GNU Free Documentation License

GNU Free Documentation License
The GFDL logo
AuthorFree Software Foundation
Latest version1.3
PublisherFree Software Foundation, Inc.
PublishedNovember 3, 2008 (current version)
SPDX identifier
  • GFDL-1.3-or-later
  • GFDL-1.3-only
  • GFDL-1.2-or-later
  • GFDL-1.2-only
  • GFDL-1.1-or-later
  • GFDL-1.1-only
(see list for more)
Debian FSG compatibleYes, with no invariant sections (see below)
GPL compatibleNo
CopyleftYes
Websitewww.gnu.org/licenses/fdl-1.3.html Edit this on Wikidata

The GNU Free Documentation License (GNU FDL or GFDL) is a copyleft license for free documentation, designed by the Free Software Foundation (FSF) for the GNU Project. It is similar to the GNU General Public License, giving readers the rights to copy, redistribute, and modify (except for "invariant sections") a work and requires all copies and derivatives to be available under the same license. Copies may also be sold commercially, but, if produced in larger quantities (greater than 100), the original document or source code must be made available to the work's recipient.

The GFDL was designed for manuals, textbooks, other reference and instructional materials, and documentation which often accompanies GNU software. However, it can be used for any text-based work, regardless of subject matter. For example, the free online encyclopedia Wikipedia uses the GFDL[1] (coupled with the Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike License) for much of its text, excluding text that was imported from other sources after the 2009 licensing update that is only available under the Creative Commons license.[2][circular reference][3][4]

  1. ^ "Wikipedia:About", Wikipedia, July 26, 2018, retrieved September 7, 2018
  2. ^ "Wikipedia:Licensing update". June 14, 2009. With the transition, the Wikipedia community will now be allowed to import CC-BY-SA text from external sources into articles. If you do this, the origin of the material and its license should be explicitly noted in the edit summary. If the source text is dual- or multi-licensed, it is only necessary that at least one of the licenses is compatible with CC-BY-SA. It is not necessary that external content be dual licensed under the GFDL.
  3. ^ "WIKIPEDIA MOVES TO CC 4.0 LICENSES". Creative Commons. June 29, 2023. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
  4. ^ "FSF Releases New Version of GNU Free Documentation License — Free Software Foundation — Working together for free software". www.fsf.org. Retrieved June 4, 2024.