Copyright Protection of Open Source Software

Abstract

Open source software is a popular alternative to the more traditional proprietary software as it has gained importance in various servers and portals. This article discusses the fundamentals of protecting open source software with copyright. The article also aims to outline which parts of the program are protected, who owns the copyright as well as its financial and moral content. Despite the advancements and growing interest in open source software, copyrights are still the most important way of protecting computer programs along with licensing. The lack of formality seems to be the reason for its dominance as copyrights do not need to be registered, they are free of charge and they are created automatically when the work is born. These characteristics function especially well with open source programs that are not produced for commercial purposes. It is probable that copyright’s dominating position will hold in the future although open source software is not regarded as fully dependent on this specific intellectual property right anymore.