How we "agree" to licenses without reading them

Nursultan Suleimenov, city — Astana, Legal Director at Sergek IT company group, LinkedIn

Each of us has encountered situations where, when installing an application, registering for a service, or updating software, we habitually click “I agree” or “Accept” — without reading, without carefully reviewing, and sometimes even without scrolling through the agreement text.

For many, this has become almost a reflex. Such documents are perceived as a mere formality. We scroll through them saying: “It’s all clear anyway,” “It’s just legal jargon,” or the banal “No time to read.”

A notable case occurred a few years ago when a company added a clause to its software’s user agreement regarding the transfer of an immortal soul. Over 7,000 people “accepted” this condition in a single day. No one raised questions, and no one noticed.

But while this may only elicit a smile in everyday life, in business — especially when using open-source licenses and open-source software (OSS) — such “frivolity” can lead to serious consequences.

Open-source licenses — freedom with conditions

Today, open-source is an integral part of software development. Libraries, frameworks, tools — it is difficult to imagine a modern IT project without them. They allow you to speed up work, save budget, and focus on the main product.

According to the Synopsys Open Source Security and Risk Analysis Report, in recent years, about 96% of commercial applications have contained open-source components, with an average of about 75% of the source code being open-source.

At the same time, the misconception that if code or any other content is placed in the public domain on the internet, it can be used freely, remains widespread — this is not true.

The presence of code on GitHub, forums, or in articles does not mean that it has ceased to be an object of copyright and become public domain. Behind the apparent freedom and “free of charge” nature lie clear legal restrictions.

Using open-source software is always associated with licensing conditions. They are not always obvious, but they directly affect you, especially if the product is planned to be brought to market, sold to clients, and so on.

Violation of the conditions can lead to serious consequences. In some cases, it may result in a requirement to disclose the source code of the entire product. In others, a ban on its commercial use. And sometimes — direct legal claims from the rights holder.

There are many licenses, and there are fundamental differences between them. For example, MIT allows the use of code with almost no restrictions, but requires preserving author information. GPL obliges you to distribute the source code of derivative software, including all modifications based on GPL components, when distributing the product. Apache, among other things, requires compliance with conditions related to user notifications and consideration of possible patents.

Legal risks to consider from the start

Product development is not just about source code; it is also about the architecture of legal rights. If you use open-source components without understanding their legal status, you may encounter problems already at the release stage or after the product goes live.

Licensing analysis should be conducted at an early stage — during design. This is especially critical if you plan to enter external markets, participate in tenders, attract investment, or commercialize the product.

Open-source provides flexibility and speed. But it is not “ownerless” code. It has an author, and the author has rights. To avoid accidentally violating them — it is enough to simply read the rules, the license.

What is often forgotten

An important point that often remains outside the discussion: there are licenses that apply not only to code but also to content, documentation, and design. We are talking about the Creative Commons series — for example, CC-BY, CC-BY-SA, CC-NC. Some of them, such as CC-NC, explicitly prohibit commercial use, which is important if you are using someone else’s templates, interface elements, icons, or text fragments.

I will tell you in the next article how Creative Commons licenses work and how not to violate them in your product.