Machine-readable debian/copyright file

  Version 1.0

   Debian Policy 4.7.4.0, 2026-03-31

   Copying and distribution of this file, with or without modification, are
   permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice is preserved.

   Abstract

   Establishes a standard, machine-readable format for debian/copyright files
   within Debian packages to facilitate automated checking and reporting of
   licenses for packages and sets of packages. This specification was
   originally drafted as DEP-5.

     ----------------------------------------------------------------------

   Table of Contents

   1. Introduction

   2. Rationale

   3. Acknowledgements

   4. File syntax

                4.1. Single-line values

                4.2. Whitespace-separated lists

                4.3. Line-based lists

                4.4. Formatted text

   5. Stanzas

                5.1. Header stanza (once)

                5.2. Files stanza (repeatable)

                5.3. Stand-alone License Stanza (optional, repeatable)

   6. Fields

                6.1. Format

                6.2. Upstream-Name

                6.3. Upstream-Contact

                6.4. Source

                6.5. Disclaimer

                6.6. Comment

                6.7. License

                6.8. Copyright

                6.9. Files

   7. License specification

                7.1. Short name

                7.2. Syntax

                7.3. SPDX

   8. Examples

1. Introduction

   This document describes a standard, machine-interpretable format for the
   debian/copyright file. This file is one of the most important files in
   Debian packaging, but, prior to this specification, no standard format was
   defined for it and its contents varied tremendously across packages. This
   made it difficult to automatically extract licensing information.

   Use of this specification is optional.

   Nothing in this proposal supersedes or modifies any of the requirements
   specified in Debian Policy regarding the appropriate detail or granularity
   to use when documenting copyright and license status in debian/copyright.

2. Rationale

   The diversity of free software licenses means that Debian needs to care
   not only about the freeness of a given work, but also its license's
   compatibility with the other parts of Debian it uses.

   The arrival of the GPL version 3, its incompatibility with version 2, and
   our inability to spot the software where the incompatibility might be
   problematic is one prominent occurrence of this limitation.

   There are earlier precedents, also. One is the GPL/OpenSSL
   incompatibility. Apart from grepping debian/copyright, which is prone to
   numerous false positives (packaging under the GPL but software under
   another license) or negatives (GPL software but with an “OpenSSL special
   exception” dual licensing form), there is no reliable way to know which
   software in Debian might be problematic.

   And there is more to come. There are issues with shipping GPLv2-only
   software with a CDDL operating system such as Nexenta. The GPL version 3
   solves this issue, but not all GPL software can switch to it and we have
   no way to know how much of Debian should be stripped from such a system.

   Even where licenses are DFSG-free and mutually compatible, users may wish
   for a way to identify software under certain licenses (if, for example,
   they have special reasons to avoid certain licenses).

3. Acknowledgements

   Many people have worked on this specification over the years. The
   following alphabetical list is incomplete; please suggest missing people:
   Russ Allbery, Ben Finney, Sam Hocevar, Steve Langasek, Charles Plessy,
   Noah Slater, Jonas Smedegaard, Lars Wirzenius.

4. File syntax

   The debian/copyright file must be machine-interpretable, yet
   human-readable, while communicating all mandated upstream information,
   copyright notices and licensing details.

   The syntax of the file is the same as for other Debian control files, as
   specified in the Debian Policy Manual. See its section 5.1 for details.
   Extra fields can be added to any stanza. No prefixing is necessary or
   desired, but please avoid names similar to standard ones so that mistakes
   are easier to catch. Future versions of the debian/copyright specification
   will attempt to avoid conflicting specifications for widely used extra
   fields.

   The file consists of two or more stanzas. At minimum, the file must
   include one header stanza and one Files stanza.

   There are four types of fields. The definition for each field in this
   document indicates which type of value it takes.

  4.1. Single-line values

   The entire value of a single-line field must be on a single line. For
   example, the Format field has a single-line value specifying the version
   of the machine-readable format that is used.

  4.2. Whitespace-separated lists

   Field values defined as whitespace-separated lists may be on one line or
   many. Values in the list are separated by one or more whitespace
   characters (space, tab, or newline). For example, the Files field contains
   a whitespace-separated list of filename patterns.

