Phobos License question

[Ola Fosheim Grøstad]

On Saturday, 16 November 2019 at 09:21:41 UTC, René Heldmaier 
wrote:
> Do i have to list the authors of std.complex as authors of the 
> module?
> Or should i list the authors in the commentary above the copied 
> functions?

I believe the correct answer would depend on your jurisdiction 
(the country you live in), so there is no correct answer in an 
international news group.

The license says that you have to retain all copyright notices. 
So you have to retain them as they are written in the source code 
and in the license text. That is the conservative interpretation.

However you can have your own license at the top and append all 
the other licenses below it.

So you can use a different license for the code you added.


> What happens to copyright?
> Can I publish it under "Copyright 2019, My Name" or do i have 
> to use the copyright from std.complex?

It is a derived work so the copyright is shared. However, you 
hold copyright even if you don't state it (in most 
jurisdictions). There are international agreements that ensure 
this and many countries have joined (but not all). The statement 
"Copyright 2019, My Name" is incomplete though. It would be 
better to state "Copyright 2019, My Name and others (see 
individual files)".

What you state would depend on what is substantial.

The license states that you can publish executables without 
mentioning the original authors, however, check the practice in 
the jurisdiction you live in. I believe some jurisdictions do not 
allow you to sign away authorship rights and what that implies 
might vary.

There might be other requirements in your country than what is 
stated in the license.


> I just want that people are able to use it without implications

Well, the implications are in the laws of the country you live 
in… primarily. What is considered fair might vary. What is 
considered substantial might vary.  What is considered a derived 
work might vary.

Just follow the license to the letter… Copy in the code you build 
on and modify it in place. You ought to be able to add your own 
code above or below it, just mark the boundaries with comments. 
You can also modify the code of course, then just add your name 
to the list of authors.

As a matter of courtesy I would have added a notice on the top of 
the file that says that function x, y, z was lifted from such and 
such library with a "see comments for details" notice.