This book discusses the main legal questions raised by free and open source software (FOSS) licenses and other alternative license models, such as Creative Commons. The legal questions raised by FOSS and other alternative licenses have been the subject of an intense international debate among legal scholars and practising lawyers in the last years. Courts in different jurisdictions have confirmed that the core features of FOSS licenses are compliant with the respective applicable laws and thus enforceable in the respective jurisdictions. What is still missing so far is an in-depth comparative analysis of the legal issues raised by FOSS, Creative Commons and other alternative license on a worldwide scale. This book presents a general report on FOSS licenses and alternative license models to establish common ground and enable comparison between jurisdictions. The general report is followed by 24 national reports covering the world's most important IT-markets. General and national reports use the same structure to facilitate the comparison. The book shows that despite the differences in their origins, all FOSS projects use detailed licenses for the organisation of their communities. It also shows the differences in the proofing of these licenses by courts in some jurisdictions and the tailor-made provisions established by some legislators to solve the legal issues raised by the license model.

General Report; Axel Metzger and Stefan Hennigs.- National Reports.- Belgium License contracts, free software and creative commons an overview of the state of play in Belgium; Vincent Cassiers, Marie-Christine Janssens and Esther van Zimmeren.- Brazil Free Open Source Software and Creative Commons in Brazil; Fabrício Bertini Pasquot Polido and Monica Steffen Guise Rosina.- Croatia Alternative Licensing Contracts in Croatian Copyright Legislation; Igor Gliha and Romana Matanovac Vukovi.- Cyprus The Cypriot law of contract applied to free software and creative commons a work in progress Tatiana Synodinou and Philippe Jougleux.- Czech Republic Free Licenses and Recodification of Civil Law in the Czech Republic; Pavel Koukal, Matj My¨ka, Jaromír ¦avelka.- Denmark License contracts, free software and Creative Commons - Questionnaire Denmark; Henrik Udsen.- Finland Free and open source software (FOSS) licenses and other alterative licenses under Finnish law; Anniina Huttunen, Henri Tanskanen and Martin von Willebrand.- France The French copyright law opens its arms to the FOSS; Nicolas Binctin.- Germany License contracts, free software and creative commons; Alexander Peukert and Dominik König.- Greece License Contracts, Free Software and Creative Commons in Greece; Dionysia Kallinikou.- Hungary License contracts, free software and creative commons in the Hungarian law; Anikó Grad-Gyenge and Péter Mezei.- Italy Free software and creative commons in license in Italy: A work still in progress; Marco Ricolfi.- Japan Free and Open Source Software and other Alternative License Models in Japan; Ryu Kojima.- Malaysia Legal Issues on Free Software and License Contracts - A Malaysian Perspective; Tay Pek San and Sik Cheng Peng.- Netherlands Fitting the bill FOSS and alternative copyright licensing in the Netherlands; L. Guibault and O. Salamanca.- Poland License contracts, free softwareand creative commons in Poland; Beata Giesen.- Portugal License Contracts, Free Software and Creative Commons in Portugal; Alexandre L. Dias Pereira.- Romania Legal regime of free software in Romania; Rzvan Dinc.- South Korea Legal Issues on FOSS and Other Alternative Licenses in Korea; Gyooho Lee.- Spain Free software, creative commons and alternative licenses: Spanish perspectives; Pedro A. De Miguel Asensio.- Taiwan Legal Development in an Industrial Context - FOSS in Taiwan; Wei-min Liao.- Turkey Turkish copyright law on free and open source software (FOSS) licenses; Emre Bayamlolu.- UK FOSS and alternative licensing in the United Kingdom; Luke McDonagh.- USA The uncertain legal status of free and open source software in the United States; Peter B. Maggs.- About the Authors.- Appendix: Questionnaire.