GridMove needs a new licensing scheme, please help

[jgpaiva]

So, I need to change GridMove's licensing.
The problem is simple: the current license (Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0) does not work as I expected. It is not aimed at software, and works better with other kinds of works (images, video, etc).

Here's what I was looking for:
GridMove is free for personal use, but for use in a commercial environment, the author must be contacted.

The current license is not clear on the commercial use, as it is aimed at other kinds of works. What it says is that no-one can make money out of GridMove other than me.

So, does anyone have any idea on what is the best way to do it?
Also, is there any problem with me changing the license of a work, or as the owner of the copyright I can do anything I want with it?

[40hz]

As owner of the copyright, it's yours to do with as you think best.

Your best bet for a license is a standard proprietary license. There's enough "free for personal use, commercial use restricted" products out there that it shouldn't be too much hassle to grab a half dozen EULAs and use them as models. Since the rules vary by locality, you'll still want to invest in some competent legal advice and review before you 'go live' with it. Possibly someone at DC has already done this so you could just use their vetted license.

Also check for software industry organizations in your area or up on the web. Most have identified legal resources you can avail yourself of.

As far as CC goes, I don't think it creates any problems. Just pull it and rerelease with the new license attached. Note: if your product is up on any of those big 'free' software sites, it would be a good (as in really good) idea to send them your updated files and license info. Be sure you up the version number on the software to indicate a change, even if it's only to the license. Better still would be to make some changes, no matter how small, in the binaries  That provides a nice clean demarcation point between the current released software version and those that came before. Very important if you ever need to try to legally enforce your license.

Easiest right now would be to send an email to the CC people. Explain what you plan to do, and ask if they see any problems with it.  If you don't like the answer you get, you can always seek another opinion since their word isn't law.

Luck!

P.S. If you're developing for the Windows platform, don't neglect to check out Microsoft's BizSpark program. Link here. it's a great program if you're a new commercial developer. One of the very few "smart move" bargains out there. Possibly the best thing Microsoft ever came up with for its developers.

StackOverflow   had a fairly decent write-up about it here
 

[mouser]

Here's what I was looking for:

GridMove is free for personal use, but for use in a commercial environment, the author must be contacted.

Let me know what you find and decide to go with -- this is basically how I do my apps and i also don't have a formal license text beyond that.
(I also tell commercial users with less than 5-10 pcs to just view it as a personal use).

[40hz]

^Suggestion: Could this be something DC might consider formally creating for it's software authors and providing as a resource to anybody that does create an app here?

This would have quantifiable monetary value to our coders. And once it was written and reviewed, it would be good for anyone as long as none of the terms & conditions got edited or altered. (Very important that part.) Drop in the app title plus the author's name and relevant contact info, and it would be done. And legal.

Do we have an IP attorney in the membership that might be able to help out, or offer a (hopefully discounted) service to get this reviewed and edited?

Assuming, of course, there's money left over from the fundraiser to do it - and it seems like a good enough idea to other people besides me.

Shouldn't be that expensive to do.


Just thinking out loud.

[mouser]

I think it's a good idea except the part about hiring an IP lawyer.. I think it should be sufficient for someone to try to find a good license already in existence (should be one), or at least one that requires little modification with no risk.

[nudone]

Assuming I wanted to be evil, could I develop my own GridMove style program based on the original idea I submitted and then sell it.

I've little intention to do so, it's just something that I might be tempted to do if the dollars were rolling in for commercial licenses.

Sorry, if I sound unscrupulous. I'm just being open about daydreams I've already had.

[jgpaiva]

nudone, from what I understand, anyone is free to create anything just like GridMove.
What the CC license stipulates is that if you use GridMove's code, you can't make a profit from it. But you are free to modify it in whatever way you want, as long as you redistribute it the same way I distribute it.

The problem with the CC license is that it imposes no limits on the use of the software, only on the distribution. No one can make money out of GridMove's code (and binaries) distribution. However, everyone can use it freely (regardless of being a home or enterprise user).

I've already looked around a bit and couldn't find anything suitable, especially taking into account the fact that the code is free. All open-source licenses seem to be centered more on what you can and can't do with the code, and not on the use of the binaries themselves.

To be completely honest, I'm not terribly worried about this, as I think using an "informal" license as mouser does should work well, and my current CC scheme has been working as well. What I'm trying to do is getting better informed on all this license stuff.
A few weeks ago someone from an enterprise told me they couldn't use it due to the current licensing scheme (they considered CC incompatible with an enterprise environment). I even I told them I didn't care for the money (since they really only needed one user), but they needed a "formal" way of saying it, I needed to have a license stating it.

[nudone]

Right, I see. Well, a little. The licensing world sounds like a nightmare; I hope you do manage to find something workable.

Of course, I'm extremely unlikely to make something like Gridmove (someone would have to do it for me too). It's just something I've always had in the back of my mind; a daydream running along the lines of if I could code myself in something like C++ (or whatever it is these days) then there are several things I'd like to make.

I'm looking forward to seeing your update with Gridmove though. After all this time, it still does things no other window-mover util can do - useful things I must add. I guess that is shown by its popularity.

Maybe you should promote it (or develop it) in a more serious way.

[Renegade]

A few weeks ago someone from an enterprise told me they couldn't use it due to the current licensing scheme (they considered CC incompatible with an enterprise environment). I even I told them I didn't care for the money (since they really only needed one user), but they needed a "formal" way of saying it, I needed to have a license stating it.

-jgpaiva (March 08, 2011, 04:33 PM)

That's pretty normal. I remember rewriting a part of a license for IBM because they couldn't use the software with one clause in the EULA.