  4.3. Line-based lists

   Line-based lists have one value per line. For example, the
   Upstream-Contact field contains a line-based list of contact addresses.

  4.4. Formatted text

   Formatted text fields use the same rules as the long description in a
   package's Description field in Debian control files.

   In some but not all cases, the first line may have special meaning as a
   synopsis, similar to how the Description field uses the first line for the
   short description. See Debian Policy's section 5.6.13, “Description”, for
   details. For example, Disclaimer is a formatted text field that has no
   special first line, and License is a formatted text field where the first
   line indicates the short name or names of the licenses.

5. Stanzas

   There are three kinds of stanzas. The first stanza in the file is called
   the header stanza. Every other stanza is either a Files stanza or a
   stand-alone License stanza. This is similar to source and binary package
   stanzas in debian/control files.

  5.1. Header stanza (once)

   The following fields may be present in a header stanza.

     * Format: required.

     * Upstream-Name: optional.

     * Upstream-Contact: optional.

     * Source: optional.

     * Disclaimer: optional.

     * Comment: optional.

     * License: optional.

     * Copyright: optional.

   The Copyright and License fields in the header stanza may complement but
   do not replace the fields in the Files stanzas. If present, they summarise
   the copyright notices or redistribution terms for the package as a whole.

   For example, when a work has a grant of license under both a permissive
   and a copyleft license, License can be used to clarify the license terms
   for the combination. Copyright and License together can also be used to
   document a compilation copyright and license.

   It is valid to use License in the header stanza without an accompanying
   Copyright field, but Copyright alone is not sufficient.

    5.1.1. Example header stanza

 Format: https://www.debian.org/doc/packaging-manuals/copyright-format/1.0/
 Source: https://www.example.com/software/project
 Upstream-Name: SOFTware
 Upstream-Contact: John Doe <john.doe@example.com>

  5.2. Files stanza (repeatable)

   The declaration of copyright and license for files may consist of one or
   more stanzas. In the simplest case, a single stanza with Files: * can be
   used to state the license and copyright for the whole package. Only the
   license and copyright information required by the Debian archive is
   required to be listed here.

   The following fields may be present in a Files stanza.

     * Files: required.

     * Copyright: required.

     * License: required.

     * Comment: optional.

    5.2.1. Example files stanzas

 Files:
  *
 Copyright: 1975-2010 Ulla Upstream
 License: GPL-2+

 Files:
  debian/*
 Copyright: 2010 Daniela Debianizer
 License: GPL-2+

 Files:
  debian/patches/fancy-feature
 Copyright: 2010 Daniela Debianizer
 License: GPL-3+

 Files:
  */*.1
 Copyright: 2010 Manuela Manpager
 License: GPL-2+

   In this example, copyright in all files is held by the upstream, and that
   copyright holder grants license under the GPL, version 2 or later. There
   are three exceptions. All the Debian packaging files have copyright held
   by the packager, and further one specific file providing a new feature has
   a different grant of license. Finally, there are some manual pages added
   to the package, with copyright held by a third person.

   Since the license of the manual pages is the same as most other files in
   the package, the final stanza above could instead be combined with the
   first stanza, listing both copyright statements in one Copyright field.
   Whether to combine stanzas with the same grant of license is left to the
   discretion of the author of the debian/copyright file.

  5.3. Stand-alone License Stanza (optional, repeatable)

   Stand-alone License stanzas can be used to provide the full license text
   for a given license once, instead of repeating it in each Files stanza
   that refers to it.

   The synopsis (on the first line) of the License field must be a single
   license short name or a short name followed by a license exception.

   The following fields may be present in a stand-alone License stanza.

     * License: required.

     * Comment: optional.

