Licensing

Last updated on 2025-05-22 | Edit this page

Estimated time: 10 minutes

Overview

Questions

What licensing information should I include with my work?

Objectives

Explain why adding licensing information to a repository is important.
Choose a proper license.

Under U.S. copyright law, copyright protection automatically arises in original creative works that are fixed in any tangible medium of expression (e.g., a written work on paper, an audio/visual recording on tape, a sculptured work out of marble). However an original work of the U.S. Government is not eligible for copyright protection in the United States (17 USC 105a). This restriction means that as USGS employees, any original work that we create in the course of our official duties and responsibilities are automatically in the public domain.

DOI solicitor note 1

Depending on the jurisdiction, the U.S. Government may have foreign copyright protections in U.S. Government work. Further, 17 USC 105a does not prevent the U.S. Government from owning copyright (e.g., if a USGS contractor creates an original creative work under an agreement, copyright arises in the work to the contractor, and the USGS may obtain ownership of the copyright through a contract).

Instead, all software developed by the USGS should include a LICENSE.md to notify the public of the copyright status of the software. Why add a LICENSE.md at all? If we do not include a license clarifying that we have waived the copyright - thus making this fact explicit - the uncertainty (is there a copyright, is there not?) in the mind of a potential user could inhibit potential usage of said work, thus reducing its impact and value. When someone reuses a creative work without a license, the author of that work could sue for copyright infringement. A license solves this problem by explicitly granting rights to others (the licensees) that they would otherwise not have (or not know that they have).

A note explaining the difference between public domain and CC0

Including a public domain dedication statement informs the worldwide public that:

the work is a U.S. Government work and is in the U.S. public domain, and
the USGS, which may own copyright in one or more countries outside the United States, wishes to place the work into the public domain worldwide.

Including the CC0 accomplishes item #2. It’s sort of like saying something in English (public domain) and then translating to other languages (CC0) so everyone understands.

What licenses have I already accepted?

Many of the software tools we use on a daily basis (including in this workshop) are released as open-source software. Pick a project on GitHub from the list below, or one of your own choosing. Find its license (usually in a file called LICENSE or COPYING) and talk about how it restricts your use of the software.

Git\(^1\), the source-code management tool
CPython\(^1\), the standard implementation of the Python language
Jupyter\(^1\), the project behind web-based Python notebooks
R software\(^1\), read-only mirror of the R software source code

Example solution

Both R software and Git use the GNU General Public License, which is one of the most commonly used series of software license for free and open-source software. One way in which it differs from the CC0 Public Domain license (more detail on that below) is that it specifies all derivative work must be distributed under the same or equivalent license terms, which is important for keeping open software open. In other words, an open-source license such as the GNU GPL series of licenses, differs greatly from the CC0 in that the former places certain restrictions on the use, copying, and redistribution of the software, while the latter places no restrictions whatsoever.

What rights are being granted under which conditions differs, often only slightly, from one license to another. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication (CC0) is the most commonly used ‘license’ at USGS (currently CC0 1.0\(^1\)). It assumes the software is either completely original or using other software also with the CC0 license. This license places the work as completely as possible in the public domain so that it is free for others to build upon, enhance, or reuse. It should work for most USGS software, assuming that it was developed solely by federal employees and does not include any software developed by others that is not publicly dedicated. The text for this license is included in a callout box below. You can add a LICENSE.md file in your project root repository and copy and paste the text below.

DOI solicitor note 2

If the USGS wishes to release software originally created by a federal contractor, it may either:

require the contractor to release the software under a CC0 public domain dedication, or
require the contractor to assign all intellectual property rights, title, and interest in the software to USGS

and then release the software under a CC0 public domain dedication.

For contractor positions that work closely alongside federal positions, please refer to the Contracting Officer for questions concerning how code sharing is addressed in the contract.

Note that you can also use this Copyright Dedication Agreement to formally place materials in the public domain.

When your product includes work under copyright:

If your code includes code developed by others, you will need to consider the license of the code developed by others. Any code that is used in USGS software products must be used with permission from the copyright holder or in accordance with the license, and should be marked as such. Do not assume that you can release such code under a CC0 public domain dedication.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding which license to use, please reach out to the DOI solicitor’s office for guidance.

CC0 1.0 license text

MARKDOWN


# License

Unless otherwise noted, this project work is in the public domain in the United
States because it is a work of the United States Geological Survey, an agency
of the United States Department of Interior. For more information, see the
official USGS copyright policy at
https://www.usgs.gov/information-policies-and-instructions/copyrights-and-credits

Additionally, the USGS waives all copyright and related rights in the work
worldwide through the CC0 1.0 Universal public domain dedication.


## CC0 1.0 Universal Summary

This is a human-readable summary of the
[Legal Code (read the full text)][1].


### No Copyright

The person or entity who associated a work with this deed has dedicated the
work to the public domain by waiving all of his or her rights to the work
worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights,
to the extent allowed by law.

You can copy, modify, distribute and perform the work, even for commercial
purposes, all without asking permission.


### Other Information

In no way are the patent or trademark rights of any person affected by CC0,
nor are the rights that other persons may have in the work or in how the
work is used, such as publicity or privacy rights.

Unless expressly stated otherwise, the person who associated a work with
this deed makes no warranties about the work, and disclaims liability for
all uses of the work, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law.
When using or citing the work, you should not imply endorsement by the
author or the affirmer.



[1]: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/legalcode

Key Points

A LICENSE file is often used in a repository to indicate how the contents of the repo may be used by others.
USGS software products require a LICENSE.md file in the project root of your repository.
Non-derivative USGS software products can use the CC0 1.0 license.
If you need a different license, consult the solicitor’s office to determine the appropriate license.

1: non-Federal link