Hi,
Wanted to know what are the steps involved in getting ones code licensed. Working on a freelancing PHP application and want to prevent the client from making any modications in the source code. Any suggestions about which licensing will be the best is appreciated.
EDIT : In order to get my code licensed I just have to pick up any of the licenses and just include it in my code thats it ?? Dont have to register with something ?
I know of no common licence that would make the source code public, but forbid its modification. How about creating a custom licence? You could always take an existing licence text, such as GPL or whatever, and modify the parts you find inconvenient for you.
Update in response to edit:
No. A license is just an agreement between the copyright holder of the code and the user. You don't need a third party involved.
By default, copyright law prevents any one from modifying, distributing and/or using your code unless you give them a license to do so (or assign the copyright to them). So the only thing you need to do is include what you do allow them to do in the contract (the license) and make it explicit that you retain the copyright.
You don't have to put the license in the code (in fact it makes little sense unless you plan it to be distributed, modified etc.) - but you do want to put a copyright notice there.
Licenses don't have to be registered, it is possible to register for copyright, but it is usually not necessary.
Also note that many existing licenses are copyrighted and subject to similar limitations (e.g. can't be modified).
It would be best if you use an actual lawyer to work on your contract.