# Modifying code under GPL - what attribution? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 1, 2005, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modifying-code-under-gpl-what-attribution/328946 "2005-11-01T19:12:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Schuyler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/54ee81/32.png) [@Schuyler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schuyler)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2005, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modifying-code-under-gpl-what-attribution/328946/1 "2005-11-01T19:12:11Z")
I have received some code that is copyright someone else, and distributed under GNU general public license - actually, will-be-distributed, since this is a pre-release version as of now. I am substantially rewriting some functions, substituting in much of my already-written code to change the inner workings. I’ve read over some of the GNU material [here](http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html), but am still not sure exactly what text should be placed in each file header. Here’s what I’m including as of now: > [@](#): > > % CodeNamexxxx version 1.01, Copyright © those guys > % Modified by Schuyler > % > % This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or > % modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License > % as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 > % of the License, or (at your option) any later version. > % > % This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, > % but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of > % MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the > % GNU General Public License for more details. > % > % You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public > % License along with this program; if not, write to the > % Free Software Foundation, Inc. > % 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor > % Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA But this doesn’t seem to attribute any intellectual ownership to me, particularly if my changes are incorporated into the rest of the code base for wider distribution. What do you all do in similar circumstances? Any thoughts/suggestions are welcome. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2005, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modifying-code-under-gpl-what-attribution/328946/2 "2005-11-01T19:16:54Z")
You own the copyright for any code that you contributed, and the original author owns the copyright for his. The difficult area is what about code that was originally his but that you modified? The consensus seems to be that you would own that code as well. If you were to distribute your modifications, you would need to release your code under the GPL also as a derived work, so the point is mostly moot. Personally, in the headers I would just list your name next to the original author’s. Anybody interested in exactly who contributed what can take a look at the patch history or version control logs. ---
**Author:** ![Schuyler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/54ee81/32.png) [@Schuyler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schuyler)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2005, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modifying-code-under-gpl-what-attribution/328946/3 "2005-11-01T19:54:56Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > Personally, in the headers I would just list your name next to the original author’s. Anybody interested in exactly who contributed what can take a look at the patch history or version control logs. Thanks for that advice - I’m mostly concerned about the released code, with my contributions, but not getting attribution. So here’s what I’ll put in, and you’re right, if someone wants to know more, then they can consult the individual authors (the code is accompanying a textbook). If my changes become more extensive, then at that point I’ll bring this issue up again with those guys. > [@](#): > > % CodeNamexxxx version 1.01 > % Copyright (C) those guys and Schuyler