<title>
Machine-readable <filename>debian/copyright</filename> file.
</title>
- <subtitle>Version 1.0</subtitle>
<legalnotice>
<para>
Copying and distribution of this file, with or without modification, are
</legalnotice>
<abstract>
<para>
- This specification was drafted as <ulink
- url="http://dep.debian.net/deps/dep5/">DEP-5</ulink>, to establish a
- standard, machine-readable format for
- <filename>debian/copyright</filename> files within packages and
- facilitate automated checking and reporting of licenses for packages and
- sets of packages.
+ Establish a standard, machine-readable format for
+ <filename>debian/copyright</filename> files within packages and to
+ facilitate automated checking and reporting of licenses for packages
+ and sets of packages.
</para>
</abstract>
</articleinfo>
avoid conflicting specifications for widely used extra fields.
</para>
<para>
- There are four kinds values for fields. Each field specifies which kind
- is allowed.
+ The file consists of two or more paragraphs. At minimum, the file
+ must include one <link linkend="header-paragraph">header
+ paragraph</link> and one <link linkend="files-paragraph">Files
+ paragraph</link>.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ The value of each field is of one of the four types listed below. The
+ definition for each field in this document indicates which type of
+ value it takes.
</para>
<section id="single-line">
<title>Single-line values</title>
<para>
- A single-line value means that the whole value of a field must fit on a
- single line. For example, the <varname>Format</varname> field has a
- single line value specifying the version of the machine-readable format
- that is used.
+ A single-line value means that the whole value of a field must fit
+ on a single line. For example, the <varname>Format</varname> field
+ has a single-line value specifying the version of the
+ machine-readable format that is used.
</para>
</section>
<section id="white-space-lists">
- <title>White space separated lists</title>
+ <title>Whitespace-separated lists</title>
<para>
- A white space separated list means that the field value may be on one
- line or many, but values in the list are separated by one or more white
- space characters (including space, TAB, and newline). For example, the
- <varname>Files</varname> field has a list of filename patterns.
+ A whitespace-separated list means that the field value may be on one
+ line or many, but values in the list are separated by one or more
+ whitespace characters (including space, TAB, and newline). For
+ example, the <varname>Files</varname> field has a list of filename
+ patterns.
</para>
</section>
<section id="line-based-lists">
- <title>Line based lists</title>
+ <title>Line-based lists</title>
<para>
Another kind of list value has one value per line. For example,
<varname>Copyright</varname> can list many copyright statements, one per
<section id="paragraphs">
<title>Paragraphs</title>
<para>
- There are three kinds of paragraphs: the first one is called the
- <link linkend="header-paragraph">header paragraph</link>. Every other
- paragraph is either a <link linkend="files-paragraph">Files</link>
- paragraph or a <link linkend="stand-alone-license-paragraph">stand-alone
- license</link> paragraph. This is similar to source and binary package
+ There are three kinds of paragraphs. The first paragraph in the file
+ is called the <link linkend="header-paragraph">header paragraph</link>.
+ Every other paragraph is either a <link
+ linkend="files-paragraph">Files paragraph</link> or a <link
+ linkend="stand-alone-license-paragraph">stand-alone License
+ paragraph</link>. This is similar to source and binary package
paragraphs in <filename>debian/control</filename> files.
</para>
<section id="header-paragraph">
<title>Header paragraph (Once)</title>
- <section id="format-header-field">
- <title><varname>Format</varname></title>
- <para>
- Required single line: URI of the format specification, such as:
- <literal>http://www.debian.org/doc/packaging-manuals/copyright-format/1.0/</literal>
- </para>
- </section>
-
- <section id="upstream-name-header-field">
- <title><varname>Upstream-Name</varname></title>
- <para>
- Optional single line: the name upstream uses for the software
- </para>
- </section>
-
- <section id="upstream-contact-header-field">
- <title><varname>Upstream-Contact</varname></title>
- <para>
- Optional line based list: the preferred address(es) to reach the
- upstream project. May be free-form text, but by convention will
- usually be written as a list of RFC5322 addresses or URIs.
- </para>
- </section>
-
- <section id="source-header-field">
- <title><varname>Source</varname></title>
- <para>
- Optional formatted text, no synopsis: an explanation from where the
- upstream source came from. Typically this would be a URL, but it might
- be a free-form explanation. The Debian Policy section <ulink
- url="http://www.debian.org/doc/debian-policy/ch-docs#s-copyrightfile">12.5</ulink>
- requires this information unless there are no upstream sources, which
- is mainly the case for native Debian packages. If the upstream source
- has been modified to remove non-free parts, that should be explained
- in this field.
