A Look at the Legal Implications of Open Source Software Licensing

Abstract

Open source software development is a new model of collective collaboration that has challenged the traditional monopoly-based legal order. The purpose of this research is to explore the legal dimensions governing works produced in the field of open source software and to examine the nature of their licenses. This research analyzes how rights and obligations are created between developers and users by comparative examination of different licensing models. The main issue is the challenges in implementing open source contracts in national legal systems and the legal nature of "permission" versus "ownership". The research findings show that open source licenses are a type of valid legal contract that, by observing the principles of freedom of contracts, provides the possibility of managing intellectual property rights without creating monopolies.