# Copyright and software licenses

**URL:** <https://talk.observablehq.com/t/copyright-and-software-licenses/364>\
**Category:** Feedback\
**Created:** [February 17, 2018, 4:58pm UTC](https://talk.observablehq.com/t/copyright-and-software-licenses/364 "2018-02-17T16:58:48Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![curran](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/talk.observablehq.com/curran/32/223_2.png) [@curran](https://talk.observablehq.com/u/curran)\
**Post date:** [November 2, 2020, 5:27pm UTC](https://talk.observablehq.com/t/copyright-and-software-licenses/364/22 "2020-11-02T17:27:06Z")

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Absolutely thrilled to see that the [D3 examples](https://observablehq.com/@d3) are now mostly ISC Licenced. Hooray!

For those that are still not licensed, the following workflow can be used to suggest a license:

 ![image](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/uploads/observablehq/original/2X/4/42e39e5bf16f4bfcf958d5e3698a35f093570157.png)  
Start by forking.

 ![image](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/uploads/observablehq/original/2X/f/fdd7c1eba8af61e8430fe499d7b4aa92976b5a9a.png)  
Then click the … menu and click “Set license”.

 ![image](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/uploads/observablehq/original/2X/c/ca201e0dc08947efb57386b5cf5b58a86a63f7ab.png)  
Select the desired license. ISC and MIT are popular permissive Open Source licenses.

 ![image](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/uploads/observablehq/original/2X/d/dfdb1315d5eb986b391727ab3a6e3f9ccdcfc202.png)

Change the copyright holder from your name to the original author, or “Observable, Inc.” for official D3 examples (thanks @Fil for showing the way!). Then hit “Confirm changes”.

 ![image](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/uploads/observablehq/original/2X/a/a417902f8a31e26b90b8e58ab964d8281c12b2ac.png)  
In the … menu, click “Compare fork”.

 ![image](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/uploads/observablehq/original/2X/3/37e37d76c7e9fe0ed5c009192f7b9e49829db78c.png)  
Click “Suggest”.

 ![image](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/uploads/observablehq/original/2X/4/40753548a088d20634f39a07213e4a3ba98fec46.png)  
Type a note and hit “Send”.

 ![image](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/uploads/observablehq/original/2X/1/15f95eaf0055b9269a87abde70d6ed879c86886c.png)  
Now your notebook sits as an open suggestion. Await the author’s response.

 ![image](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/uploads/observablehq/original/2X/7/7d8cc5fae55ba57e2159d282b3b794efe169756d.png)  
After it’s been accepted, your notebook will look like this.

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**Author:** ![Fil](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/talk.observablehq.com/fil/32/207_2.png) [@Fil](https://talk.observablehq.com/u/Fil)\
**Post date:** [November 2, 2020, 6:07pm UTC](https://talk.observablehq.com/t/copyright-and-software-licenses/364/23 "2020-11-02T18:07:50Z")

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Hmmm I’d prefer if you just left a comment on said notebooks. The workflow would be faster. Thanks!

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**Author:** ![Fil](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/talk.observablehq.com/fil/32/207_2.png) [@Fil](https://talk.observablehq.com/u/Fil)\
**Post date:** [November 2, 2020, 6:15pm UTC](https://talk.observablehq.com/t/copyright-and-software-licenses/364/24 "2020-11-02T18:15:20Z")

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Also please note that some of these notebooks have been commissioned by Observable, inc. (which then gets the ©), but others have been done independently and would then be copyrighted and out-licensed by the author directly—that’s not something you can know. (And tbh I’m not certain I would remember which was which in all cases.)

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**Author:** ![curran](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/talk.observablehq.com/curran/32/223_2.png) [@curran](https://talk.observablehq.com/u/curran)\
**Post date:** [November 2, 2020, 7:10pm UTC](https://talk.observablehq.com/t/copyright-and-software-licenses/364/25 "2020-11-02T19:10:28Z")

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Got it! So actually the best workflow would be like this:

 ![image](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/uploads/observablehq/original/2X/e/e9ea85c27c3ffe9cc9ddc69eace08f1005fea4b0.png)  
On the first cell, click the … menu, then click “Add comment”.

 ![image](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/uploads/observablehq/original/2X/8/829d08b94999195abc92825944456147bcfb9b23.png)  
Type a comment like:

> Suggest to add ISC License please. Thanks!

and hit “Comment”.

 ![image](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/uploads/observablehq/original/2X/c/c8b452525e28069c7f7003341b66335b813cc49b.png)  
Await the author’s response (the comment is visible only to you and the author).

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