   Example 1. tri-licensed files

 Files: src/js/editline/*
 Copyright: 1993, John Doe
            1993, Joe Average
 License: MPL-1.1 or GPL-2 or LGPL-2.1

 License: MPL-1.1
  [LICENSE TEXT]

 License: GPL-2
  [LICENSE TEXT]

 License: LGPL-2.1
  [LICENSE TEXT]

   Example 2. recurrent license

 Files:
  src/js/editline/*
 Copyright: 1993, John Doe
            1993, Joe Average
 License: MPL-1.1

 Files:
  src/js/fdlibm/*
 Copyright: 1993, J-Random Corporation
 License: MPL-1.1

 License: MPL-1.1
  [LICENSE TEXT]

6. Fields

   The following fields are defined for use in debian/copyright.

  6.1. Format

   Single-line: URI of the format specification. The field that should be
   used for the current version of this document is:

 Format: https://www.debian.org/doc/packaging-manuals/copyright-format/1.0/

   The original version of this specification used the non-https version of
   this URL as its URI, namely:

 Format: http://www.debian.org/doc/packaging-manuals/copyright-format/1.0/

   Both versions are valid and refer to the same specification, and parsers
   should interpret both as referencing the same format. The https URI is
   preferred.

  6.2. Upstream-Name

   Single-line: the name upstream uses for the software

  6.3. Upstream-Contact

   Line-based list: the preferred address(es) to reach the upstream project.
   May be free-form text, but by convention will usually be written as a list
   of RFC5322 addresses or URIs.

  6.4. Source

   Formatted text, no synopsis: an explanation of where the upstream source
   came from. Typically this would be a URL, but it might be a free-form
   explanation. The Debian Policy section 12.5 requires this information
   unless there are no upstream sources, which is mainly the case for native
   Debian packages. If the upstream source has been modified to remove
   non-free parts, that should be explained in this field.

  6.5. Disclaimer

   Formatted text, no synopsis: this field is used for non-free or contrib
   packages to state that they are not part of Debian and to explain why (see
   Debian Policy section 12.5).

  6.6. Comment

   Formatted text, no synopsis: this field can provide additional
   information. For example, it might quote an e-mail from upstream
   justifying why the license is acceptable to the main archive, or an
   explanation of how this version of the package has been forked from a
   version known to be DFSG-free, even though the current upstream version is
   not.

  6.7. License

   Formatted text, with synopsis.

   In the header stanza, this field gives the license information for the
   package as a whole, which may be different or simplified from a
   combination of all the per-file license information. In a Files stanza,
   this field gives the licensing terms for the files listed in the Files
   field for this stanza. In a stand-alone License stanza, it gives the
   licensing terms for those stanzas which reference it.

   First line (synopsis): an abbreviated name for the license, or expression
   giving alternatives (see the Short name section for a list of standard
   abbreviations). If there are licenses present in the package without a
   standard short name, an arbitrary short name may be assigned for these
   licenses. These arbitrary names are only guaranteed to be unique within a
   single copyright file.

   If there are no remaining lines, then all of the short names or short
   names followed by license exceptions in the synopsis must be described in
   stand-alone License stanzas. Otherwise, this field should either include
   the full text of the license(s) or include a pointer to the license file
   under /usr/share/common-licenses. This field should include all text
   needed in order to fulfill both Debian Policy's requirement for including
   a copy of the software's distribution license (12.5), and any license
   requirements to include warranty disclaimers or other notices with the
   binary package.

  6.8. Copyright

   Formatted text, no synopsis: one or more free-form copyright statements.
   Any formatting is permitted; see the examples below for some ideas for how
   to structure the field to make it easier to read. In the header stanza,
   this field gives the copyright information for the package as a whole,
   which may be different or simplified from a combination of all the
   per-file copyright information. In the Files stanzas, it gives the
   copyright information that applies to the files matched by the Files
   pattern. If a work has no copyright holder (i.e., it is in the public
   domain), that information should be recorded here.

   The Copyright field collects all relevant copyright notices for the files
   of this stanza. Not all copyright notices may apply to every individual
   file, and years of publication for one copyright holder may be gathered
   together. For example, if file A has:

 Copyright 2008 John Smith
 Copyright 2009 Angela Watts

   and file B has:

 Copyright 2010 Angela Watts

   a single stanza may still be used for both files. The Copyright field for
   that stanza would contain:

 Copyright 2008 John Smith
 Copyright 2009, 2010 Angela Watts

   The Copyright field may contain the original copyright statement copied
   exactly (including the word “Copyright”), or it may shorten the text or
   merge it with other copyright statements as described above, as long as it
   does not sacrifice information. Examples in this specification use both
   forms.

