Can you modify copyrighted code?

@MichaelT It is fully copyrighted, all rights reserved. You may be able to modify it for yourself, though some licenses prevent reverse engineering and you may have difficulty with that, though de minims may come into play. Distributing a modification or instructions for modification however may get you into trouble.

Does copyright apply to open source?

Open source software (OSS) is software that has its source code publicly released under the terms of a copyright licence that allow for the general use, inspection, modification and enhancement of source code by anyone. Such a licence is called an open source licence.

Does open source mean copyright free?

Open source is simply a license to use and modify the software under the terms of the open source software agreement. It is still protected by copyright, but you have a license to use it provided you follow the terms of the agreement.

What makes something open source versus copyrighted?

To summarize: Open source license: What you can do; how you can redistribute the software. Copyright: Who owns the intellectual property of the software. Trademark: Who is allowed to use the brand name for commercial purposes.

Should code be copyrighted?

Almost certainly yes. Under copyright law, source code is a literary work (like a book). And, just like any other writing, it is immediately copyrighted regardless of the author registering it with the U.S. Copyright Office.

Can I copyright my changes to my own code on GitHub?

You are technically entitled to what remains of a copyright (after being “filtered” through the license) to whatever you added/changed. As long as there is a clear, unambiguous record of your changes (github), you can add a copyright notice under your name in the modifications section if you wish, though this is generally not done.

Who owns the copyright on a library’s code?

The person that wrote the library owns the copyright on the code that he wrote. Only he is allowed to specify the license for that code. Per the license terms you must keep the copy of the LICENCE.md file, verbatim, with the code that he provided you.

Can I copyright my code with a different license?

You can and should lay copyright claim to the code you wrote and / or modified. To do so with the same MIT license: Just add your copyright notice after the 2012 Acme Corp copyright notice in the files you modified. You can license your modifications under a different license, if you so choose.

What happens if you don’t apply an open source license?

If you don’t apply an open source license, everybody who contributes to your project also becomes an exclusive copyright holder of their work. That means nobody can use, copy, distribute, or modify their contributions – and that “nobody” includes you. Finally, your project may have dependencies with license requirements that you weren’t aware of.