[[copyright]]
=== debian/copyright

Debian takes the copyright and license matters very seriously. The ``Debian Policy Manual'' enforces having a summary of them in the *debian/copyright* file in the package.

You should format it as a https://www.debian.org/doc/packaging-manuals/copyright-format/1.0/[machine-readable debian/copyright file] (DEP-5).

CAUTION: The *debian/copyright* file should be sorted to keep the generic file patterns at the top of the list.  See <<koption>>.

The *debmake* command creates the initial DEP-5 compatible template file by scanning the entire source tree.  It uses an internal license checker to classify each license text. footnote:[The *licensecheck* command from the *devscripts* package was referenced to make this internal checker.  Now the *licensecheck* command is provided in an independent *licensecheck* package with a lot of improvements.]

Unless specifically requested to be pedantic with the *-P* option, the *debmake* command skips reporting for auto-generated files with permissive licenses to be practical.

NOTE: If you find issues with this license checker, please file a bug report to the *debmake* package with the problematic part of text containing the copyright and license.

NOTE: The *debmake* command focuses on bunching up same copyright and license claims in detail to create template for *debian/copyright*.  In order to do this within reasonable time, it only picks the first section which looks like copyright and license claims.  So its license assignment may not be optimal.  Please also use other tools such as *licensecheck*.

TIP:  You are highly encouraged to check the license status with the *licensecheck*(1) command and, as needed, with your manual code review.

