Originally Posted by sakurakira
Where? I downloaded the most recent version of Grid on WoWI and don't see one in there.
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I think you missed the important part of what I wrote, even though you underlined it when you quoted it:
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While I wouldn't mind seeing this information listed on the addon's download page, the reality is that every licensed addon includes a copy of that license
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Grid is not distributed under a license. It's simply "all rights reserved". That is the default state for any work. If an addon -- or any other work covered under copyright -- does not specifically waive some/all rights via a license, then it defaults to "all rights reserved". Copyright law (at least for works created in the United States) does not require that the work include a specific copyright notice or document explaining what copyright means. If there is no notice stating otherwise, it's "all rights reserved", and "all rights reserved" is
not a license.
Originally Posted by sakurakira
Carbonite and DBM both have license files, while Bartender4 and GearScore do not.
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Yep. That means that the authors of Carbonite and DBM allow you to redistribute, modify, and/or reuse portions of those addons under the terms specified in their respective licenses. By contrast. BT4 and GearScore are
not licensed, so they are "all rights reserved" and you are not allowed to redistribute them, modify them, or reuse code from them unless you have gotten specific permission from their authors in writing beforehand. That's how copyright works.
Originally Posted by sakurakira
And I also tried to specifically phrase my post in such a way as to not get the "go and learn to code yourself" response...
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Well, there's not really any way you
can word a post like that where "go and learn to code yourself" isn't going to come up. No author is obligated to maintain and support their addon forever. No author is obligated to release their work into the public domain, license their work as open-source, or give someone else permission to continue it. If they stop maintaining the addon, and don't give anyone permission to continue it or use the code verbatim, then your only options are, realistically, (a) hope someone else writes a new addon in the same spirit, and if they don't (b) move on or (c) "go and learn to code yourself". I'm not sure what other answer you think is possible.
Look at it another way -- let's say you find a trilogy you really, really like, but the third book isn't out yet. Now let's say the third book never comes out. Do you think the author is obligated to spend months or -- more likely -- years of their life writing another book that they don't really have any interest in writing? Do you think the author should be forced to put their work into the public domain, or give another writer permission to use their characters, their world, and their story to write the third installation in the trilogy?
Originally Posted by sakurakira
I also don't believe that every single person who uploads an addon or downloads an addon on this site is as aware of licensing issues as you and some of the other authors in this thread.
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Yes, and your belief is likely correct. I'd guess that
more addon authors are ignorant of their copyright rights than are knowledgable. But, it doesn't matter whether people who
downloads an addon know how copyright applies to addons. Copyright has nothing to do with obtaining a legally distributed copy of an addon (buying a book, or checking it out from the library) or using the addon (reading the book).
It only matters whether people trying to
upload an addon know what's allowed, and WoWI already includes a statement on the upload page about this, and has always been very good about removing uploads that violate someone else's copyright when notified by the copyright holder. If someone ignores the "don't upload other people's work without permission" notice, or doesn't understand what it means, adding an optional "pick a license" field on the upload page probably would not change anything.