How to license code source but keep control of it

Question

Meaning the buyer can modify it and do whatever he wants with it but can't resell the source itself. But is allowed to sell software based on it.

Answer 1

Here's a book on the subject: Intellectual Property and Open Source

http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596517960

Answer 2

You might want to take a look at the various open source licenses. I suggest, also, using a widely-used one (the chances that many people already peered at it and added meaningful contributions are higher).

Also GPL (non v3) can be a good one.

It all depends, at the end, on

• how much do you let FUD influence your/your boss decisions
• whether you want it to be already tested in court, and in which country
• what are the risks at stake: if a buyer resell the source, how much can you afford (in legal fees) to spend to chase him/her down?
• and a lot other nuisances :)

Answer 3

None of the commonly-used open source licenses will allow you to prevent people from selling the source code - in fact several of them require you to give it away. If you really want this, I think you are looking at a custom proprietory license, in which case you need to talk to a lawyer

Answer 4

Would an API for building plugins for your software be a better route perhaps? Sounds like it would fit the bill better.