  6.9. Files

   Whitespace-separated list: list of patterns indicating files covered by
   the license and copyright specified in this stanza.

   Filename patterns in the Files field are specified using a simplified
   shell glob syntax. Patterns are separated by whitespace.

     * Only the wildcards * and ? apply; the former matches any number of
       characters (including none), the latter a single character. Both match
       slashes (/) and leading dots, unlike shell globs. The pattern *.in
       therefore matches any file whose name ends in .in anywhere in the
       source tree, not just at the top level.

     * Patterns match pathnames that start at the root of the source tree.
       Thus, “Makefile.in” matches only the file at the root of the tree, but
       “*/Makefile.in” matches at any depth.

     * The backslash (\) is used to remove the magic from the next character;
       see table below.

   +-----------------------------------+
   | Escape sequence | Matches         |
   |-----------------+-----------------|
   | \*              | star (asterisk) |
   |-----------------+-----------------|
   | \?              | question mark   |
   |-----------------+-----------------|
   | \\              | backslash       |
   +-----------------------------------+

   Any other character following a backslash is an error.

   This is the same pattern syntax as fnmatch(3) without the FNM_PATHNAME
   flag, or the argument to the -path test of the GNU find command, except
   that [] wildcards are not recognized.

   Multiple Files stanzas are allowed. The last stanza that matches a
   particular file applies to it. More general stanzas should therefore be
   given first, followed by more specific overrides.

   Exclusions are only supported by adding Files stanzas to override the
   previous match.

   This syntax does not distinguish file names from directory names; a
   trailing slash in a pattern will never match any actual path. A whole
   directory tree may be selected with a pattern like "foo/*".

   The space character, used to separate patterns, cannot be escaped with a
   backslash. A path like "foo bar" may be selected with a pattern like
   "foo?bar".

7. License specification

  7.1. Short name

   Much of the value of a machine-parseable copyright file lies in being able
   to correlate the licenses of multiple pieces of software. To that end,
   this spec defines standard short names for a number of commonly used
   licenses, which can be used in the synopsis (first line) of a License
   field.

   These short names have the specified meanings across all uses of this file
   format, and must not be used to refer to any other licenses. Parsers may
   thus rely on these short names referring to the same licenses wherever
   they occur, without needing to parse or compare the full license text.

   From time to time, licenses may be added to or removed from the list of
   standard short names. Such changes in the list of short names will always
   be accompanied by changes to the version of this standard and to the
   recommended Format value. Implementers who are parsing copyright files
   should take care not to assume anything about the meaning of license short
   names for unknown Format versions.

   Use of a standard short name does not override the Debian Policy
   requirement to include the full license text in debian/copyright, nor any
   requirements in the license of the work regarding reproduction of legal
   notices. This information must still be included in the License field,
   either in a stand-alone License stanza or in the relevant files stanza.

   For licenses that have multiple versions in use, the short name is formed
   from the general short name of the license family, followed by a dash and
   the version number. If the version number is omitted, the lowest version
   number is implied. When the license grant permits using the terms of any
   later version of that license, add a plus sign to the end of the short
   name. For example, the short name GPL refers to the GPL version 1 and is
   equivalent to GPL-1, although the latter is clearer and therefore
   preferred. If the package may be distributed under the GPL version 1 or
   any later version, use a short name of GPL-1+.

   For SPDX compatibility, versions with trailing dot-zeroes are considered
   to be equivalent to versions without (e.g., “2.0.0” is considered equal to
   “2.0” and “2”).

   Currently, the full text of the licenses is only available in the SPDX
   Open Source License Registry.

