Applying the Apache license, version 2.0 | Apache Software Foundation

Applying the Apache license, version 2.0 | Apache Software Foundation
Applying the Apache license, version 2.0
This document is to help Apache developers understand what they need to do to apply the
Apache License, Version 2.0
or
ALv2
to Apache software, including source code, documentation, and binary distributions. It is descriptive guidance, and does not supplant or otherwise modify any of the terms within the license itself. In case of uncertainty, consult
general Apache policy
Information on other Apache-related licenses and updates regarding compatibility with other
open source
licenses appears in the
Licenses
section.
Contents
Understanding the 2.0 license
Applying the license to new software
Updating existing software
Frequently asked questions about updates
Other frequently asked questions
Understanding the 2.0 license
The ALv2 is
this set
of self-documented copyright and patent licensing terms. Anyone can use the license, not just the
ASF
and its projects, and can be
applied
by reference to the versioned license terms. An appendix to the license describes how to do this.
Note
that the ASF does not use copyright assignment and that the original authors retain the copyrights for individual parts of the collective work . The method described in the appendix is only suitable for copyright owners, so the ASF uses a variation of
this method.
Section 4d of the
license
provides for attribution notices to be included with a work in a
NOTICE
file, so the attribution notices remains, in some form, within any derivative works. Apache projects
must
include correct NOTICE documents
in every distribution.
Applying the license to new software
To apply the ALv2 to a new software distribution, include one copy of the license text by copying the contents of
LICENSE-2.0.txt
into a file called LICENSE in the top directory of your distribution. If the distribution is a jar or tar file, try to add the LICENSE file first in order to place it at the top of the archive. This covers the collective licensing for the distribution.
In addition, you
must
include a correct
NOTICE file
in the same directory as the LICENSE file.
Each original source document (code and documentation, but not the LICENSE and NOTICE files)
should
include
a short license header
at the top. If the distribution contains documents not covered by an
ICLA
CCLA
or
Software Grant
(such as third-party libraries), consult the
policy guide
Updating existing software
In brief, the aim is to achieve a final distribution as described above in
applying the license to new software
. Some conversion tools are listed
here
Frequently asked questions about updates
Do I have to convert Apache licenses in source code from 1.1 to 2.0?
If the Apache Software Foundation owns and distributes the code, then
Yes
. All software distributions were to be converted to the new license by March 1, 2004.
If the ASF does not own the code, the decision is up to the copyright owner. Naturally, we strongly recommend that you upgrade to the new license.
Do I have to convert old versions and branches of code to the new license?
Only if you want the ASF to make a new release of that code. "Dead" branches of code do not have to be updated.
Other frequently asked questions
Where can I find more information?
Start with the
legal affairs home page
Where do I find a copy of the new license?
apache.org/licenses/
Do I have to have a copy of the license in each source file?
You only need to add one full copy of the license per distribution. See the
policy
In my current source files I have attribution notices for other works. Do I put this in each source file now?
See the
policy
Should individual committers add copyright statements to the NOTICE or source code files?
No. Though committers retain copyright, Apache asks that they do not add copyright statements. See the
policy
for more details.
Can we call the LICENSE and NOTICE files LICENSE.txt and NOTICE.txt?
You can do this, however we prefer that you call the files LICENSE and NOTICE.
Should we include the license in source files for documentation (e.g. XML that transforms to HTML)?
Yes. See the
policy
for more details.
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