I am writing a website maintenance system (called a “content management system” by some), or some other application which generates web pages from templates. What license should I use for those templates?
Templates are minor enough that it is not worth using copyleft to protect them. It is normally harmless to use copyleft on minor works, but templates are a special case, because they are combined with data provided by users of the application and the combination is distributed. So, we recommend that you license your templates under simple permissive terms. Some templates make calls into Javascript functions. Since Javascript is often non-trivial, it is worth copylefting. Because the templates will be combined with user data, it’s possible that template+user data+Javascript would be considered one work under copyright law. A line needs to be drawn between the Javascript (copylefted), and the user code (usually under incompatible terms). Here’s an exception for Javascript code that does this: As a special exception to GPL, any HTML file which merely makes function calls to this code, and for that purpose includes it by reference shall be deemed a separate work for copyright law purposes.
Templates are minor enough that it is not worth using copyleft to protect them. It is normally harmless to use copyleft on minor works, but templates are a special case, because they are combined with data provided by users of the application and the combination is distributed. So, we recommend that you license your templates under simple permissive terms. Some templates make calls into Javascript functions. Since Javascript is often non-trivial, it is worth copylefting. Because the templates will be combined with user data, it’s possible that template+user data+Javascript would be considered one work under copyright law. A line needs to be drawn between the Javascript (copylefted), and the user code (usually under incompatible terms). A diagram of the above content Here’s an exception for Javascript code that does this: As a special exception to GPL, any HTML file which merely makes function calls to this code, and for that purpose includes it by reference shall be deemed a separate w
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