GPL as Template
The GPL devised an elegant solution to the problem of associating a generic software license with specific software. Instead of placing the name of the software in the license (as is usually and inconveniently done with proprietary and many other open source software licenses), it requires that a notice be placed in the software by the copyright holder saying, “it may be distributed under the terms of this General Public License.” Where this notice is to be placed is not specified, but at the end of the GPL, in a separate nonbinding section entitled “How to Apply These Terms to Your New Programs,” the GPL suggests that the notice should be at the start of each source file.
The GPL is thus a template license, applicable to software ...
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