Entries Related to ‘Open Source Policy’

In Jacobsen v. Katzer, the Federal Circuit held that open source licenses are indeed licenses and not merely contracts. This is an important decision due to the remedies available under the Copyright Act versus contract law. But what do monetary damages under U.S. copyright law look like? More specifically, how much could an OSS license non-compliance action cost a company that loses such a suit?

Jilayne Lovejoy and Eric Weidner recently sat down for an informative discussion on practical tips for open source license compliance. In addition to the basics — why you should be concerned about complying with open source licenses — Jilayne and Eric also discussed key questions you should ask, best practices from a development standpoint, and building the right team to handle license compliance issues.

How do open source audits work? You probably know what you’re looking for, and why, but the devil is in the details. Here’s how an open source audit works, what you can expect, and how to get best results.

No matter what industry your business is in, you’re almost certainly using open source software. The question is whether you know how you’re using open source, what licenses are in play, and whether you’re meeting all of your license requirements. If you can’t answer all of these questions — and most businesses can’t — you may want to perform an open source audit as a starting point.

Developers and IT staff love open source software, but when they try to use open source at work they often find that their manager, or their manager’s manager, has a lot of concerns. In this article we’ll outline strategies you can use to convince your manager to use open source software, along with tips on how to make those strategies effective.

Ready to take your open source policy and put it into practice? This article outlines practical tips based on real-world examples of effective open source governance in action. Don’t worry — we’ll guide you through the questions you’ll need to consider to create a governance process that aligns your organization’s culture, structure, and goals.

Need to create an open source policy but unsure of how to get started? You’re not alone, so we compiled this handy guide chock full of best practices for open source software policy writing. Learn how to get started, what to include, and who to invite to the policy writing party. Trust us, we’ve done this before.

No kidding, we’ve boiled it down to six – Six Elements of Open Source Governance laid out and discussed right here. Everything you need to know in a few thousand printable, portable, highlightable words about open source policies, managing inventory, provisioning, scanning, reporting, and more.