stick to OSI-approved licenses for software, and use CC licenses for other types of content.

Empowering others to build upon your work#

By licensing your code, data, and other research outputs under permissive open licenses, you empower others to build upon your work and make new discoveries. You create a foundation of openness and collaboration that can accelerate progress and drive innovation in your field.

As you make decisions about licensing, always keep in mind the bigger picture of how your work can benefit the wider scientific community. By choosing licenses that maximize access and reuse, you can amplify your impact and contribute to a more open and equitable future for research.

Commercial uses and copyleft licenses#

All open-source licenses, by definition, allow for commercial uses of the licensed software. This is explicitly stated in point 6 of the Open Source Definition, which requires that an open-source license “must not restrict anyone from making use of the program in a specific field of endeavor,” including commercial endeavors.

However, some businesses perceive copyleft licenses (like the GNU GPL) as less friendly to commercial interests. This is because copyleft licenses require any derivative works or modifications to be released under the same license terms. For companies that want to create proprietary software based on open-source components, this “share-alike” requirement can be seen as a barrier. In contrast, permissive licenses (like MIT or Apache 2.0) do not have this share-alike requirement, making them more appealing for businesses that want to use open-source software in proprietary products.

It’s important to note that this perception of copyleft licenses as “business-unfriendly” is not universally shared, and many successful commercial projects do use and contribute to copyleft-licensed software. Nonetheless, it’s a factor to consider when choosing a license for your own projects, especially if you aim to encourage commercial adoption and collaboration.

What about a non-commercial CC license?#

When it comes to other types of content, such as text, images, or educational materials, some creators may be tempted to use licenses that restrict commercial use, like the Creative Commons CC-BY-NC license. However, we strongly advise against using non-commercial clauses in licenses for scholarly works, as they can be problematic.

The main issue with non-commercial licenses is that the term “commercial” is not clearly defined and can be interpreted in many different ways. This ambiguity can lead to confusion and uncertainty about how the licensed work can be used, which undermines the very purpose of licensing your works.

For example, consider a faculty member who uses CC-BY-NC licensed material in their teaching and research. If this faculty member also engages in consulting work, would using the material be considered a commercial use? Or imagine a student who uses CC-BY-NC licensed content in their coursework and later develops a business idea inspired by what they learned. Would this constitute a violation of the non-commercial clause?

These scenarios illustrate how difficult it is to draw clear lines between commercial and non-commercial uses in academic settings. Researchers, educators, and students often engage in a mix of activities that blur the boundaries between academia and industry, making it impractical to enforce strict non-commercial provisions. Moreover, non-commercial clauses can have unintended consequences for the dissemination and impact of scholarly works. They can discourage the use and adaptation of licensed materials in contexts that may not be strictly academic but still serve important educational or research purposes. This can limit the reach and influence of the work and hinder collaboration and innovation.

Instead of using non-commercial licenses, we recommend using more permissive licenses like CC-BY or CC-BY-SA for scholarly content. These licenses allow for a wider range of uses while still ensuring that creators receive proper attribution and credit for their work. They also provide greater clarity and certainty for users, making it easier for others to build upon and share the licensed material and derivative works.

Practical guidelines and tips#

Now that you realize the importance of licensing your work and the different types of licenses available, let’s review some practical steps you can take to ensure your work is properly licensed and attributed.

Picking a license when creating a code repository on GitHub#

When creating a new repository on GitHub, you can easily add a license to your project. After entering your repository name and description, look for the “Choose a license” dropdown menu.

GitHub offers a selection of common open-source licenses, including MIT, Apache 2.0, and GNU GPL. Choose the license that best fits your needs and goals, and GitHub will automatically create a LICENSE file in your repository with the full text of the license. For example, if you want to use the MIT license for your project, simply select “MIT License” from the dropdown menu, and GitHub will handle the rest.

Adding a LICENSE file manually#

If you’re not using GitHub or want to add a license to an existing project, you can create a LICENSE file manually. Simply create a new text file named “LICENSE” in the root directory of your project, and copy the full text of your chosen license into the file. For instance, if you want to use the Apache 2.0 license, you would copy the license text from the Apache website or the OSI website and paste it into your LICENSE file.

Choosing a license when depositing data in a hosting service#

Many data hosting services, such as Zenodo and Figshare, allow you to specify a license for your datasets during the upload process. Look for a “License” or “Rights” field in the metadata form, and select the appropriate license from the available options. For example, if you’re depositing a dataset on Zenodo and want to use the Creative Commons CC0 dedication, choose “CC0” from the license picker. See the Zenodo documentation on Licenses and rights and Figshare’s page on Copyright and License Policy.

