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Add section on mixed licensing
== Assignment ==
Since only the copyright holder can initiate an enforcement claim, developers are urged to assign their works to a larger 'consortium' such as the Free Software Foundation. See [[Assignment]]
== Mixed Licensing ==
Two of the most if not ''the'' most popular website building platforms are licensed under the GPL: [[Drupal]] and [[WordPress]]. Drupal modules are licensed under the GPL. However, there are many WordPress 'themes' (a package that affects how the site looks) that are proprietary and licensed for a fee. How then do people mix proprietary code with the GPL? The answer is that they are either violating the copyright of WordPress (if they are truly distributing themes under a proprietary license), or they (theme creators) are charging for the graphics that aren't linked with the program, but are useful for the theme. The irony is that many people who purchase these themes do not use the proprietary licensed assets (ie. PhotoShop .psd files) at all. They just download the theme, and use the point and click approach to installing and tweaking the theme. They are literally using only the GPL licensed code. Here is an example of how one vendor describes how they use mixed licensing: "If an author is releasing a theme or plugin for a platform that is licensed under the GPL, the PHP code and integrated HTML of the theme or plugin must be distributed under the GPL." "The rest of the components created by the author (such as the CSS, images, graphics, design, photos, etc) are covered by the <nowiki>[</nowiki>proprietary license]" <ref>https://help.market.envato.com/hc/en-us/articles/202501064 What is Split Licensing and the GPL?</ref>. They really are trying to hide the fact that the theme is 99% free, and that the $50 fee you're paying is for the one or two PhotoShop files distributed with it. The Drupal Project clarifies in their licensing FAQ<ref>https://www.drupal.org/about/licensing#q7</ref>, The Free Software Foundation, The Software Freedom Law Center all share the same interpretation of [[Copyright]] and mixed licensing: '''WordPress themes must be distributed under the GPL''' <ref>https://markjaquith.wordpress.com/tag/gpl/ Why WordPress Themes are Derivative of WordPress - by Mark Jaquith, WordPress developer</ref> <ref>https://wordpress.org/news/2009/07/themes-are-gpl-too/ Themes are GPL, too - by [https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattm Matt Mullenweg], original WordPress developer</ref>
== Popularity / Trends ==
; What are the licenses used by projects on GitHub? : https://www.softwarefreedom.org/resources/2013/lcs-slides-aaronw/#/begin
: GitHub has now added a 'chooser' that briefly explains 3 major license choices at http://choosealicense.com/. Sadly, it doesn't really favor nor default to the GPL.
; Which licenses are used the most? : Promulgated in 1991, GPLv2 is still after 23 years in service, the most widely used free software license of any type. <ref>https://www.blackducksoftware.com/resources/data/top-20-open-source-licenses</ref>