   +------------------------------------------------------------------------+
   | Keyword       | Meaning                                                |
   |---------------+--------------------------------------------------------|
   | public-domain | No license required for any purpose; the work is not   |
   |               | subject to copyright in any jurisdiction.              |
   |---------------+--------------------------------------------------------|
   | Apache        | Apache license 1.0, 2.0.                               |
   |---------------+--------------------------------------------------------|
   | Artistic      | Artistic license 1.0, 2.0.                             |
   |---------------+--------------------------------------------------------|
   | BSD-2-clause  | Berkeley software distribution license, 2-clause       |
   |               | version.                                               |
   |---------------+--------------------------------------------------------|
   | BSD-3-clause  | Berkeley software distribution license, 3-clause       |
   |               | version.                                               |
   |---------------+--------------------------------------------------------|
   | BSD-4-clause  | Berkeley software distribution license, 4-clause       |
   |               | version.                                               |
   |---------------+--------------------------------------------------------|
   | ISC           | Internet Software Consortium, sometimes also known as  |
   |               | the OpenBSD License.                                   |
   |---------------+--------------------------------------------------------|
   | CC-BY         | Creative Commons Attribution license 1.0, 2.0, 2.5,    |
   |               | 3.0.                                                   |
   |---------------+--------------------------------------------------------|
   | CC-BY-SA      | Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike license 1.0,  |
   |               | 2.0, 2.5, 3.0.                                         |
   |---------------+--------------------------------------------------------|
   | CC-BY-ND      | Creative Commons Attribution No Derivatives license    |
   |               | 1.0, 2.0, 2.5, 3.0.                                    |
   |---------------+--------------------------------------------------------|
   | CC-BY-NC      | Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial license    |
   |               | 1.0, 2.0, 2.5, 3.0.                                    |
   |---------------+--------------------------------------------------------|
   | CC-BY-NC-SA   | Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share      |
   |               | Alike license 1.0, 2.0, 2.5, 3.0.                      |
   |---------------+--------------------------------------------------------|
   | CC-BY-NC-ND   | Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No         |
   |               | Derivatives license 1.0, 2.0, 2.5, 3.0.                |
   |---------------+--------------------------------------------------------|
   | CC0           | Creative Commons Zero 1.0 Universal. Omit “Universal”  |
   |               | from the license version when forming the short name.  |
   |---------------+--------------------------------------------------------|
   | CDDL          | Common Development and Distribution License 1.0.       |
   |---------------+--------------------------------------------------------|
   | CPL           | Common Public License.                                 |
   |---------------+--------------------------------------------------------|
   | EFL           | The Eiffel Forum License 1.0, 2.0.                     |
   |---------------+--------------------------------------------------------|
   | Expat         | The Expat license.                                     |
   |---------------+--------------------------------------------------------|
   | GPL           | GNU General Public License 1.0, 2.0, 3.0.              |
   |---------------+--------------------------------------------------------|
   | LGPL          | GNU Lesser General Public License 2.1, 3.0, or GNU     |
   |               | Library General Public License 2.0.                    |
   |---------------+--------------------------------------------------------|
   |               | GNU Free Documentation License 1.0, 1.1, 1.2, or 1.3.  |
   | GFDL          | Use GFDL-NIV instead if there are no Front-Cover or    |
   |               | Back-Cover Texts or Invariant Sections.                |
   |---------------+--------------------------------------------------------|
   |               | GNU Free Documentation License, with no Front-Cover or |
   | GFDL-NIV      | Back-Cover Texts or Invariant Sections. Use the same   |
   |               | version numbers as GFDL.                               |
   |---------------+--------------------------------------------------------|
   | LPPL          | LaTeX Project Public License 1.0, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3c.      |
   |---------------+--------------------------------------------------------|
   | MPL           | Mozilla Public License 1.1.                            |
   |---------------+--------------------------------------------------------|
   | Perl          | Perl license (use “GPL-1+ or Artistic-1” instead).     |
   |---------------+--------------------------------------------------------|
   | Python        | Python license 2.0.                                    |
   |---------------+--------------------------------------------------------|
   | QPL           | Q Public License 1.0.                                  |
   |---------------+--------------------------------------------------------|
   | W3C           | W3C Software License For more information, consult the |
   |               | W3C Intellectual Rights FAQ.                           |
   |---------------+--------------------------------------------------------|
   | Zlib          | zlib/libpng license.                                   |
   |---------------+--------------------------------------------------------|
   | Zope          | Zope Public License 1.0, 1.1, 2.0, 2.1.                |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------------+

   There are many versions of the MIT license. Please use Expat instead, when
   it matches.

