Multiple software licenses across a project

Question

How does one go about including multiple licenses in software?

For example, I'm working on a project that I would license as GPLv3. I'd like to include some libraries from the Apache Commons (Apache license 2.0). These libraries are distributed with both NOTICE.txt and LICENSE.txt, which to my understanding must be included in my project too.

Given the situation, should I indeed include the Apache Commons' NOTICE.txt and LICENSE.txt? Where should I put them? What if I later introduce other libraries with other licenses that make use of their own LICENSE.txt or NOTICE.txt?

The more information, the better!

Answer 1

I don't believe that it is a legal requirement to include the license files. The copyright headers tell people where they can download the standard licenses.

However, I'd say that it is good practice to include the files, and another file that lists the external libraries you are distributing and where people can get the latest source code. Where you put these files is up to you, but it is a good idea to make them easy to find.

(If you are using Maven, you have less work to do, since this information is all included in the POM files for your project's dependencies.)