CINXE.COM

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> <html><head><script type="text/javascript" src="/_static/js/bundle-playback.js?v=HxkREWBo" charset="utf-8"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="/_static/js/wombat.js?v=txqj7nKC" charset="utf-8"></script> <script>window.RufflePlayer=window.RufflePlayer||{};window.RufflePlayer.config={"autoplay":"on","unmuteOverlay":"hidden"};</script> <script type="text/javascript" src="/_static/js/ruffle/ruffle.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript"> __wm.init("http://web.archive.org/web"); __wm.wombat("http://www.wikipedia.org:80/w/wiki.phtml?title=GNU_Free_Documentation_License&printable=yes","20021028210758","http://web.archive.org/","web","/_static/", "1035839278"); </script> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/_static/css/banner-styles.css?v=S1zqJCYt" /> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/_static/css/iconochive.css?v=3PDvdIFv" />  <title>GNU Free Documentation License - Wikipedia</title> <meta name="robots" content="index,follow"> <link rel="shortcut icon" href="/web/20021028210758im_/http://www.wikipedia.org/favicon.ico"> <link rel="stylesheet" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20021028210758cs_/http://www.wikipedia.org/style/wikiprintable.css"> <style type="text/css" media="screen"></style> </head> <body bgcolor="#FFFFFF"> <h1 class="pagetitle">GNU Free Documentation License</h1><p class="subtitle">From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. <div class="bodytext"> The <strong>GNU Free Documentation License</strong> (GFDL) is a <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20021028210758/http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyleft" class="printable" title="Copyleft">copyleft</a> license for <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20021028210758/http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_content" class="printable" title="Open content">open content</a>, designed by the <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20021028210758/http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Software_Foundation" class="printable" title="Free Software Foundation">Free Software Foundation</a> (FSF) for the <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20021028210758/http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU" class="printable" title="GNU">GNU</a> project. The official text of version 1.1 of the license text can be found at <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20021028210758/http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html" class="printable" title="http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html"><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20021028210758/http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html" class="printable" title="http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html">http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html</a></a> (<i>http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html</i>). <p> The license is designed for software documentation and other reference and instructional materials. It stipulates that any copy of the material, even if modified, carry the same license. Those copies may be sold but, if produced in quantity, have to be made available in a format which facilitates further editing. <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20021028210758/http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia" class="printable" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> is the largest documentation project to use this license. <p> <h2> Secondary Sections </h2> <p> The license explicitly separates the "<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20021028210758/http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_Free_Documentation_License/Document" class="printable" title="GNU Free Documentation License/Document">Document</a>" from "<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20021028210758/http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_Free_Documentation_License/Secondary_Sections" class="printable" title="GNU Free Documentation License/Secondary Sections">Secondary Sections</a>", which may not be integrated with the Document, but exist as front-matter materials or appendices. Secondary sections can contain information regarding the author's or publisher's relationship to the subject matter, but not any subject matter itself. While the Document itself is wholly editable, and is essentially covered by a license equivalent to the <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20021028210758/http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_General_Public_License" class="printable" title="GNU General Public License">GNU General Public License</a>, some of the secondary sections have various restrictions designed primarily to deal with proper attribution to previous authors. <p> Specifically, the authors of prior versions have to be acknowledged and certain "invariant sections" specified by the original author and dealing with his or her relationship to the subject matter may not be changed. If the material is modified, its title has to be changed (unless the prior authors give permission to retain the title). The license also has provisions for the handling of <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20021028210758/http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_Free_Documentation_License/Cover_Texts" class="printable" title="GNU Free Documentation License/Cover Texts">front-cover and back-cover texts</a> of books, as well as for "History", "Acknowledgements", "Dedications" and "Endorsements" sections. <p> <h2> Using the GFDL </h2> <p> For a document to be covered by the GFDL, one must include a <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20021028210758/http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_Free_Documentation_License/Copyright_and_license_notice" class="printable" title="GNU Free Documentation License/Copyright and license notice">specific copyright and license notice</a>. <p> <h2> Wikipedia and GFDL </h2> <p> All Wikipedia articles are licensed to the public under the GNU Free Documentation License. See <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20021028210758/http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Copyrights" class="printable" title="Wikipedia:Copyrights">Wikipedia:Copyrights</a> for the details. The local copy of the license, as required by the terms of the GFDL, is at <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20021028210758/http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Text_of_the_GNU_Free_Documentation_License" class="printable" title="Wikipedia:Text of the GNU Free Documentation License">Wikipedia:Text of the GNU Free Documentation License</a>. <p> See also: <ul><li> <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20021028210758/http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU" class="printable" title="GNU">GNU</a> </li><li> <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20021028210758/http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_General_Public_License" class="printable" title="GNU General Public License">GNU General Public License</a>: a similar license for software </li><li> <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20021028210758/http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_content" class="printable" title="Open content">Open content</a> </li><li> <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20021028210758/http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyleft" class="printable" title="Copyleft">Copyleft</a></li></ul> </div> <p><em>Retrieved from "http://www.wikipedia.org/w/wiki.phtml?title=GNU_Free_Documentation_License"<br> The page was last modified 20:13 Oct 20, 2002.</em>  </body></html>