First Publication Date: 10th February 2008

The Mozilla Public License (MPL), is a license developed by Netscape Communications. Most of its provisions are same as the Netscape Public License. The license is considered to be a middle ground between the General Public and BSD licenses.

Rights granted under the license

Any software distributed under MPL grants both copyrights and patent rights to the recipient. The license grants the following copyrights over the software:

  1. Right to use;
  2. Right to reproduce;
  3. Right to modify;
  4. Right to display;
  5. Right to perform;
  6. Right to sublicense; and the
  7. Right to distribute.

 
The license also grants the following patent rights over the software:

  1. Right to make;
  2. Right to use;
  3. Right to sell;
  4. Right to practice; and
  5. the Right to offer for sale.

The grant of rights comes into effect as soon as the author distributes the software to any person. Any person may modify the original software and distribute the modified version under MPL. In such a case, the same rights as mentioned above will be granted to the recipient over the modified version.

Conditions for distribution

Any person receiving the software under this license may distribute the software under the following conditions:

  1. Source code of the software has to be made available;
  2. The software has to be distributed under MPL only;
  3. A copy of the license has to accompany every transfer of the source code; and
  4. No terms that are in conflict with the provisions of MPL can be imposed during distribution;

 
A software received under MPL may be modified and distributed in accordance with the following conditions:The modified version has to be distributed under MPL;
The source code of the modifications should be made available:

  1. Notice of modifications and date of modification should be indicated and transferred along with the modified version;
  2. Notice of authorship of the original author should be present;
  3. A copy of the license has to accompany every transfer of the source code;
  4. No terms that are inconflict with the provision of MPL can be imposed during distribution;
  5. If a license from a third party is required to exercise rights over the modified version, a file entitled ‘LEGAL’ giving details of the owner of IP should accompany the software; and
  6. Exhibit A of the agreement should be attached to the software file or at a designated location.

MPL allows a person to distribute the executable version of the software under any license provided that the terms of the license comply with MPL.

Larger Works

The software transferred under MPL may be distributed along with another software governed by another license. However, in such a case the provisions of MPL should be satisfied with regard to the software being transferred under it.

No Warranty and Limited Liability

The license does not contain any warranty with regard to the performance of the software or anything else. As per the license the author cannot be made liable for any loss incurred due to the software. Any person transferring the original software may give warranty or liability and charge for it. In such a case, the person should indemnify the original author for any liability imposed on him due to such warranty or liability.

Termination

If a person fails to comply with any of the terms of this license, the person shall get thirty days to cure the breach, else the license will stand terminated. The license will also terminate if any person receiving the original software or modified version under the license asserts his patents against the author. In case of termination of the license of a person, the license of all other persons who received the software from him will remain valid.

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