[Bioc-devel] Licensing question

[Oliver Bembom]

Hi Robert,

Maybe I could put a summary of the license in the DESCRIPTION file
that refers to README.LICENSE and/or an R function, something like:

"Free for research purposes only. For more details, see README.LICENSE
or type license.cosmo() in R"

Similarly, I could print out each time the package is attached something like

"Cosmo is free for research purposes only. For more details, type
license.cosmo(). Type citation.cosmo() for details on how to cite
cosmo in publications."

Oliver

On 11/2/06, Robert Gentleman <rgentlem at fhcrc.org> wrote:
> Hi Oliver,
>    I am not trying to give you advice on how to license your package,
> but rather to explain the restrictions that you will have to live
> within. How you chose to do that is up to you. In R licenses, at least
> to date, have applied to whole packages and need to be short enough to
> read (fit in the description field, and what is below if far too long
> IMHO, but could be put elsewhere such as README.LICENSE or similar).
> Hence, you are going to have your code restricted in the same way that
> donlp2 is, unless you split that code out into a separate package.
>
>    Given the odd restrictions and the citation requirements you may want
> to seriously consider some sort of banner that prints out explicit
> requirements and restrictions for users.
>
>    best wishes
>      Robert
>
>
>
> Oliver Bembom wrote:
> > Hi Robert,
> >
> > Thanks for your help.I have contacted the author of the donlp2() code,
> > and he says that I can in fact incorporate his code as long as I
> > restrict the use of my package to research purposes only. Would it be
> > sufficient to use as license the following modified version of the
> > original donlp2() license?
> >
> > **********************************************************************************
> >
> > 1. cosmo is under the exclusive copyright of Oliver Bembom
> >    (bembom at berkeley.edu) and Peter Spellucci
> >    (spellucci at mathematik.tu-darmstadt.de).
> >
> > 2. cosmo and its constituent parts come with no warranty, whether ex-
> >    pressed or implied, that it is free of errors or suitable for any
> >    specific purpose. It must not be used to solve any problem, whose
> >    incorrect solution could result in injury to a person, institution
> >    or property. It is at the user's own risk to use cosmo or parts of
> >    it and the author disclaims all liability for such use.
> >
> > 3. cosmo is distributed "as is". In particular, no maintenance, support
> >    or trouble-shooting or subsequent upgrade is implied.
> >
> > 4. If you use this software in your research, please cite
> >
> >   O. Bembom, S. Keles, M.J. van der Laan (2006). Supervised Detection
> >   of Conserved Motifs in DNA Sequences with cosmo. UC Berkeley
> >   Division of Biostatistics Working Paper Series. Working Paper 209.
> >   http://www.bepress.com/ucbbiostat/paper209.
> >
> >   cosmo makes use of the donlp2() function by Peter Spellucci.
> >   The use of donlp2 must be acknowledged, in any publication which
> >   contains results obtained with cosmo or parts of it. Citation of the
> >   author's name and netlib-source is suitable.
> >
> > 5. The free use of cosmo and parts of it is restricted for research
> >    purposes. Commercial uses require permission and licensing from
> >    Oliver Bembom and Peter Spellucci.
> >
> > **********************************************************************************
> >
> >
> >> From your perspective, is there anything I might want to add or
> > change? Also, to address number 4 of this license, would it be
> > sufficient to have the following message printed each time the package
> > is loaded?
> >
> >   cosmo makes use of the donlp2() function by Peter Spellucci.
> >   The use of donlp2 must be acknowledged, in any publication which
> >   contains results obtained with cosmo or parts of it. Citation of the
> >   author's name and netlib-source is suitable.
> >
> > Thanks again.
> >
> > Oliver
> >
>
> --
> Robert Gentleman, PhD
> Program in Computational Biology
> Division of Public Health Sciences
> Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
> 1100 Fairview Ave. N, M2-B876
> PO Box 19024
> Seattle, Washington 98109-1024
> 206-667-7700
> rgentlem at fhcrc.org
>