- </para>
- </section>
-
- <section id="disclaimer-header-field">
- <title><varname>Disclaimer</varname></title>
- <para>
- Optional formatted text, no synopsis: this field can be used in the
- case of non-free and contrib packages (see <ulink
- url="http://www.debian.org/doc/debian-policy/ch-docs#s-copyrightfile">12.5</ulink>)
- </para>
- </section>
-
- <section id="comment-header-field">
- <title><varname>Comment</varname></title>
- <para>
- Optional formatted text, no synopsis: this field can provide
- additional information. For example, it might quote an e-mail from
- upstream justifying why the license is acceptable to the main archive,
- or an explanation of how this version of the package has been forked
- from a version known to be DFSG-free, even though the current upstream
- version is not.
- </para>
- </section>
-
- <section id="license-header-field">
- <title><varname>License</varname></title>
- <para>
- Optional formatted text, with synopsis: in the header paragraph
- (no <varname>Files</varname> specification), this field gives the
- license information for the package as a whole, which may be different
- or simplified from a combination of all the per-file license
- information. <varname>License</varname> below in the <link
- linkend="files-paragraph">Files paragraph</link> section.
- </para>
- </section>
-
- <section id="copyright-header-field">
- <title><varname>Copyright</varname></title>
- <para>
- Optional line based list: in the header paragraph (no
- <varname>Files</varname> specification), this field gives the
- copyright information for the package as a whole, which may be
- different or simplified from a combination of all the per-file
- copyright information. See also <varname>Copyright</varname> below
- in the <link linkend="files-paragraph">Files paragraph</link>
- section.
- </para>
- <para>
- The <varname>Copyright</varname> and <varname>License</varname> fields
- in the <emphasis>header paragraph</emphasis> may complement but do not
- replace the <emphasis>files paragraphs</emphasis>. They can be used
- to summarise the contributions and redistribution terms for the whole
- package, for instance when a work combines a permissive and a copyleft
- license, or to document a <emphasis>compilation copyright</emphasis>
- and license. It is possible to use only <varname>License</varname> in
- the header paragraph, but <varname>Copyright</varname> alone makes no
- sense.
- </para>
- </section>
+ <para>
+ The following fields may be present in a header paragraph.
+ </para>
+ <itemizedlist>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <link linkend="format-field">Format</link>: required.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <link linkend="upstream-name-field">Upstream-Name</link>:
+ optional.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <link
+ linkend="upstream-contact-field">Upstream-Contact</link>:
+ optional.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <link linkend="source-field">Source</link>: optional.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <link linkend="disclaimer-field">Disclaimer</link>:
+ optional.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <link linkend="comment-field">Comment</link>: optional.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <link linkend="license-field">License</link>: optional.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <link linkend="copyright-field">Copyright</link>: optional.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </itemizedlist>
+ <para>
+ The <varname>Copyright</varname> and <varname>License</varname>
+ fields in the <emphasis>header paragraph</emphasis> may complement
+ but do not replace the <emphasis>Files paragraphs</emphasis>. They
+ can be used to summarise the contributions and redistribution terms
+ for the whole package, for instance when a work combines a
+ permissive and a copyleft license, or to document a
+ <emphasis>compilation copyright</emphasis> and license. It is
+ possible to use only <varname>License</varname> in the header
+ paragraph, but <varname>Copyright</varname> alone makes no sense.
+ </para>
<section id="example-header-paragraph">
<title>Example header paragraph</title>
</section>
</section>
- <section id="files-paragraph">
+ <section id="files-paragraph">
<title>Files paragraph (Repeatable)</title>
<para>
The declaration of copyright and license for files is done in one or
which applies to all files and lists all applicable copyrights and
licenses.
</para>
-
- <section id="files-files-field">
- <title><varname>Files</varname></title>
- <para>
- Required white space separated list: list of patterns indicating files
- covered by the license and copyright specified in this paragraph.
- </para>
- <para>
- Filename patterns in the <varname>Files</varname> field are specified
- using a simplified shell glob syntax. Patterns are separated by white
- space.
- <itemizedlist>
- <listitem>
- <para>
- Only the wildcards <literal>*</literal> and <literal>?</literal>
- apply; the former matches any number of characters (including
- none), the latter a single character. Both match a slash
- (<literal>/</literal>) and a leading dot.
- </para>
- </listitem>
- <listitem>
- <para>
- Patterns match pathnames that start at the root of the source
- tree. Thus, <quote><filename>Makefile.in</filename></quote>
- matches only the file at the root of the tree, but
- <quote><filename>*/Makefile.in</filename></quote> matches at any
- depth.