   An exception or clarification to a license is signalled in plain text, by
   appending with keywords exception to the short name. This document
   provides a list of keywords that must be used when referring to the most
   frequent exceptions. When exceptions other than these are in effect that
   modify a common license by granting additional permissions, you may use an
   arbitrary keyword not taken from the below list of keywords. When a
   license differs from a common license because of added restrictions rather
   than because of added permissions, a distinct short name should be used
   instead of with keywords exception.

   Only one exception may be specified for each license within a given
   license specification. If more than one exception applies to a single
   license, an arbitrary short name indicating that combination of multiple
   exceptions must be used instead.

   The GPL Font exception refers to the text added to the license notice of
   each file as specified at How does the GPL apply to fonts. The precise
   text corresponding to this exception is:

 As a special exception, if you create a document which uses this font,
 and embed this font or unaltered portions of this font into the
 document, this font does not by itself cause the resulting document to
 be covered by the GNU General Public License. This exception does not
 however invalidate any other reasons why the document might be covered
 by the GNU General Public License. If you modify this font, you may
 extend this exception to your version of the font, but you are not
 obligated to do so. If you do not wish to do so, delete this exception
 statement from your version.

   The GPL OpenSSL exception gives permission to link GPL-licensed code with
   the OpenSSL library, which contains GPL-incompatible clauses. For more
   information, see The OpenSSL License and The GPL by Mark McLoughlin and
   the message middleman software license conflicts with OpenSSL by Mark
   McLoughlin on the debian-legal mailing list. The text corresponding to
   this exception is:

 In addition, as a special exception, the copyright holders give
 permission to link the code of portions of this program with the
 OpenSSL library under certain conditions as described in each
 individual source file, and distribute linked combinations including
 the two.

 You must obey the GNU General Public License in all respects for all
 of the code used other than OpenSSL. If you modify file(s) with this
 exception, you may extend this exception to your version of the
 file(s), but you are not obligated to do so. If you do not wish to do
 so, delete this exception statement from your version. If you delete
 this exception statement from all source files in the program, then
 also delete it here.

    7.1.1. Public domain

   The License short name public-domain does not refer to a set of license
   terms. There are some works which are not subject to copyright in any
   jurisdiction and therefore no license is required for any purpose covered
   by copyright law. This short name is an explicit declaration that the
   associated files are “in the public domain”.

   Widespread misunderstanding about copyright in general, and the public
   domain in particular, results in the common assertion that a work is in
   the public domain when this is partly or wholly untrue for that work. The
   Wikipedia article on public domain is a useful reference for this subject.

   When the License field in a stanza has the short name public-domain, the
   remaining lines of the field must explain exactly what exemption the
   corresponding files for that stanza have from default copyright
   restrictions.

  7.2. Syntax

   License names are case-insensitive, and may not contain spaces.

   In case of multi-licensing, the license short names are separated by or
   when the user can chose between different licenses, and by and when use of
   the work must simultaneously comply with the terms of multiple licenses.

   For instance, this is a simple, “GPL version 2 or later” field:

 License: GPL-2+

   This is a dual-licensed GPL/Artistic work such as Perl:

 License: GPL-1+ or Artistic

   This is for a file that has both GPL and classic BSD code in it:

 License: GPL-2+ and BSD-3-clause

   For the most complex cases, a comma is used to disambiguate the priority
   of ors and ands. The conjunction “and” has priority over “or” unless
   preceded by a comma. For instance:

   A or B and C means A or (B and C).

   A or B, and C means (A or B) and C.

