Questions tagged [licensing]
Questions about the licensing of content on Stack Exchange sites.
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Is it legal to copy Stack Overflow questions and answers?
I just found http://programmingfaq.w3ec.com/faq/4761/whats-the-hi-lo-algorithm which has an exact copy of this Stack Overflow question, What's the Hi/Lo Algorithm, with all its answers and no ...
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Stack Exchange and Stack Overflow have moved to CC BY-SA 4.0
Effective today, all Subscriber Content on Stack Overflow and the Stack Exchange network will be available under the terms of version 4.0 of the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) ...
user50049
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60
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A New Code License: The MIT, this time with Attribution Required
Update: January 15, 2016
Thank you for your patience and feedback. The changes proposed here have been delayed indefinitely - we'll be back later to open some more discussions.
Important context for ...
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58
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The MIT License – Clarity on Using Code on Stack Overflow and Stack Exchange
Update (Dec. 22, 2015): Thanks, everyone, for your feedback to this proposal. We're going to digest this one over the holidays and should have a follow-up announcement answering your questions and ...
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2
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Where can I ask about Software Licenses/Licensing?
Is it appropriate to ask questions about software licenses/licensing on StackOverflow? Or is the appropriate place Programmers Stack Exchange? Or is there no appropriate site currently and we should ...
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Creative Commons Licensing UI and Data Updates
When we last updated you to clarify concerns and answer questions about our transition to version 4.0 of the CC BY-SA license we committed to posting updates to the UI and addressing unanswered ...
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128
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7
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Is SE [going to be] selling our content for AI model training? And what exactly does "reinvest back into our communities" mean?
Wired published an article titled Stack Overflow Will Charge AI Giants for Training Data. I read through it, and a few sections seemed noteworthy to me
"Community platforms that fuel LLMs ...
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67
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5
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What is up with the source code license on Stack Overflow? [duplicate]
I know this has been asked several times. I've read the responses. I'm still very confused.
What are the legal requirements for using samples from SO in other projects? If there are requirements, ...
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21
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An Update On Creative Commons Licensing
We’d like to provide you with an update to our transition to version 4.0 of the CC BY-SA license. We realize that this is something that you care deeply about, and that our response to your concerns ...
user50049
38
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6
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Dealing with posts plagiarising from copyrighted sources
What means do users have to report plagiarism or posting of copyrighted work?
A button to flag content as plagiarism would be useful. It's not quite "offensive," and should probably have a different ...
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Was the retroactive change to CC BY-SA 4.0 approved by Stack Exchange's lawyers?
Update: I have started a GoFundMe in an attempt to have a court or arbitrator settle this. It has raised a decent amount, but more will be necessary to retain counsel.
On 2019-09-05, Stack Exchange ...
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2
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Stack Exchange should stop using the Creative Commons logo [duplicate]
If I understand correctly, SE reproduces its user-produced content using a CC-BY-SA license with additional restrictions: namely, from point 3 of the TOS,
In the event that You post or otherwise use ...
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21
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answer
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When did Stack Exchange start to dual-license user content?
Stack Exchange currently dual-licenses user content, which allows them to sell user content without attributing users. When did the dual-licensing start?
The Wayback Machine's first save of the ToS ...
260
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2
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Will concerns regarding the move to CC BY-SA 4.0 elicit any further dialogue from Stack Exchange, Inc.?
Fifteen days ago, it was suddenly announced that the user-contributed content on Stack Exchange had been relicensed as CC BY SA 4.0.
The change took immediate and retroactive effect and is still in ...
37
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2
answers
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Can SE just resell our data, relicense it and remove the attribution requirement?
SE has decided to charge for the network content when used for training AI according to an article. This has not been officially announced here, so we do not know the details.
But the main question to ...
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I'm worried about Stack Overflow content licensing [duplicate]
Strongly related: Do I have to worry about copyright issues for code posted on Stack Overflow?
It appears that all the submitted content on Stack Overflow is licensed under the Creative Commons (CC) ...
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1
answer
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Scrapers enter the scene - was the choice of license right?
Looks like scrapers can rank higher than the original SE universe site in Google search so that there's this very uncomfortable "first tag in the page title" change to combat them.
Also looks like ...