- </para>
- </listitem>
- <listitem>
- <para>
- The backslash (<literal>\</literal>) is used to remove the magic
- from the next character; see table below.
- </para>
- </listitem>
- </itemizedlist>
- <informaltable>
- <tgroup cols="2">
- <thead>
- <row>
- <entry>Escape sequence</entry>
- <entry>Matches</entry>
- </row>
- </thead>
- <tbody>
- <row>
- <entry><literal>\*</literal></entry>
- <entry>star (asterisk)</entry>
- </row>
- <row>
- <entry><literal>\?</literal></entry>
- <entry>question mark</entry>
- </row>
- <row>
- <entry><literal>\\</literal></entry>
- <entry>backslash</entry>
- </row>
- </tbody>
- </tgroup>
- </informaltable>
- Any other character following a backslash is an error.
- </para>
- <para>
- Multiple <varname>Files</varname> paragraphs are allowed. The last
- paragraph that matches a particular file applies to it.
- </para>
<para>
- Exclusions are done by having multiple <varname>Files</varname>
- paragraphs.
+ The following fields may be present in a Files paragraph.
</para>
- </section>
-
- <section id="copyright-files-field">
- <title><varname>Copyright</varname></title>
- <para>
- Required line based list: one or more free-form copyright
- statement(s), one per line, that apply to the files matched by the
- above pattern. If a work has no copyright holder (i.e., it is in
- the public domain), that information should be recorded here.
- </para>
- <para>
- The <varname>Copyright</varname> field collects all relevant copyright
- notices for the files of this paragraph. Not all copyright notices
- may apply to every individual file, and years of publication for one
- copyright holder may be gathered together. For example, if file A
- has:
-<programlisting>Copyright 2008 John Smith
-Copyright 2009 Angela Watts</programlisting>
- and file B has:
-<programlisting>Copyright 2010 Angela Watts</programlisting>
- the <varname>Copyright</varname> field for a stanza
- covering both file A and file B need contain only:
-<programlisting>Copyright 2008 John Smith
-Copyright 2009, 2010 Angela Watts</programlisting>
- </para>
- <para>
- The <varname>Copyright</varname> field may contain the original
- copyright statement copied exactly (including the word
- <quote>Copyright</quote>), or it can shorten the text, as long
- as it does not sacrifice information. Examples in this specification
- use both forms.
- </para>
- </section>
-
- <section id="license-files-field">
- <title><varname>License</varname></title>
- <para>
- Required formatted text, with synopsis: licensing terms for the files
- listed in <varname>Files</varname> field for this paragraph.
- </para>
- <para>
- First line: an abbreviated name for the license, or expression
- giving alternatives (see <link linkend="license-short-name">Short
- names</link> section for a list of standard abbreviations). If there
- are licenses present in the package without a standard short name, an
- arbitrary short name may be assigned for these licenses. These
- arbitrary names are only guaranteed to be unique within a single
- copyright file.
- </para>
- <para>
- Remaining lines: if left blank here, the file
- <emphasis>must</emphasis> include a stand-alone
- <varname>License</varname> paragraph matching each license short
- name listed on the first line (see the <link
- linkend="stand-alone-license-paragraph">Standalone License
- Paragraph</link> section). Otherwise, this field should either
- include the full text of the license(s) or include a pointer to the
- license file under <filename>/usr/share/common-licenses</filename>.
- This field should include all text needed in order to fulfill both
- Debian Policy's requirement for including a copy of the software's
- distribution license (<ulink
- url="http://www.debian.org/doc/debian-policy/ch-docs#s-copyrightfile">12.5</ulink>),
- and any license requirements to include warranty disclaimers or other
- notices with the binary package.
- </para>
- </section>
- <section id="comment-files-field">
- <title><varname>Comment</varname></title>
- <para>
- Same as the <link linkend="comment-header-field">
- <varname>Comment</varname></link> field in the header paragraph.
- </para>
- </section>
+ <itemizedlist>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <link linkend="files-field">Files</link>: required.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <link linkend="license-field">Copyright</link>: required.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <link linkend="license-field">License</link>: required.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <link linkend="comment-field">Comment</link>: optional.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </itemizedlist>
<section id="example-files-paragraph">
<title>Example files paragraphs</title>
</section>
<section id="stand-alone-license-paragraph">
- <title>Standalone License Paragraph (Optional, Repeatable)</title>
+ <title>Stand-alone License Paragraph (Optional, Repeatable)</title>
<para>
Where a set of files are dual (tri, etc) licensed, or when the same
- license occurs multiple times, you can use a single line
- <varname>License</varname> field and standalone
+ license occurs multiple times, you can use a single-line
+ <varname>License</varname> field and stand-alone
<varname>License</varname> paragraphs to expand the license short names.
