Legal 63
youcanchangethesoftwareorusepiecesofitinnewfreeprograms;andthatyouknowyoucando
thesethings.
Toprotectyourrights,weneedtomakerestrictionsthatforbidanyonetodenyyoutheserightsorto
askyoutosurrendertherights.Theser estrictionstranslatetocertainresponsibilitiesforyouifyou
distributecopiesofthesoftware,orifyoumodifyit.
Forexample,ifyoudistributecopiesofsuchaprogram,���whethergratisorforafee,youmustgivethe
recipientsalltherightsthatyouhave.Youmustmakesurethatthey,too,receiveorcangetthe
sourcecode.Andyoumustshowthemthesetermssotheyknowtheirrights.
Weprotectyourrightsw ithtwosteps:(1)copyrightthesoftware,and(2)offeryouthislicensewhich
givesyoulegalpermissiontocopy,distributeand/ormodifythesoftware.
Also,foreachauthor’sprotectionandours,wewanttomakecertainthateveryoneunderstandsthat
thereisnowarrantyforthisfreesoftware.Ifthesoftwareismodifiedbysomeoneelseandpassed
on,wewantitsrecipientstoknowthatw hattheyhaveisnottheoriginal,sothatanyproblems
introducedbyotherswillnotreflectontheoriginalauthors'reputations.
Finally,anyfreeprogramisthreatenedconstantlybysoftwarepatents.Wewishtoavoidthedanger
thatredistributors���ofafreeprogramwillindividuallyobtainpatentlicenses,ineffectmakingthe
programproprietary.Topreventthis,wehavemadeitclearthatanypatentmustbelicensedfor
everyone'sfreeuseornotlicensedatall.
Theprecisetermsandconditionsforcopying,distributionandmodificationfollow.
GNUGENERALPUBLICLICEN SETERMSANDCONDITIONSFORCOPYING,DISTRIBUTIONAND MODIFICATION
0.ThisLicenseappliestoanyprogramorotherworkwhichcontainsanoticeplacedbythecopyright
holdersayingitmaybedistributedunderthetermsofthisGeneralPublicLicense.The“Program”,
below,referstoanysuchprogramorwork,anda“workbasedontheProgram”meanseitherthe
Programoranyderivativeworkundercopyrightlaw:thatistosay,aworkcontainingtheProgramor
aportionofit,eitherverbatimorwithmodificationsand/ortranslatedintoanotherlanguage.
(Hereinafter,translationisincludedwithoutlimitationintheterm“modification”.)Eachlicenseeis
addressedas“you”.
Activitiesotherthancopying,distributionandmodificationarenotcoveredbythisLicense;theyare
outsideitsscope.TheactofrunningtheProgramisnotrestricted,andtheoutputfromtheProgram
iscoveredonlyifitscontentsconstituteaworkbasedontheProgram(independentofhavingbeen
madebyrunningtheProgram).WhetherthatistruedependsonwhattheProgramdoes.
1.YoumaycopyanddistributeverbatimcopiesoftheProgram’ssourcecodeasyoureceiveit,in
anymedium,providedthatyouconspicuouslyandappropriatelypublishoneachcopyan
appropriatecopyrightnoticeanddisclaimerofwarranty;keepintactallthenoticesthatrefertothis
Licenseandtotheabsenceofanywarranty;andgiveanyotherrecipientsoftheProgramacopyof
thisLicensealongw iththeProgram.