[Tutor] Lengthy copyright notices?

[Ben Finney]

David L Neil <PyTutor at DancesWithMice.info> writes:

> There can be quite an accumulation of 'paper-work' at the top of
> modules, which then has to be scrolled-through before we can get
> stuck-in to function/class/__main__ code - even with an editor's
> code-folding assistance.
>
> Should it be left to the (far) end of the file? Would it lessen any
> legal implication?

I am more commonly using:

* Top of file has a brief (3-line) declaration, in a comment, that this
  is free software, you are free to modify and redistribute under
  certain conditions; see the end of the file.

* End of file has full copyright information: copyright statements
  (years and holders), standard boilerplate grant of freedoms,
  disclaimer of warranty, and specific filename where the full legal
  license document is to be found.

> Aside from possibly irritating 'the good guys', does such really
> 'stop' a determined rapscallion?

The good guys also need to have a clear idea of exactly who claims what,
and exactly what freedoms they have in exactly what work when they
receive it.

Files have a tendency to migrate from work to work, and so it's not
uncommon to have multiple works combined with different declarations
that apply. It's good to attach this information directly in the file.

I see no good reason why it needs to be all at the top of the file,
though. To my eye, a very brief “you're free to do this set of things,
see the end of this file for details” is notifying the reader without
over-burdening them every time they open the file.

-- 
 \       “Theology is the effort to explain the unknowable in terms of |
  `\                         the not worth knowing.” —Henry L. Mencken |
_o__)                                                                  |
Ben Finney