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The Scope of Open Source Licensing

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Author Info
Josh Lerner

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Abstract

This article is an initial exploration of the determinants of open source license choice. It first highlights how the decision is shaped not just by the preferences of the licensor itself, but also by that of the community of developers. The article then presents an empirical analysis of the determinants of license choice using the SourceForge database, a compilation of nearly 40,000 open source projects. Projects geared toward end-users tend to have restrictive licenses, while those oriented toward developers are less likely to do so. Projects that are designed to run on commercial operating systems and whose primary language is English are less likely to have restrictive licenses. Projects that are likely to be attractive to consumers--such as games--and software developed in a corporate setting are more likely to have restrictive licenses. Projects with unrestricted licenses attract more contributors. These findings are broadly consistent with theoretical predictions. Copyright 2005, Oxford University Press.

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File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/jleo/ewi002
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Publisher Info
Article provided by Oxford University Press in its journal The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization.

Volume (Year): 21 (2005)
Issue (Month): 1 (April)
Pages: 20-56
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Handle: RePEc:oup:jleorg:v:21:y:2005:i:1:p:20-56

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  1. Nancy T. Gallini & Brian D. Wright, 1990. "Technology Transfer under Asymmetric Information," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 21(1), pages 147-160, Spring. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Lerner, Josh & Tirole, Jean, 2002. "Some Simple Economics of Open," Journal of Industrial Economics, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 50(2), pages 197-234, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Katz, Michael L & Shapiro, Carl, 1986. "How to License Intangible Property," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 101(3), pages 567-89, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Katharine E. Rockett, 1990. "Choosing the Competition and Patent Licensing," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 21(1), pages 161-171, Spring. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Andrea Shepard, 1987. "Licensing to Enhance Demand for New Technologies," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 18(3), pages 360-368, Autumn. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Gallini, Nancy T, 1984. "Deterrence by Market Sharing: A Strategic Incentive for Licensing," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 74(5), pages 931-41, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Crémer, Jacques & Gaudeul, Alexandre, 2004. "Quelques éléments d'économie du logiciel libre," IDEI Working Papers 277, Institut d'Économie Industrielle (IDEI), Toulouse. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Simon Gaechter & Georg von Krogh & Stefan Haefliger, 2006. "Private-Collective Innovation and the Fragility of Knowledge Sharing," Discussion Papers 2006-21, The Centre for Decision Research and Experimental Economics, School of Economics, University of Nottingham. [Downloadable!]
  3. Paul A. David & Francesco Rullani, 2006. "Micro-dynamics of Free and Open Source Software Development. Lurking, laboring and launching new projects on SourceForge," LEM Papers Series 2006/26, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy. [Downloadable!]
  4. Stefano Comino & Fabio M. Manenti & Maria Laura Parisi, 2005. "From Planning to Mature: on the Determinants of Open Source Take Off," Department of Economics Working Papers 0517, Department of Economics, University of Trento, Italia. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  5. Stefano Comino & Fabio Manenti, 2005. "Government Policies Supporting Open Source Software for the Mass Market," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer, vol. 26(2), pages 217-240, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Egon Franck & Carola Jungwirth & Benno Luthiger, 2005. "Motivation und Engagement beim OSS-Programmieren- Eine empirische Analyse," Working Papers 0036, University of Zurich, Institute for Strategy and Business Economics (ISU). [Downloadable!]
  7. Bitzer, Jürgen & Schrettl, Wolfram & Schröder, Philipp J.H., 2006. "Intrinsic Motivation versus Signaling in Open Source Software Development," Working Papers 06-7, University of Aarhus, Aarhus School of Business, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  8. Stephane Verani, 2006. "Open Source Development in a Differentiated Duopoly," Economics Discussion / Working Papers 06-05, The University of Western Australia, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  9. Chaim Fershtman & Neil Gandal, 2007. "Open source software: Motivation and restrictive licensing," International Economics and Economic Policy, Springer, vol. 4(2), pages 209-225, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Stefano Comino & Fabio M. Manenti, 2007. "Dual licensing in open source software markets," Department of Economics Working Papers 0718, Department of Economics, University of Trento, Italia. [Downloadable!]
  11. Onetti Alberto & Verma Sameer, 2008. "Licensing and Business Models," Economics and Quantitative Methods qf0805, Department of Economics, University of Insubria. [Downloadable!]
  12. Stephen M. Maurer & Suzanne Scotchmer, 2006. "Open Source Software: The New Intellectual Property Paradigm," NBER Working Papers 12148, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Arto Seppä, 2006. "Open Source in Finnish Software Companies," Discussion Papers 1002, The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy. [Downloadable!]
  14. Francesco Rullani, 2006. "Dragging developers towards the core. How the Free/Libre/Open Source Software community enhances developers’ contribution," LEM Papers Series 2006/22, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy. [Downloadable!]
  15. Robert M. Sauer, 2007. "Why Develop Open Source Software? The Role of Non-Pecuniary Benefits, Monetary Rewards and Open Source Licence Type," IZA Discussion Papers 3197, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  16. Francesco Rullani, 2006. "Dragging developers towards the core," CESPRI Working Papers 190, CESPRI, Centre for Research on Innovation and Internationalisation, Universita' Bocconi, Milano, Italy, revised Feb 2007. [Downloadable!]
  17. Thorsten Wichmann & Pio Baake, 2003. "Open Source Software, Competition and Potential Entry," Berlecon Research Papers 0005, Berlecon Research. [Downloadable!]
  18. Josh Lerner & Parag A. Pathak & Jean Tirole, 2006. "The Dynamics of Open-Source Contributors," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(2), pages 114-118, May. [Downloadable!]
  19. Michael Schwarz & Yuri Takhteyev, 2009. "Half a Century of Public Software Institutions: Open Source as a Solution to Hold-Up Problem," NBER Working Papers 14946, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  20. Patrick Legros, 2005. "Art and the Internet: Blessing the Curse?," Levine's Bibliography 666156000000000502, UCLA Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  21. Ioana Popovici, 2007. "The Determinants of Open Source Quality: An Empirical Investigation," Working Papers 0704, Florida International University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  22. Alexandre Gaudeul, 2004. "The LaTeX project: A case study of open-source software," Industrial Organization 0409009, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
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