</para>
+ <para>
+ The following fields may be present in a stand-alone License
+ paragraph.
+ </para>
+
+ <itemizedlist>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <link linkend="license-field">License</link>: required.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <link linkend="comment-field">Comment</link>: optional.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </itemizedlist>
<example>
<title>tri-licensed files</title>
<programlisting>Files: src/js/editline/*
</section>
</section>
+ <section id="fields">
+ <title>Fields</title>
+ <para>
+ The following fields are defined for use in
+ <filename>debian/copyright</filename>.
+ </para>
+
+ <section id="format-field">
+ <title><varname>Format</varname></title>
+ <para>
+ Single-line: URI of the format specification, such as:
+ <literal>http://www.debian.org/doc/packaging-manuals/copyright-format/1.0/</literal>.
+ </para>
+ </section>
+
+ <section id="upstream-name-field">
+ <title><varname>Upstream-Name</varname></title>
+ <para>
+ Single-line: the name upstream uses for the software
+ </para>
+ </section>
+
+ <section id="upstream-contact-field">
+ <title><varname>Upstream-Contact</varname></title>
+ <para>
+ Line-based list: the preferred address(es) to reach the upstream
+ project. May be free-form text, but by convention will usually be
+ written as a list of RFC5322 addresses or URIs.
+ </para>
+ </section>
+
+ <section id="source-field">
+ <title><varname>Source</varname></title>
+ <para>
+ Formatted text, no synopsis: an explanation from where the upstream
+ source came from. Typically this would be a URL, but it might be a
+ free-form explanation. The Debian Policy section <ulink
+ url="http://www.debian.org/doc/debian-policy/ch-docs#s-copyrightfile">12.5</ulink>
+ requires this information unless there are no upstream sources,
+ which is mainly the case for native Debian packages. If the
+ upstream source has been modified to remove non-free parts, that
+ should be explained in this field.
+ </para>
+ </section>
+
+ <section id="disclaimer-field">
+ <title><varname>Disclaimer</varname></title>
+ <para>
+ Formatted text, no synopsis: this field can be used in the case of
+ non-free and contrib packages (see <ulink
+ url="http://www.debian.org/doc/debian-policy/ch-docs#s-copyrightfile">12.5</ulink>).
+ </para>
+ </section>
+
+ <section id="comment-field">
+ <title><varname>Comment</varname></title>
+ <para>
+ Formatted text, no synopsis: this field can provide additional
+ information. For example, it might quote an e-mail from upstream
+ justifying why the license is acceptable to the main archive, or an
+ explanation of how this version of the package has been forked from
+ a version known to be DFSG-free, even though the current upstream
+ version is not.
+ </para>
+ </section>
+
+ <section id="license-field">
+ <title><varname>License</varname></title>
+ <para>
+ Formatted text, with synopsis. In the header paragraph, this field
+ gives the license information for the package as a whole, which may
+ be different or simplified from a combination of all the per-file
+ license information. In a Files paragraph, this field gives the
+ licensing terms for the files listed in the <varname>Files</varname>
+ field for this paragraph. In a stand-alone License paragraph, it
+ gives the licensing terms for those paragraphs which reference it.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ First line: an abbreviated name for the license, or expression
+ giving alternatives (see <link linkend="license-short-name">Short
+ names</link> section for a list of standard abbreviations). If
+ there are licenses present in the package without a standard short
+ name, an arbitrary short name may be assigned for these licenses.
+ These arbitrary names are only guaranteed to be unique within a
+ single copyright file.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Remaining lines: if left blank here, the file
+ <emphasis>must</emphasis> include a <link
+ linkend="stand-alone-license-paragraph">stand-alone License
+ paragraph</link> matching each license short
+ name listed on the first line.
+ Otherwise, this field should either
+ include the full text of the license(s) or include a pointer to the
+ license file under <filename>/usr/share/common-licenses</filename>.
+ This field should include all text needed in order to fulfill both
+ Debian Policy's requirement for including a copy of the software's
+ distribution license (<ulink
+ url="http://www.debian.org/doc/debian-policy/ch-docs#s-copyrightfile">12.5</ulink>),
+ and any license requirements to include warranty disclaimers or
+ other notices with the binary package.
