Artistic License
Encyclopedia
The Artistic License refers most commonly to the original Artistic License (version 1.0), a software license
used for certain free and open source software
packages, most notably the standard Perl
implementation and most CPAN
modules, which are dual-licensed under the Artistic License and the GNU General Public License
(GPL). The original Artistic License was written by Larry Wall
. The name of the license is a reference to the concept of artistic license
.
The terms of the Artistic License 1.0 were at issue in a 2007 federal district court decision
in the US which was criticized by some for suggesting that FOSS
-like licenses could only be enforced through contract law rather than through copyright law, in contexts where contract damages would be difficult to establish. On appeal, a federal appellate court
"determined that the terms of the Artistic License are enforceable copyright conditions".
The case was remanded to the District Court which did not apply the superior court's criteria (on the grounds that in the interim, the Supreme Court had changed the applicable law). However, this left undisturbed the finding that a free and open source license nonetheless has economic value.
as being "too vague; some passages are too clever for their own good, and their meaning is not clear." The FSF recommended that the license not be used on its own, but approved the common AL/GPL dual-licensing approach for Perl projects.
In response to this, Bradley Kuhn, who later worked for the Free Software Foundation, made a minimal redraft to clarify the ambiguous passages. This was released as the Clarified Artistic License, and was approved by the FSF. It is used by the SNEeSe and FakeNES emulators, the Paros Proxy, the JavaFBP toolkit and NcFTP
.
process for improving the licensing position for Perl 6
, Kuhn's draft was extensively rewritten by Roberta Cairney and Allison Randal
for readability and legal clarity, with input from the Perl community. This resulted in the Artistic License 2.0 which has been approved as both a free software
and open source
license.
It has been adopted by some of the Perl 6 implementations
, and has been used by the Parrot virtual machine
since version 0.4.13.
The OSI
recommends that all developers and projects licensing their products with the Artistic License adopt Artistic License 2.0.
License
The verb license or grant licence means to give permission. The noun license or licence refers to that permission as well as to the document recording that permission.A license may be granted by a party to another party as an element of an agreement...
used for certain free and open source software
Free and open source software
Free and open-source software or free/libre/open-source software is software that is liberally licensed to grant users the right to use, study, change, and improve its design through the availability of its source code...
packages, most notably the standard Perl
Perl
Perl is a high-level, general-purpose, interpreted, dynamic programming language. Perl was originally developed by Larry Wall in 1987 as a general-purpose Unix scripting language to make report processing easier. Since then, it has undergone many changes and revisions and become widely popular...
implementation and most CPAN
CPAN
CPAN, the Comprehensive Perl Archive Network, is an archive of nearly 100,000 modules of software written in Perl, as well as documentation for it. It has a presence on the World Wide Web at and is mirrored worldwide at more than 200 locations...
modules, which are dual-licensed under the Artistic License and the GNU General Public License
GNU General Public License
The GNU General Public License is the most widely used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU Project....
(GPL). The original Artistic License was written by Larry Wall
Larry Wall
Larry Wall is a programmer and author, most widely known for his creation of the Perl programming language in 1987.-Education:Wall earned his bachelor's degree from Seattle Pacific University in 1976....
. The name of the license is a reference to the concept of artistic license
Artistic license
Artistic licence is a colloquial term, sometimes euphemism, used to denote the distortion of fact, alteration of the conventions of grammar or language, or rewording of pre-existing text made by an artist to improve a piece of...
.
The terms of the Artistic License 1.0 were at issue in a 2007 federal district court decision
Jacobsen v. Katzer
Jacobsen v. Katzer was a lawsuit between Robert Jacobsen and Matthew Katzer , filed March 13, 2006 in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California...
in the US which was criticized by some for suggesting that FOSS
Foss
Foss may refer toPeople*Foss , people with the last name Foss*Foss Shanahan , New Zealand diplomat*Foss Westcott , English bishop...
-like licenses could only be enforced through contract law rather than through copyright law, in contexts where contract damages would be difficult to establish. On appeal, a federal appellate court
United States court of appeals
The United States courts of appeals are the intermediate appellate courts of the United States federal court system...
