exportconsthtml=`<p>Why do you need to license your software? What are those licenses for anyway? These questions are more important than you think</p><h2>What is a software license?</h2><p>To summarise the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_license" rel="noopener nofollow ugc">Wikipedia article</a> on the matter, it's essentially a legal contract between you (the mod developer) and anyone who uses, copies, modifies, etc the mod or any code having to do with it. License has the power to allow people to do whatever they want, or only permit the usage of the mod in-game. However, the majority of cases lie in-between these opposites.</p><h2>So which software license should I choose?</h2><p>First and foremost, the choice of the software license is not entirely up to you, because you have to have the legal ability to do so. For instance, not all licenses are compatible with Minecraft's EULA (End-User License Agreement). Besides, if you are not the only one working on the project, you must get permission from all other contributors to your code before changing or adding a license. Please, ensure you have done so before implementing a license.</p><p>Before we can decide which one to use, however, we must establish some additional definitions. Open software licenses can be split into three main categories: <strong>public domain</strong>, <strong>permissive</strong>, and <strong>copyleft</strong>.</p><h3>Permissive license</h3><p>A permissive license is a type of license that usually gives the abilities to use, copy, modify, distribute, sell, and relicense a piece of software.</p><p>The most popular license on Modrinth, the <a href="https://cdn.modrinth.com/licenses/mit.txt" rel="noopener nofollow ugc">MIT License</a>, is a permissive license. It is an easy-to-read license designed to be used for developers, which is why it is used extensively in the Minecraft open source community.</p><p>The <a href="https://cdn.modrinth.com/licenses/apache.txt" rel="noopener nofollow ugc">Apache License 2.0</a> is also a very good permissive license to use. The main difference between it and the MIT License is that the Apache License gives an explicit patent grant, whereas patents must be registered manually with the MIT. There is also an additional clause with the Apache License, stating that any modified files must "carry prominent notices" of it being modified.</p><h3>Copyleft license</h3><p>A copyleft license gives to the other party specific rights usually only given to the copyright owner, under the condition that those same rights are applied to all variations of that software. These are also sometimes called "viral" or "infectious" licenses, because of the requirement to pass those rights on to derivatives.</p><p>The second most common license on Modrinth is a copyleft license: the <a href="https://cdn.modrinth.com/licenses/lgpl-3.txt" rel="noopener nofollow ugc">GNU Lesser General Public License Version 3</a> (usually <a href="https://spdx.org/licenses/LGPL-3.0-only.html" rel="noopener nofollow ugc">shortened to</a> LGPL-3.0).</p><p>Typically, when a copyleft license is wanted, the <a href="https://spdx.org/licenses/GPL-3.0-only.html" rel="noopener nofollow ugc">GPL-3.0</a> or <a href="https://spdx.org/licenses/AGPL-3.0-only.html" rel="noopener nofollow ugc">AGPL-3.0</a> would be used. However, these licenses are <strong>incompatible</strong> if linking into Minecraft, due to an issue with the difference between proprietary and free software outlined by these licenses (more information <a href="https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#GPLPlugins" rel="noopener nofollow ugc">here</a>). An exception can be added to allow linking, such as that found <a href="https://gist.github.com/wafflecoffee/588f353802a3b0ea649e4fc85f75e583" rel="noopener nofollow ugc">here</a>, but it is recommended to just use the LGPL-3.0 instead if possible.</p><h3>Public domain dedication</h3><p>A public domain dedication gives all rights to everyone who gets a copy of the software. This includes but is not limited