   This is for a file that has Perl code and classic BSD code in it:

 License: GPL-2+ or Artistic-2.0, and BSD-3-clause

   A GPL-2+ work with the OpenSSL exception is in effect a dual-licensed work
   that can be redistributed either under the GPL-2+, or under the GPL-2+
   with the OpenSSL exception. It is thus expressed as GPL-2+ with OpenSSL
   exception. A possible License field for such a license is:

 License: GPL-2+ with OpenSSL exception
  This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
  it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
  the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
  (at your option) any later version.
  .
  In addition, as a special exception, the author of this program gives
  permission to link the code of its release with the OpenSSL project's
  "OpenSSL" library (or with modified versions of it that use the same
  license as the "OpenSSL" library), and distribute the linked executables.
  You must obey the GNU General Public License in all respects for all of
  the code used other than "OpenSSL".  If you modify this file, you may
  extend this exception to your version of the file, but you are not
  obligated to do so.  If you do not wish to do so, delete this exception
  statement from your version.
  .
  This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
  but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
  GNU General Public License for more details.
  .
  You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
  along with this package; if not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 Comment:
  On Debian systems, the full text of the GNU General Public License
  version 2 can be found in the file '/usr/share/common-licenses/GPL-2'.

  7.3. SPDX

   SPDX is an attempt to standardize a format for communicating the
   components, licenses and copyrights associated with a software package. It
   and the machine-readable debian/copyright format attempt to be somewhat
   compatible. However, the two formats have different aims, and so the
   formats are different. The DEP5 wiki page will be used to track the
   differences.

8. Examples

   Example 3. Simple

   A possible debian/copyright file for an program “X Solitaire” distributed
   in the Debian source package xsol (this is not a complete or correct
   copyright file for the actual xsol package):

 Format: https://www.debian.org/doc/packaging-manuals/copyright-format/1.0/
 Source: ftp://ftp.example.com/pub/games
 Upstream-Name: X Solitaire

 Files:
  *
 Copyright: 1998 John Doe <jdoe@example.com>
    1998 Jane Smith <jsmith@example.net>
 License: GPL-2+
  This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
  it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
  the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
  (at your option) any later version.
  .
  This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
  but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
  GNU General Public License for more details.
  .
  You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
  along with this package; if not, see &lt;https://www.gnu.org/licenses/&gt;.
 Comment:
  On Debian systems, the full text of the GNU General Public License
  version 2 can be found in the file '/usr/share/common-licenses/GPL-2'.
 

   Example 4. Complex

   A possible debian/copyright file for the program “Planet Venus”,
   distributed in the Debian source package planet-venus (this is not a
   complete or correct copyright file for the actual planet-venus package):

 Format: https://www.debian.org/doc/packaging-manuals/copyright-format/1.0/
 Source: https://www.example.com/code/venus
 Upstream-Name: Planet Venus
 Upstream-Contact: John Doe <jdoe@example.com>

 Files:
  *
 Copyright: 2008, John Doe <jdoe@example.com>
            2007, Jane Smith <jsmith@example.org>
            2007, Joe Average <joe@example.org>
            2007, J. Random User <jr@users.example.com>
 License: PSF-2

 Files:
  debian/*
 Copyright: 2008, Dan Developer <dan@debian.example.com>
 License: permissive
  Copying and distribution of this package, with or without modification,
  are permitted in any medium without royalty provided the copyright notice
  and this notice are preserved.

 Files:
  debian/patches/theme-diveintomark.patch
 Copyright: 2008, Joe Hacker <hack@example.org>
 License: GPL-2+

 Files:
  planet/vendor/compat_logging/*
 Copyright: 2002, Mark Smith <msmith@example.org>
 License: MIT
  [LICENSE TEXT]

 Files:
  planet/vendor/httplib2/*
 Copyright: 2006, John Brown <brown@example.org>
 License: MIT2
  Unspecified MIT style license.

 Files:
  planet/vendor/feedparser.py
 Copyright: 2007, Mike Smith <mike@example.org>
 License: PSF-2

 Files:
  planet/vendor/htmltmpl.py
 Copyright: 2004, Thomas Brown <coder@example.org>
 License: GPL-2+

 License: PSF-2
  [LICENSE TEXT]

 License: GPL-2+
  This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
  it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
  the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
  (at your option) any later version.
  .
  This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
  but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
  GNU General Public License for more details.
  .
  You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
  along with this package; if not, see &lt;https://www.gnu.org/licenses/&gt;.
 Comment:
  On Debian systems, the full text of the GNU General Public License
  version 2 can be found in the file '/usr/share/common-licenses/GPL-2'.
