Distribution and Licensing of Software

For a seminar on 'All you need to know about software licences as an RSE', go to the HiRSE YouTube Channel.

Can I licence software that I have developed to third parties ?

Software can be made available to third parties for use on a proprietary basis by means of classic licence agreements as well as under open source licence models. Software is subject to copyright. The "personal" copyright, i.e. the right to mention the names of the authors, lies with the programmers, the right of use usually with the employer.

Negotiations of proprietary software licence agreements are handled by the Innovation & Strategy department (UE-I) of Corporate Development together with the respective institute.

Should I make the software I have developed available as "Open Source"? How do I choose the appropriate licence for my software?

Forschungszentrum Jülich supports the publication of software as open source software e.g. on GitLab or GitHub. To decide whether the software should be licensed proprietarily to one or more partners or made open source, some questions should be clarified.

For example, it plays a role whether it is in the interest of the institute that the software is further developed in a community, whether it has commercial potential, or whether the code should be distributed as widely as possible. A suitable licence can then be derived from the interests of the institute and the general conditions of the developed software, e.g. by integrated libraries or pre-existing codes or also defaults of co-operation partners or sponsors.

The contact persons for software licensing will advise you on suitable first steps and, if required, will put you in touch with suitable contacts at FZ Jülich.

Which OSS license is the right choice for my software?

The selection of the right licence depends on the rights of use and exploitation of the software that are to be granted to third parties. In addition, the choice must take into account possible contractual conditions of the software projects and the compatibility of potentially integrated third-party software. In general, an OSS licence recognized by the Open Source Initiative should be used.

In addition, the Innovation & Strategy department (UE-I) of Corporate Development will be happy to advise you on the choice of OSS licence and talk through aspects to be considered.

Open Source Initiative , Choose an open source license

Who decides if and which OSS licence is used?

The provision of software under an OSS licence is the responsibility of the director of the institute. The respective release process of the institute to which the employee belongs must be considered. The release process is determined by the respective institute on its own responsibility. The director of the institute can be guided by the guideline no. "Richtlinie Nr. 2/2024Veröffentlichungen des Forschungszentrums Jülich GmbH ". The responsibility can be delegated by the director, e.g. to the project managers or the software developers.

Following deliberations of the Library Committee at FZJ and the Main Committee of the Scientific and Technical Council (WTR), the revised version of the Publication Guidelines was adopted as directive 02/2024 by the Board of Directors of Forschungszentrum Jülich. Subsequent work is currently being undertaken or is planned by the OUs involved to facilitate the use and digital implementation of the guidelines.

251-02_RL_Veröffentlichungen des Forschungszentrums Jülich_V1_mit Datum

What is copyright? What is the right of use/exploitation?

Software is subject to the copyright. The "personal" copyright, i.e. the right to mention the names of the authors, lies with the programmers. As soon as software developers are in an employment relationship with FZ Jülich, the rights of use and exploitation, e.g. the right to licence the software to third parties on an open source or proprietary basis, automatically belong to the research center according to the german copyright law.

Special arrangements must therefore be made before the start of the project for the planned involvement of third parties who do not have an employment contract or similar with FZ Jülich. If required, external contributions can be included via a Contributor Licence Agreement.

What is a Contributor Licence Agreement?

A Contributor Licence Agreement (CLA), is a document that describes the conditions under which intellectual property can be contributed to a project or endeavor. In most cases, this is a software project under an open source licence. In the future, FZ Jülich will provide a verified template via the RSE portal that can be submitted to external contributors.

What the FZJ Software Guidelines say about legal aspects

Class 0 or higher
Consideration of legal aspects (e.g. third-party rights) is an integral part of the software development process and requires appropriate documentation (e.g. copyright notices). The checklist in Annex A provides assistance on this topic. Example: If programming is based on existing software or if libraries are used, these licensing conditions must be observed.

Class 2 or higher
If the software is developed as part of a cooperation, the conditions for grants as well as the provisions of the contracts or grant agreements and/or the provisions of the consortium must be observed. If individual developers of Forschungszentrum Jülich contribute code to software projects of third parties, a contributor licence agreement (CLA) must be concluded if no cooperation agreement has been concluded.

Before the software is distributed to third parties outside of Forschungszentrum Jülich, a licence for the software is established that regulates the use of the software by third parties. Licensing agreements for third-party software used are complied with. The software is not distributed without a licence. A copyright notice is required for distribution.

Example 1: The software is made available on an open source basis. A suitable open source licence is selected by the institute using the checklist and used for distribution.

Example 2: The software is distributed on a restricted basis. UE-I draws up an individual software licensing agreement together with the institute that regulates the use of the software.