template-multi-author
License/Copyright setup template for a project with multiple, changing authors. For example, a project that accepts external constibutions.
-
Copyright notice(s) are in
LICENSE
if possible/desirable (e.g., MIT) or inCOPYRIGHT
otherwise. -
The top copyright notice (whether in
LICENSE
or inCOPYRIGHT
) should be a single line in the form:Copyright (c) <year> the <project> authors (see the AUTHORS file).
This is important to prevent license mis-detection by GitHub, etc.
-
See the
AUTHORS
file for the suggested content (replace<project>
). -
See the
CONTRIBUTORS.md
file for the suggested content. -
The
LEGAL
file can be added if additional copyright and/or licensing notes or details are needed. In this case the copyright notice line should be changed to read:Copyright (c) <year> the <project> authors (see the AUTHORS and LEGAL files).
Examples of such notes and details include disclaimers of copyright for third-party files incorporated into the project or licensing exception that make it possible to use third-party dependencies.