REUSE: Best practices for declaring copyright and licenses

Me giving the remote presentation at FOSDEM 2021 - it’s been Covid times!

At FOSDEM 2021, I delivered a presentation on REUSE best practices for declaring copyright and licenses in Free and Open Source Software projects. The talk was part of FOSDEM’s OpenChain track, where developers and legal professionals gather to discuss these critical topics. I focused on how REUSE provides a practical, standardized approach to one of the most common yet frustrating problems in FOSS development: maintaining clear licensing information.

The presentation walked through the three simple steps that comprise REUSE: adding copyright and licensing information to each file, providing full license texts in a standard location, and confirming complete REUSE adoption. I demonstrated the REUSE helper tool which automates compliance checking and can be integrated into CI/CD pipelines. Real-world examples showed how projects of various sizes have successfully adopted REUSE, and I addressed common questions about legacy codebases, third-party dependencies, and multi-license projects.

The timing was significant as more organizations were recognizing the importance of licensing clarity for compliance, security auditing, and supply chain management. REUSE provides a solution that’s both developer-friendly and meets the requirements of legal and compliance teams, making it increasingly relevant as FOSS becomes critical infrastructure.