"determined that the terms of the Artistic License are enforceable copyright conditions".
The case was remanded to the District Court which did not apply the superior court's criteria (on the grounds that in the interim, the Supreme Court had changed the applicable law). However, this left undisturbed the finding that a free and open source license nonetheless has economic value.
Artistic License 1.0
Whether or not the original Artistic License is a free software license is largely unsettled. It was criticized by the Free Software FoundationFree Software Foundation
The Free Software Foundation is a non-profit corporation founded by Richard Stallman on 4 October 1985 to support the free software movement, a copyleft-based movement which aims to promote the universal freedom to create, distribute and modify computer software...
as being "too vague; some passages are too clever for their own good, and their meaning is not clear." The FSF recommended that the license not be used on its own, but approved the common AL/GPL dual-licensing approach for Perl projects.
In response to this, Bradley Kuhn, who later worked for the Free Software Foundation, made a minimal redraft to clarify the ambiguous passages. This was released as the Clarified Artistic License, and was approved by the FSF. It is used by the SNEeSe and FakeNES emulators, the Paros Proxy, the JavaFBP toolkit and NcFTP
NcFTP
NcFTP is an FTP client program which debuted in 1990 as the first alternative FTP client. It was created as an alternative to the standard UNIX ftp program, and offers a number of additional features and greater ease of use....
.
Artistic License 2.0
In response to the Request for commentsRequest for Comments
In computer network engineering, a Request for Comments is a memorandum published by the Internet Engineering Task Force describing methods, behaviors, research, or innovations applicable to the working of the Internet and Internet-connected systems.Through the Internet Society, engineers and...
process for improving the licensing position for Perl 6
Perl 6
Perl 6 is a major revision to the Perl programming language. It is still in development, as a specification from which several interpreter and compiler implementations are being written. It is introducing elements of many modern and historical languages. Perl 6 is intended to have many...
, Kuhn's draft was extensively rewritten by Roberta Cairney and Allison Randal
Allison Randal
Allison Randal is a linguist, software developer and author. She is the former chief architect of the Parrot virtual machine, a member of the board of directors for The Perl Foundation, a member of the board of directors for the Python Software Foundation...
for readability and legal clarity, with input from the Perl community. This resulted in the Artistic License 2.0 which has been approved as both a free software
Free software
Free software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...
and open source
Open source
The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
license.
It has been adopted by some of the Perl 6 implementations
Perl 6
Perl 6 is a major revision to the Perl programming language. It is still in development, as a specification from which several interpreter and compiler implementations are being written. It is introducing elements of many modern and historical languages. Perl 6 is intended to have many...
, and has been used by the Parrot virtual machine
Parrot virtual machine
Parrot is a register-based process virtual machine designed to run dynamic languages efficiently. It uses just-in-time compilation for speed to reduce the interpretation overhead. It is currently possible to compile Parrot assembly language and PIR to Parrot bytecode and execute it...
since version 0.4.13.
The OSI
Open Source Initiative
The Open Source Initiative is an organization dedicated to promoting open source software.The organization was founded in February 1998, by Bruce Perens and Eric S. Raymond, prompted by Netscape Communications Corporation publishing the source code for its flagship Netscape Communicator product...
recommends that all developers and projects licensing their products with the Artistic License adopt Artistic License 2.0.
External links
- Version 1.0
- The Artistic License (the original Artistic License 1.0, the one which is still used by Perl and CPAN)
- The Clarified Artistic License
- Version 2.0
- The Artistic License 2.0 (used by Parrot)
- 2.0 revision RFC process
- Prominent uses
- Dusk first online Novel and Blog written under Artistic License 2.0
- "R.E.M releases videos under Artistic License 2.0 - about R.E.M.R.E.M.R.E.M. was an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry. One of the first popular alternative rock bands, R.E.M. gained early attention due to Buck's ringing, arpeggiated guitar style and Stipe's...
's choice of the Artistic License 2.0 for videos from one of their albums.