Open Source Law, Policy and Practice

Open Source Software has seen mass adoption in the last decade and potentially forms the majority of software today. It is realised through legal instruments, private law agreements, licences, governance, and community norms—all of which lead to the sharing of intellectual property and to economic and commercial disruption in technology. Written by world leading Open Source and legal experts, this new edition of Open Source Law, Policy and Practice is fully updated with a global focus on technology and market changes over the last decade. The work delivers an in-depth examination of the community, legal, and commercial structures relating to the usage and exploitation of Open Source. This enables readers to understand the legal environment within which Open Source operates and what is required for its appropriate governance and curation in enterprise and the public sector. This is achieved by focusing on three main areas: intellectual property rights; the governance of Open Source; and the business and economic impacts.

1 - Philosophy, Methodology, and Commerce: Using Law with Attitude
2 - Evolving Perspectives on Community and Governance
3 - Copyright, Contract, and Licensing
4 - Contribution
5 - Copyright Enforcement
6 - Transforming the Supply Chain with OpenChain ISO 5230
7 - SPDX and Software Bill of Materials
8 - Corporate Concerns: Audit, Valuation, and Deals
9 - Trademarks
10 - Patents and the Defensive Response
11 - Open Source Software in Standard Setting: The Role of Intellectual Property Rights Regimes
12 - Export Control
13 - The History of Security
14 - Sustainability and Open Source
15 - Economics of Open Source
16 - Operational and Commercial Models of Open Source and Commercial Agreements
17 - Antitrust, Competition, and Open Source
18 - Foundations and NGOs
19 - The Rise of the Open Source Program Offices (OSPOs)
20 - Cloud Native Development, Containers, and Open Source Licensing
21 - Public Sector and Open Source
22 - Blockchain
23 - Open Hardware
24 - Open Everything

Amanda Brock is the CEO of OpenUK, the organisation for the business of Open Source in the UK, a member of a number of Open Source and Open Standards Boards, keynote speaker and author.