How does software licensing work?

Question

I’ve searched a lot on Google but I couldn’t find an answer that made everything clear.

Suppose I have a home project and publish this code in a very famous repository, like the Github. And he’s there, under no license. But I thought the code is quality and I have to express and leave "official" that the code is under that license.

Within that:

• How would I proceed to express and officially leave that my code is under certain license?
• What legal implications does that have?
• I noticed that in the license comment a file always has a copyright. If I’m an ordinary person, how I express mine copyright?

How software/code licensing works in general?

Answer 1

1. Put a plain text file or embed in the code expressing the license rules. Better yet, use a standard text from a standard license.
2. Seek a lawyer.
3. Enter your name and year. Example: 2015 © Sid. This has no legal value if you cannot prove that the authorship is yours, then a record may be required as well.

By default unlicensed software should be considered as restrictive as possible. That is, don’t even look at the content. You license to inform and reassure those who may be interested in your software.

In general, in the example you are quoting, the developers are more careful to make clear the freedom so that other people do not feel involved in using that software. They don’t care much about granting rights because they don’t intend to take action if something is violated. They are making available without any commercial, financial or other concern.

If this is not the case then seek an attorney, as only he can give reliable information.

Software registry. It’s hard to keep up to date.

List of commonly used licenses.

Article on Wikipedia licenses.

Other than that, the issue is very broad and asks for information that only an expert lawyer can provide. Random people without the necessary knowledge and skills cannot go beyond the trivial to inform you.