# Licensing Overview

**Source**: https://ospo.library.jhu.edu/learn-grow/licensing-overview/
**Parent**: https://ospo.library.jhu.edu/

In this section

## [Licensing Overview](https://ospo.library.jhu.edu/?post_type=page&p=496)

- [Choose a License](https://ospo.library.jhu.edu/learn-grow/licensing-overview/choose-a-license/)
- [Copyright, Patents, and More](https://ospo.library.jhu.edu/learn-grow/licensing-overview/copyright-patents-more/)
- [Open Source Hardware](https://ospo.library.jhu.edu/learn-grow/licensing-overview/open-source-hardware/)

**Open source software** is software with publicly available source code that is licensed to allow use, inspection, modification, and distribution by anyone. Source code is the human-readable instructions that tell a computer what to do. Source code is written in a programming language such as Python, Java, or C++.

An **open source license** is an intellectual property license and legal agreement that grants users certain rights to use, inspect, distribute, and modify the software. The OSPO has put together a number of resources to help the Hopkins community understand different license types and their implications for a project.

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Choose a License](https://ospo.library.jhu.edu/licensing-overview/choose-a-license/)

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Copyrights, Patents, and More](https://ospo.library.jhu.edu/licensing-overview/copyright-patents-more/)

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Open Source Hardware](https://ospo.library.jhu.edu/licensing-overview/open-source-hardware/)

# Learn More

- Choose a License. “Choose an Open Source License.” Accessed September 29, 2023. https://choosealicense.com/.
- “Disseminating Your Open Work.” Accessed December 7, 2023. <https://openr.it/best-practices/disseminating>.
- “FSF Licensing & Compliance Team — Free Software Foundation — Working Together for Free Software.” Accessed December 7, 2023. https://www.fsf.org/licensing/.
- Morin, Andrew, Jennifer Urban, and Piotr Sliz. “A Quick Guide to Software Licensing for the Scientist-Programmer.” PLOS Computational Biology 8, no. 7 (July 26, 2012): e1002598. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1002598.
- Open Source Initiative. “OSI Approved Licenses,” September 16, 2022. https://opensource.org/licenses/.
- Skaife, David. “A Short Guide to Open Source Licenses.” Nationwide Technology (blog), September 16, 2021. <https://medium.com/nationwide-technology/a-short-guide-to-open-source-licenses-cf5b1c329edd>.

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