Copyright and the labelling of others’ programming work are key legal aspects of Open Code. In this context, the problem of code plagiarism must also be considered. When reusing Open Code, a clear distinction should be made in the interests of transparency as to which parts were created in-house and which were reused. If a version management system such as Git is used, an existing project can be copied (“forked”) and own changes can be made that are clearly visible in the version history.

Open Code is published with a licence. The rights and obligations defined in the licence determine the degree of openness of the code and must be observed when using it. Choosing the right licence also an issue when publishing Open Code yourself. 

Anything that is not explicitly permitted by a licence is generally prohibited. Unless the authors are asked for permission. Code/software documentation, either in the form of comments in the code or outside the code in the form of a manual, can also protect copyrights. However, there is also source code that may not be covered by copyright due to its simplicity or brevity. Copyright protects works that reach a certain level of creation, which means that they must have a certain degree of originality and creativity. There is no simple answer as to when copyright applies.

 You can find further information on Open Code Licences in the entry “Publishing Open Code under an appropriate licence” and in the entry “Reusing Open Code“.

 Tips:

• Open Source Guides “The Legal Side of Open Source“
• Hamburg Open Science: Frequently asked legal questions about Open Science (German language)