+ </para>
+ </section>
+
+ <section id="copyright-field">
+ <title><varname>Copyright</varname></title>
+ <para>
+ Formatted text, no synopsis: one or more free-form copyright
+ statement(s). Any formatting is permitted; see the examples below
+ for some ideas for how to structure the field to make it easier to
+ read. In the header paragraph, this field gives the copyright
+ information for the package as a whole, which may be different or
+ simplified from a combination of all the per-file copyright
+ information. In the Files paragraphs, it gives the copyright
+ information that applies to the files matched by the
+ <varname>Files</varname> pattern. If a work has no copyright holder
+ (i.e., it is in the public domain), that information should be
+ recorded here.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ The <varname>Copyright</varname> field collects all relevant
+ copyright notices for the files of this paragraph. Not all
+ copyright notices may apply to every individual file, and years of
+ publication for one copyright holder may be gathered together. For
+ example, if file A has:
+<programlisting>Copyright 2008 John Smith
+Copyright 2009 Angela Watts</programlisting>
+ and file B has:
+<programlisting>Copyright 2010 Angela Watts</programlisting>
+ the <varname>Copyright</varname> field for a stanza covering both
+ file A and file B need contain only:
+<programlisting>Copyright 2008 John Smith
+Copyright 2009, 2010 Angela Watts</programlisting>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ The <varname>Copyright</varname> field may contain the original
+ copyright statement copied exactly (including the word
+ <quote>Copyright</quote>), or it can shorten the text, as long as it
+ does not sacrifice information. Examples in this specification use
+ both forms.
+ </para>
+ </section>
+
+ <section id="files-field">
+ <title><varname>Files</varname></title>
+ <para>
+ Whitespace-separated list: list of patterns indicating files covered
+ by the license and copyright specified in this paragraph.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Filename patterns in the <varname>Files</varname> field are
+ specified using a simplified shell glob syntax. Patterns are
+ separated by whitespace.
+ <itemizedlist>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Only the wildcards <literal>*</literal> and <literal>?</literal>
+ apply; the former matches any number of characters (including
+ none), the latter a single character. Both match a slash
+ (<literal>/</literal>) and a leading dot.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Patterns match pathnames that start at the root of the source
+ tree. Thus, <quote><filename>Makefile.in</filename></quote>
+ matches only the file at the root of the tree, but
+ <quote><filename>*/Makefile.in</filename></quote> matches at
+ any depth.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ The backslash (<literal>\</literal>) is used to remove the
+ magic from the next character; see table below.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </itemizedlist>
+ <informaltable>
+ <tgroup cols="2">
+ <thead>
+ <row>
+ <entry>Escape sequence</entry>
+ <entry>Matches</entry>
+ </row>
+ </thead>
+ <tbody>
+ <row>
+ <entry><literal>\*</literal></entry>
+ <entry>star (asterisk)</entry>
+ </row>
+ <row>
+ <entry><literal>\?</literal></entry>
+ <entry>question mark</entry>
+ </row>
+ <row>
+ <entry><literal>\\</literal></entry>
+ <entry>backslash</entry>
+ </row>
+ </tbody>
+ </tgroup>
+ </informaltable>
+ Any other character following a backslash is an error.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Multiple <varname>Files</varname> paragraphs are allowed. The last
+ paragraph that matches a particular file applies to it.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Exclusions are done by having multiple <varname>Files</varname>
+ paragraphs.
+ </para>
+ </section>
+
+ </section>
<section id="license-specification">
<title>License specification</title>
<filename>debian/copyright</filename>, nor any requirements in the
license of the work regarding reproduction of legal notices. This
information must still be included in the <varname>License</varname>
- field, either in a stand-alone license paragraph or in the relevant
+ field, either in a stand-alone License paragraph or in the relevant
files paragraph.
</para>
<para>
CC0
</entry>
<entry>
- Creative Commons Zero 1.0 Universal
- <ulink url="http://spdx.org/licenses/CC0-1.0">1.0</ulink>.
+ Creative Commons Zero
+ <ulink url="http://spdx.org/licenses/CC0-1.0">1.0 Universal</ulink>.
</entry>
</row>
<row>
license differs from a common license because of added restrictions
rather than because of added permissions, a distinct short name should
be used instead of <literal>with
- <varname><replaceable>keywords</replaceable></varname>exception</literal>.
+ <varname><replaceable>keywords</replaceable></varname>
+ exception</literal>.
</para>
<para>
Only one exception may be specified for each license within a given
projects / debian / debian-policy.git / commitdiff