NGI webinar on open source copyright and license management

Ethical use of intellectual property for NGI projects

This free online event on October 5 from 10 to 12:30 CEST organized by NGI Zero and NGI TETRA handled copyright and license handling for open source software and hardware projects. Among others experts in the NGI0 consortium discussed defensive publications (by Armijn Hemel), basic open source software licensing (by Gabriel Ku Wei Bin of FSFE) and legal infrastructure for open source projects (Michiel Leenaars of the Commons Conservancy).

Do you have code online you released as open source? How did you license your work? And why did you choose that particular license (and do you know what it implies for your code)? The idea of making your effort publicly available and (re)usable is attractive and worthwhile, but takes a bit more effort than simply putting stuff online if you want to avoid issues later down the road (like patent trolls).

NGI Zero funds open source (software and hardware) projects to improve search and discoverability and develop privacy and trust enhancing technology. These two grant programs are part of the Next Generation Internet initiative to make a more resilient, trustworthy and sustainable internet. The NGI Zero consortium members form a diverse group of expert organizations that help projects address critical dimensions like security, accessibility, localization, diversity and community building, as well as licensing and copyright handling.

To dive deeper into proper licensing as an important requirement for internet-scaling technology, NGI Zero together with NGI TETRA hosted a freely accessible webinar on October 5 on open source intellectual property (IP) management. This is the third NGI Zero and NGI TETRA webinar, following two gatherings on community building and crowdfunding. NGI TETRA is a business acceleration program where a network of consultants and experts offer support to NGI-funded projects to commercialize or build a business around their work.

Webinar recording and presentations

View the online session below (provided by conf.tube, a PeerTube-instance dedicated to conferences and community events content).

Links to slides and materials

• Short introductions from NGI Zero (Joost Agterhoek), NGI TETRA and NGI Pointer (Mirko Presser)
• Onur Emul - NGI TETRA
  A brief introduction on the topic of intellectual property (IP) management
• Armijn Hemel - Tjaldur Software Governance
  A presentation on defensive publication approaches and an example of a defensive publication
• Gabriel Ku Wei Bin - Free Software Foundation Europe
  Discussing the basics of open source software licensing
• Michiel Leenaars - Commons Conservancy
  Legal infrastructure for open source projects

To read the discussed questions and shared links, please see the public chat or the shared notes of the webinar.