How do you comply with open-source license requirements?

Complying with open-source license requirements involves understanding the obligations of each license, tracking dependencies, and ensuring your project meets specific conditions. Every open-source license has rules, such as requiring attribution, sharing source code, or documenting changes. The first step is to identify all third-party components in your project, including direct and transitive dependencies, and note their licenses. Tools like SPDX identifiers, package managers (npm, pip), or dependency scanners (OSS Review Toolkit, FOSSA) help automate this process. For example, MIT License requires including the license text and copyright notice, while GPL-family licenses often demand releasing modified source code under the same license.

Next, fulfill the obligations of each license. For permissive licenses like Apache 2.0, you might need to include a NOTICE file listing modifications. Copyleft licenses like GPLv3 require distributing source code if you redistribute your software. This could mean providing a download link, embedding the source in your product, or using a mechanism like “git tags” to link builds to specific code versions. Companies like Red Hat use tools like Fedora Legal to audit compliance, ensuring even indirect dependencies (e.g., a library pulled by your framework) are properly addressed. Practical steps include maintaining a LICENSE file in your repo, adding copyright headers, and ensuring compliance artifacts (like source bundles) are included in releases.

Finally, integrate compliance into your development workflow. Automate checks using CI/CD pipelines (e.g., GitHub Actions or GitLab CI) to scan for license conflicts and block problematic dependencies. For example, a pipeline could reject a pull request if it introduces a GPL-licensed library into a proprietary project. Legal reviews are critical for ambiguous cases, such as interpreting LGPL’s linking requirements or handling multi-licensed code. Educate your team on license implications—tools like ChooseALicense.com simplify initial decisions, while internal documentation ensures consistency. By combining automation, clear processes, and developer awareness, you minimize legal risks while respecting open-source contributions.