Adding license badges to README files or the cover page of a document or website#

License badges are small, visual indicators that quickly convey the license terms of your project. They are commonly used in README files, but can also be added to the cover page of a document or website. To add a license badge, simply copy the badge code from a reputable source and paste it into your README file or cover page. For example, to add an MIT license badge from Shields.io, you would include the following code in your Markdown file:

![License: MIT](https://img.shields.io/badge/license-MIT-green)

This will display a small badge that says “License: MIT”, like this:

Writing a copyright notice with license details#

In addition to including the full text of your chosen license, it’s a good practice to add a brief copyright notice and license summary to your project’s README file or documentation. This makes it clear to users how they can use and distribute your work.

A typical copyright notice and license summary might look like this:

Copyright (c) [Year] [Your Name]

This project is licensed under the terms of the [License Name] license.
You are free to use, modify, and distribute this work, subject to the
conditions specified in the LICENSE file.

For example:

Copyright (c) 2023 Jane Doe

This dataset is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons
Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license. You are free to
share and adapt this dataset, as long as you give appropriate credit
and indicate if changes were made. See the LICENSE file for details.

By following these practical guidelines and tips, you can ensure that your research outputs are properly licensed and attributed, making it easier for others to use, share, and build upon your work.

Let’s complete this lesson by considering institutional support for open licensing and how you can work with your institution to ensure your research outputs are openly licensed and shared.

Institutional support for open licensing#

As a researcher, you don’t operate in a vacuum. Your work is supported by and connected to your institution, which has its own policies, resources, and expectations regarding intellectual property (IP) and licensing. It’s important to understand and engage with these institutional factors for successfully sharing your research outputs.

Familiarizing yourself with your institution’s IP policies#

At many colleges and universities in the United States, the principles of academic freedom dictate that faculty, students, and some staff (librarians, for example) own the rights to their research and scholarly creations. This means that, as an author, you traditionally retain the copyright to your work and have the authority to decide how it is disseminated, including the choice of license.

However, it’s essential to familiarize yourself with your institution’s specific IP policies, as they may have some variations or exceptions. For example, some institutions may claim ownership of certain types of work, such as software developed using significant university resources or projects funded by specific sources.

To understand your rights and responsibilities, consult your institution’s IP policy documents, faculty handbook, or research administration office. If you have questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to reach out to your department chair, librarian, or legal counsel for guidance.

GW Copyright Policies

The GW Copyright Policy says that faculty, librarians, and students retain the copyright of any works done:

…in pursuit of their normal scholarly, professional, or academic responsibilities, including normal use of the university’s physical facilities, by their own initiative… Sponsored Research, without a specific agreement for copyright, shall be considered scholarly work and the copyright in such works shall belong to the author(s), not to the university.

This means that scholarly works—including software, documentation, and educational content—belong to the author, who is thus free to choose to share the works under any license.

Leveraging resources and expertise from your Open Source Program Office (OSPO)#

Many academic institutions have established Open Source Program Offices (OSPOs) to support and promote open-source development and licensing. These offices serve as a valuable resource for researchers looking to openly license their work and navigate the complexities of IP policies and processes.

Your institution’s OSPO can provide a range of services and expertise, including:

Guidance on choosing appropriate open-source licenses for your research outputs
Assistance with reviewing license agreements and drafting copyright notices
Education and training on open-source best practices and community norms
Support for collaborating with external open-source projects and communities
Advocacy for open licensing and open access policies within your institution

If your institution has an OSPO, reach out to them early in your research process to learn about the resources and support they offer. They can be a powerful ally in helping you achieve your open-licensing goals and maximizing the impact of your work.

Advocating for open licensing of your research outputs#

While many institutions have embraced open licensing and open access, in some cases you may need to advocate for these practices within your research group or department. This is particularly relevant for graduate students and postdocs, who may need to discuss open licensing with their supervisors or principal investigators (PIs).

If you’re a graduate student or postdoc, consider raising the topic of open licensing during research group meetings or one-on-one discussions with your supervisor. Come prepared with a clear rationale for why open licensing is important for your work and how it aligns with the values and goals of your field. Highlight the potential benefits, such as increased visibility, citation impact, and opportunities for collaboration and reuse.

For PIs and research leaders, one effective way to advocate for open licensing is to include explicit language in your grant proposals and funding applications. By making a commitment to openly license your research outputs, you can ensure that this becomes a contractual obligation between your institution and the funding agency. It can also provide a strong incentive for your institution to support and facilitate open licensing practices.

Additionally, consider engaging with your institution’s faculty governance bodies, such as the faculty senate or research committee, to advocate for policies and practices that promote open licensing and open access. By working collectively with your colleagues, you can help shape an institutional culture that values and rewards openness and transparency in research.

Conclusion#

Navigating institutional policies and processes related to open licensing can seem daunting, but remember that you are not alone. By familiarizing yourself with your institution’s IP policies, leveraging the resources and expertise of your OSPO, and actively advocating for open-licensing practices, you can ensure that your research outputs are widely shared and have the greatest possible impact.

As you work to openly license your own research, you are advancing your own career and reputation while also contributing to a larger movement towards open and equitable access to knowledge. Your efforts, combined with those of your colleagues and institution, can help shape a future where the fruits of academic research are freely and openly available to all.