gbranden pushed a commit to branch master
in repository groff.
commit 0a29c1ecc8d56a797fe6e5239495036382966a8d
Author: G. Branden Robinson <[email protected]>
AuthorDate: Mon Feb 23 12:45:49 2026 -0600
HACKING: Expand guidance on copyright notices.
* Add an example of a groff-flavored copyright notice. Identify files
to which we do not apply this format. (In summary, we don't alter
"foreign" copyright notices to fit our house style.)
* Add guidance regarding handling of new files added to groff.
* Add guidance regarding use of proper copyright signs and avoidance of
ersatz substitutes.
* Clarify that a copyright notice should be added to a file only if it
satisfies _both_ the "original expression" and "legal significance"
criteria.
---
HACKING | 80 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++-------------
1 file changed, 64 insertions(+), 16 deletions(-)
diff --git a/HACKING b/HACKING
index cc24249dc..b0267b579 100644
--- a/HACKING
+++ b/HACKING
@@ -121,6 +121,25 @@ Background
to establish a coherent basis from which to make consistent decisions
about the inclusion and maintenance of copyright notices in groff.
+* Copyright notices in groff generally look as follows...
+
+ Copyright YYYY-ZZZZ Umbrella Organization, Inc.
+ QQQQ J. Random Hacker
+ WWWW-XXXX S. O. Gui
+
+ ...where the repeated sequences of a capital letter are replaced by
+ (an) applicable Gregorian calendar year(s).
+
+ An exception is made for copyright notices applicable to "foreign"
+ code and files incorporated from other projects, which generally
+ retain the forms extant at their time of incorporation. Where these
+ files are supplemented with contributions by groff developers and meet
+ the originality and significance criteria discussed below, we add
+ copyright notices in the form shown above.
+
+ In files not encoded in UTF-8, we avoid use of the copyright sign
+ (Unicode U+00A9). See below regarding "ersatz" copyright symbols.
+
* The purpose of a copyright notice is to record legal facts about a
work. It is not to express acknowledgement of, gratitude about, or
appreciation for the efforts of contributors, past or present, which
@@ -137,16 +156,16 @@ Background
* In U.S. statutory law, copyright protection extends to portions of a
work that constitute "original expression" (see below) and that are
"fixed in a tangible medium" (such as paper or a non-volatile memory
- device) at some point in time. That point in time is recorded as a
- Gregorian calendar year in the copyright notice. A notice should
- declare a list of one or more such years reflecting the initial
- "fixation" and further alterations to the work constituting original
- expression in later years. An exception can be made for portions of
- the work whose copyright durations have elapsed. But these durations
- are so lengthy that, in the United States as of 2025, no work of
- computer software or documentation has ever yet even _partially_ aged
- into the public domain. (Some has been placed into the public domain
- deliberately, and some never enjoyed copyright protection at all.)
+ device) at some point in time. The copyright notice records the year
+ corresponding to that point in time. A notice should declare a list
+ of one or more such years reflecting the initial "fixation" and
+ further alterations to the work constituting original expression in
+ later years. An exception can be made for portions of the work whose
+ copyright durations have elapsed. But these durations are so lengthy
+ that, in the United States as of 2025, no work of computer software or
+ documentation has ever yet even _partially_ aged into the public
+ domain. (Some has been placed into the public domain deliberately,
+ and some never enjoyed copyright protection at all.)
Historically--decades ago, and before digital computing was commonly
undertaken in the home or even in small- to medium-scale business--a
@@ -223,12 +242,12 @@ What To Do
ch300-copyrightable-authorship.pdf>.
* If you forget the foregoing step, or contributions to a file seem to
- accrete original status over time or a series of commits, it's fine to
- later update the notice to include the relevant (hopefully current)
- year in a stand-alone commit. Use "git log --oneline" on a file to
- gather commit IDs and change summaries that justify the update and put
- them in the commit message so that other people understand the basis
- of your claim.
+ accrete original status and legal significance over time or a series
+ of commits, it's fine to later update the notice to include the
+ relevant (hopefully current) year in a stand-alone commit. Use "git
+ log --oneline" on a file to gather commit IDs and change summaries
+ that justify the update and put them in the commit message so that
+ other people understand the basis of your claim.
* Similarly, it is also virtuous to correct existing copyright notices
that apply overbroad principles of update as described above. Doing
@@ -253,6 +272,35 @@ What To Do
https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/groff/2013-12/msg00033.html
https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/groff/2013-12/msg00005.html
+* When adding a new file to groff, include a copyright notice only if it
+ is "legally significant" per the 15-line threshold. But even a new
+ file of legally significant size does not merit a copyright notice if
+ it does not constitute original, non-robotic expression as discussed
+ above. Include "Copyright-paperwork-exempt: yes" in the Git commit
+ log message. To summarize, the same rules apply to new files as to
+ changes to existing ones.
+
+* In UTF-8-encoded files, it is fine to use a true copyright sign
+ (Unicode U+00A9). Place it in the notice between the word "Copyright"
+ and the year (or year range) with one space on each side of it.
+
+ In other files, avoid use of the ersatz copyright sign "(C)".
+ Software developers have long labored under the no-longer-correct
+ misconception that omitting a copyright symbol from one's notice was a
+ fatal defect that effectively placed the work in the public domain.
+ That stopped being true as of 1 March 1989. Further, prior to
+ guidance issued by the U.S. Copyright Office in the decades since, the
+ use of "(C)" as a substitute for a copyright sign _may not have
+ sufficed_ to prevent the copyright notice from being regarded as
+ defective. The Copyright Office, then and now, prefers the
+ abbreviation "copr." when a true copyright sign is typographically
+ unavailable. Nowadays, its advice is that "c" (note lowercase) is an
+ "acceptable variant", that _may_ retain the efficacy of the copyright
+ notice. The word "copyright", spelled out in full, also suffices per
+ that resource, and is already present in this notice.
+
+ See <https://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ03.pdf>.
+
Writing tests
-------------
_______________________________________________
groff-commit mailing list
[email protected]
https://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/groff-commit
