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A Look at the Term Copyleft
This clever term stems from the term copyright. This term refers to the use of copyright law to remove restrictions from particular works so that they can be adapted, and then protect those works with the same copyright laws. This term often comes into play when there is a definition of exact copyright terms which are applied to various media such as music, art, or software. Copyright laws in general have been designed to restrict the unauthorized production and distribution of an authors work. The use of a copyleft license gives individuals who receive the work an opportunity to use, modify, and redistribute the work in accordance with the licensed terms of the copyleft. The new work must be redistributed with the same terms as it was received. This makes copyleft almost the exact opposite of copyright. An author can use the copyleft license to determine who has the right to use, modify, and redistribute their work. The author therefore uses the copyleft license to enforce copyright law. Copyleft laws allow an artist or writer to share their work with others and allow them to make improvements on the work, while at the same time demanding that the new work not be given additional restrictions not in the original copyleft license. Often free software comes with a GNU General Public License (GPL), which is a common use of the copyleft license.
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What you need to know about copyrights
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