Proposal: Update License Ownership to read "Augur Contributors"

[collectoss-issue-migrator]

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Migrated from augurlabs/augur#3629
Originally opened by @MoralCode on 2026-01-26

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i noticed in 22c80add7a4875d6749b3233b1f71dc65c59fd92 we updated the year of copyright in the README

But also the LICENSE file still says 2019 and has a totally different list of contributors

I propose we:

1. drop the copyright line from the README entirely
2. request permission from all contributors, especially those currently named, to change the copyright line in the LICENSE file to something more general, like Copyright The Augur Contributors

This follows LF guidance:

Instead, many LF project communities recommend using a more general statement in a form similar to the following (where XYZ is the project’s name):
Copyright The XYZ Authors.
Copyright The XYZ Contributors.
Copyright Contributors to the XYZ project.

By using a common format, the project avoids having to maintain lists of names of the authors or copyright holders, years or ranges of years, and variations on the (c) symbol. This aims to minimize the burden on developers and maintainers as well as redistributors of the code, particularly where compliance with the license requires that further distributions retain or reproduce copyright notices.

You should not change or remove someone else’s copyright notice unless they have expressly (in writing) permitted you to do so. This includes third parties’ notices in pre-existing code.

https://www.linuxfoundation.org/blog/blog/copyright-notices-in-open-source-software-projects

I think this will generally reduce the various hassles and undue stress associated with keeping this stuff up to date.

[collectoss-issue-migrator]

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Migrated comment from original
Originally posted by @MoralCode on 2026-01-26

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given the current LICENSE file reads: Copyright (c) 2019 Matt Germonprez, Sean Goggins, Gabe Heim, Derek Howard, Carter Landis, Matt Snell, Brian Warner, University of Nebraska at Omaha, and the University of Missouri as well as the guidance from LF, we may need to get written confirmation from each of these people/representatives of those entities (ideally in this github issue to confirm in writing that they are okay with this change.

This also mirrors the procedure the CHAOSS Data science group recently has been following with other licensing related changes.

[collectoss-issue-migrator]

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Migrated comment from original
Originally posted by @HimasreeKolathur24 on 2026-01-27

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Hi @MoralCode, I’m happy to help move this forward.
I can assist with coordinating confirmations from the currently listed contributors and tracking responses here.
Let me know if that would be useful.

[collectoss-issue-migrator]

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Migrated comment from original
Originally posted by @MoralCode on 2026-01-27

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A) this is a proposal seeking thoughts from maintainers on whether this is worth doing, so no action is needed yet

B) The outreach is going to be much easier if it comes from somebody who is already connected to the contributors, i.e. likely a maintainer.

[collectoss-issue-migrator]

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Migrated comment from original
Originally posted by @HimasreeKolathur24 on 2026-01-27

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Thanks for clarifying

[MoralCode]

Resolved by #2 (the rename as part of the fork)