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| cple:copyleft [2026/05/02 09:11] – [What is copyleft?] Simon Grant | cple:copyleft [2026/05/02 09:12] (current) – [What is copyleft?] Simon Grant |
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| The first copyleft licences were the [GNU software licences](https://www.gnu.org/licenses/) developed by MIT engineer [Richard Stallman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Stallman) in the 1980s. Stallman had amended some software so that others could benefit from his improvements, but found that subsequent versions of similar software had been patented, preventing its further improvement. Stallman worked with a lawyer to design the first copyleft licence, to ensure that he never improved software that was then enclosed and privatised. Here’s Stallman’s [GNU Manifesto](https://www.gnu.org/gnu/manifesto.html). | The first copyleft licences were the [GNU software licences](https://www.gnu.org/licenses/) developed by MIT engineer [Richard Stallman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Stallman) in the 1980s. Stallman had amended some software so that others could benefit from his improvements, but found that subsequent versions of similar software had been patented, preventing its further improvement. Stallman worked with a lawyer to design the first copyleft licence, to ensure that he never improved software that was then enclosed and privatised. Here’s Stallman’s [GNU Manifesto](https://www.gnu.org/gnu/manifesto.html). |
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| Software was not subject to copyright at all until the mid-1970s, after which time, the corporate world started to patent all the software they developed. This was disparagingly called the ‘[Second Enclosure Movement](https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=470983)’ ([here’s the first one](wp>Enclosure)), and was the subject of Michael Heller’s famous 1998 essay _[The Tragedy of the Anticommons](http://wealthofthecommons.org/essay/tragedy-anticommons),_ which concluded that patent rights can prevent useful and affordable things coming to market. This was in opposition to _[The Tragedy of the Commons](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedy_of_the_commons)_, by Garrett Hardin, who claimed that common use of a resource would deplete it (although he wasn’t describing a true commons, which is well-governed by its users). | Software was not subject to copyright at all until the mid-1970s, after which time, the corporate world started to patent all the software they developed. In 2003, this was disparagingly called the ‘[Second Enclosure Movement](https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=470983)’ ([here’s the first one](wp>Enclosure)), and was the subject of Michael Heller’s famous 1998 essay _[The Tragedy of the Anticommons](http://wealthofthecommons.org/essay/tragedy-anticommons),_ which concluded that patent rights can prevent useful and affordable things coming to market. This was in opposition to _[The Tragedy of the Commons](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedy_of_the_commons)_, by Garrett Hardin, who claimed that common use of a resource would deplete it (although he wasn’t describing a true commons, which is well-governed by its users). |
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