The Code Project Open License (CPOL) is a software license published by

The Code Project Code Project (formerly The Code Project) is a community for computer programmers with articles on different topics and programming languages such as web development, software development, C++, Java, and other topics. Once a visitor registers a us ...

, a community site for software developers. The license is mainly applied to content that is being published on the site.

License

The main points subject to the terms of the license are: *Source Code and Executable Files can be used in commercial applications; *Source Code and Executable Files can be redistributed; and *Source Code can be modified to create

derivative work In copyright law, a derivative work is an expressive creation that includes major copyrightable elements of an original, previously created first work (the underlying work). The derivative work becomes a second, separate work independent in fo ...

s; *No claim of suitability, guarantee, or any warranty whatsoever is provided. The software is provided "as-is"; *The Article(s) accompanying the Work may not be distributed or republished without the Author's consent; *Executable Files and Source Code may not be distributed with any technological measures that control access or use of the Work in a manner inconsistent with the terms of the License. The license itself grants copyright and patent protection to the developer. The Code Project has a comparison of the CPOL to

open-source license An open-source license is a type of license for computer software and other products that allows the source code, blueprint or design to be used, modified and/or shared under defined terms and conditions. This allows end users and commercial compan ...

s on their site. Further, the license provides a distinction and clarification between the source code available for download and the source code's author's articles and writings about that content.

Status as an open-source license

The "Open" in the name Code Project Open License refers to the license offering accessibility to the software's source code. The license is not "Open" as defined by the

Open Source Initiative The Open Source Initiative (OSI) is the steward of the Open Source Definition, the set of rules that define open source software. It is a California public-benefit nonprofit corporation, with 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status. The organization w ...

because it places restrictions on how the software can be used, such as forbidding its use in illegal, immoral or improper material as well as a prohibition on commercial distribution of the code in isolation. The CPOL is strictly for source code that is

gratis Gratis may refer to: * Free, meaning without charge. See Gratis versus libre * Gratis, Ohio, a village in Preble County, US * Gratis Township, Preble County, Ohio, US See also * Free (disambiguation) Free may refer to: Concept * Freedom, ...

, but is not recognized as a free or open license by the

Free Software Foundation The Free Software Foundation (FSF) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded by Richard Stallman on October 4, 1985, to support the free software movement, with the organization's preference for software being distributed under copyleft ("s ...

due to the restrictions within the CPOL forbidding usage for illegal purposes and the restrictions on selling the code without coupling it to a larger application. The license is thus incompatible with the

GNU General Public License The GNU General Public License (GNU GPL or simply GPL) is a series of widely used free software licenses that guarantee end user In product development, an end user (sometimes end-user) is a person who ultimately uses or is intended to ulti ...

and some other

free software Free software or libre software is computer software distributed under terms that allow users to run the software for any purpose as well as to study, change, and distribute it and any adapted versions. Free software is a matter of liberty, ...

licenses, and inconsistent with the

Open Source Definition ''The Open Source Definition'' is a document published by the Open Source Initiative, to determine whether a software license can be labeled with the open-source certification mark. The definition was taken from the exact text of the Debian Free ...

, which requires that a license not discriminate against fields of endeavor. The Apache Software Foundation does not accept code under this license.

References

{{reflist , refs= {{cite web , url=http://www.opensource.org/licenses/alphabetical , title=Licenses by Name , publisher=

, accessdate=February 21, 2010 {{cite web , url=https://www.gnu.org/licenses/license-list.html#cpol , author1=Free Software Foundation Licensing and Compliance Lab , title=Various Licenses and Comments about Them , website=gnu.org , publisher=

, accessdate=March 2, 2016 {{cite web , url=http://www.debian.org/legal/licenses/ , title=License information , publisher=

Debian Debian (), also known as Debian GNU/Linux, is a Linux distribution composed of free and open-source software, developed by the community-supported Debian Project, which was established by Ian Murdock on August 16, 1993. The first version of De ...

, accessdate=February 21, 2010 {{cite web , url=http://www.codeproject.com/info/cpol10.aspx , title=The Code Project Open License (CPOL) 1.02 , date=April 15, 2008 , publisher=

, accessdate=February 21, 2010 {{cite web , url=http://www.codeproject.com/info/Licenses.aspx , title=Licenses , date=July 1, 2007 , publisher=

, accessdate=February 21, 2010

External links

Code Project Open License (CPOL)The Code ProjectCode Project's comparison of licenses
Software licensing