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46
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How can SE gate access to the Dump that will allow individuals access to the data while preventing "misuse" by for-profit organizations?
I read this answer written by Jody Bailey:
We are looking for ways to gate access to the Dump, APIs, and SEDE, that will allow individuals access to the data while preventing misuse by organizations ...
35
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answers
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Are the SE additions to the Creative Commons attribution requirements enforceable? [duplicate]
In the footer of Stack Exchange sites, it is stated that user contributions are licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0 with a contradictory and incompatible attribution requirement addendum.
The “attribution ...
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0
answers
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What licence is subscriber content provided under 4.0, 3.0 or them all?
In the footer it says:
site design / logo © 2018 Stack Exchange Inc; user contributions licensed under cc by-sa 3.0 with attribution required. rev 2018.8.7.31273
However, in the footer under ...
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10
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1
answer
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Should Stack Exchange switch to CC BY-SA 3.0? [duplicate]
Currently, Stack Exchange sites use the CC BY-SA 2.5 license.
There's a lot of content (not the least of which is Wikipedia) under the newer 3.0 version of this license.
Content licensed under 2.5 ...
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76
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6
answers
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What is "code" for the purposes of the proposed MIT license switchover? [closed]
A follow up from my comment about the new license announcement and samthebrand's response (also from the new license change attempt):
The proposed new licensing terms differentiate between code and ...
11
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answers
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Is there a list of non-moderators who have stated they suspended activities due to recent events? [closed]
There are lists of moderators that have resigned or suspended activity due to the series of events1 instigated by Stack Exchange starting September 5, 2019, but I've only seen speculation on the ...
42
votes
4
answers
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Please negotiate and make obvious user-favorable license terms for uploaded images
Uploading photos to Imgur appears to assign them rights to do whatever they wish with them.
It would appear that, taken on face value, uploading an image to Imgur gives them total non-exclusive rights ...
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23
votes
1
answer
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CommonMark migration is causing license changes when it should not
CommonMark migration has begun!
Sites across the network have been scheduled for formatting migration, and some of them (Meta Stack Exchange included) have already finished their migration.
It was ...
SpevacusMod
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19
votes
2
answers
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Using code posted on StackOverflow
I was wondering what kind of restrictions there are, if any, for code posted on StackOverflow?
In other words, I'm hoping StackOverflow has a clause that makes any posted code completely free of ...
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19
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6
answers
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How should a SO answer be credited when used in an open-source project?
I've looked through a few of the questions about the licensing of posts on SO, but haven't found any really satisfactory answers. Can an answer be used in an open source project (with an MIT license)? ...
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18
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3
answers
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Why don’t we call our licence by name?
Why does Stack Exchange use this weird “cc-wiki” euphemism instead of calling the CC-BY-SA by its real name?
This is a bug report disguised as a question. As in: please fix the footer.
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Do I have to give attribution to SO when using my own content elsewhere?
Content on SE sites is licensed under CC-BY-SA.
If I write a question/answer on your sites, do I still have copyright of the text I entered or does SE now hold all copyright to it? Can I put an ...
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18
votes
4
answers
542
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Data dump should include deleted posts
Given that deleted content is licensed CC just as the regular content is, it exists in the current SO database, and it is accessible to over 400 (10k+ rep) users, it should also be exported as part of ...
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13
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4
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Is copy-pasting code from Stack Overflow an infringement to CC BY-SA 3.0 or is it considered fair use?
Actually CC BY-SA 3.0 is a license which looks pretty good for most Stack Exchange Network sites, but on Stack Overflow which is used mainly for coding questions, is pretty much rigid since a lot of ...
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3
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Ownership of content in Community Wiki posts
The CC-Wiki license makes use of the term "the author."
When Bob makes a post, it's obvious Bob "owns" the content, but what happens when he checks the Community Wiki button? Does it become the ...
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3
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0
answers
128
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Is reposting one's own content from a Stack Exchange site after the fact, without attributing its source, allowed? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Who owns the copyright to S[OFU] content?
According to the second paragraph of section 3 of the Stack Exchange terms of service (the paragraph starting with "In the event that ...
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2
answers
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Is a refusal to disassociate deleted posts in compliance with the CC BY-SA license? [closed]
I asked Stack Exchange staff to remove attribution on some of my deleted answers.
