Sage license

aitor · May 13, 2016, 2:20pm

Can I change the name “Sage” in the theme I’m developing? and Should I keep the copyright notice intact on a theme derived from Sage?

I have no problem keeping it but do not know whether the authors wish to appear in a modification of the original theme. What is the reasonable limit to keep or change this note? Can I add my name to the authors list in my own developed sage theme?

Thank you in advance.

github.com

roots/sage/blob/master/LICENSE.md

Copyright (c) Ben Word and Scott Walkinshaw

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of
this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in
the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to
use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies
of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do
so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
SOFTWARE.

kalenjohnson · May 13, 2016, 2:22pm

The license basically says you can do what you want with it

ben · May 13, 2016, 2:26pm

https://tldrlegal.com/license/mit-license

aitor · May 13, 2016, 2:35pm

Ok! (I can’t see the MIT license in the license.md)

So, for a derived theme of sage, Is it right to put something like this into the license?:

Original Sage theme: Copyright © Ben Word and Scott Walkinshaw.
[My derived theme name]: [my (sublicensed) license]

swalkinshaw · May 13, 2016, 3:41pm

Just include the contents of our LICENSE.md file in its entirety then add your own specific stuff.

aitor · September 20, 2016, 10:14am

Hi, I’m reading some about theme licensing. Here, a good backround article:

http://wpandlegalstuff.com/wordpress-themes-gpl-conundrum-derivative-works/

IANAL, but I think there is a legal gap with Sage licensing. AFAIK, WP themes can be licensed as GPL or split license (as a derivative work of GPL WP).

Maybe this is not a problem for the Roots community, since, in practice, people can develop their Sage themes without problems. But doesn’t that mean that the legal stage is right. It seems that Sage try to keep away from this complex discussion.

Nothing more, just a thought about this

Useful links:
Statement from Software Freedom Law Center:

Would WordPress Sue The Maker Of Thesis, A Leading WordPress Theme?

ben · September 20, 2016, 3:31pm

The MIT license is GPL compatible.