They suggested I delete my account to remove attribution. I have asked them if they will restore attribution on other ...
user369690
72
votes
4
answers
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Code licensing proposal — Point of order!
There have been two rounds of discussion about code licensing:
The MIT License – Clarity on Using Code on Stack Overflow and Stack Exchange
A New Code License: The MIT, this time with Attribution ...
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52
votes
3
answers
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EU copyright laws (2018-2019). Any risk for Stack Exchange?
The European Parliament JURI committee will be voting on 20th June 2018 on reforms of the EU copyright laws (full law proposal). According to a Creative Commons article titled 'Act now to stop the EU’...
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1
answer
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YouTube Channels Stealing SE Network Content
Although this has been reported before (1, 2), and the current canonical guidance for how to approach sites or scrapers copying SE content is also available, I wanted to share information that I have ...
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35
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Why are people so unhappy about the OpenAI partnership? Am I missing something?
I'm reading the answers at Our Partnership with OpenAI, and a lot of people seem very unhappy about the partnership.
I feel violated, cheated upon, betrayed, and exploited.
And so on. But... why? ...
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32
votes
12
answers
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A New Code License: the Community Edition
Okay, so that proposal didn't go very well...
Clearly, the community thinks Stack Overflow, Inc messed up with their license proposal. Now it is time to you to prove we, as a community, can do better....
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27
votes
1
answer
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Why separate code and non-code licensing?
The rationale for the license change proposals is at least somewhat clear: i.e. to reduce legal concerns of using code from answers in software that may use incompatible licenses. However, what seems ...
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What license should be on sample code?
I noticed today that stackoverflow's cc-wiki (aka creative commons attribution/share alike license) does not allow the answers to questions to be used in commercial products.
Very specificially, and ...
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0
answers
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When adding image from Wikimedia Commons, automatically add author/license/link
Many Stack Exchange questions and answers embed images from Wikimedia Commons. It is probably the most used image source here.
The good news
Thanks to their license, all images from Wikimedia Commons ...
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0
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Does the dual license in the pre-2018 Terms of Service allow SE to permit others to redistribute subscriber content outside of CC BY-SA?
I was reading around the topic of the precise details of subscriber-content licensing on SE, and I found (and read more carefully than the previous times I'd seen it) this thread on FOSS.SE from 2017, ...
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1
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As a workaround to Imgur being blocked, is there a image hosting site which allows URL uploads and does not violate CC BY-SA 4.0 copyright?
Imgur is blocked in China (and probably in some other countries as well as many workplaces and educational institutions). This is annoying for Chinese users and Chinese.SE in particular.
Workaround: ...
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2
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Is SE in violation of the CC BY-SA 4.0 license by not providing data dumps?
SE is no longer providing data dumps for the content contributed by their users.
CC BY-SA 4.0 states:
No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally ...
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11
votes
2
answers
352
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May I edit a question with a JSFiddle link to incorporate the code?
Consider a JSFiddle with no explicit license like this one: https://jsfiddle.net/t12qqyok/57/
In JSFiddle's Credits and Legal we can read:
License
All code posted to the site belongs to the poster ...
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2
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Can licensing questions EVER be on-topic? [closed]
The licensing Tag
I ran across a specific question today that prompted me to ask why we have a licensing tag at all when its tag wiki currently says:
Excerpt: Don't use this tag to ask for legal ...
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2
answers
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Publishing a book - "Best programming Q&A" from SO contents?
Is it possible to publish a book made entirely out of SO questions and answers?
The idea is to publish the book freely online, and to sell kindle and printed copies on Amazon.com. Proper attribution ...
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2
answers
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Can Stack Exchange be customized to specific projects? [duplicate]
We are a NGO looking for something 99% similar to Stack Overflow for analyzing and suggesting improvements in legislation.
I have tried searching for terms and conditions for getting Stack Overflow ...
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votes
1
answer
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What should you do if other sites shamelessly copy content and the cc-wiki license is not adhered to? [duplicate]
Copying content is one thing, but copying content without referring to or quoting the original is just plain rude and violates the cc-wiki license and the clearly laid out attribution rules of this ...
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