GPLv2 Licensed Scratch Code
Scratch Source Code > GPLv2 Licensed Scratch Code
License Information
The Scratch 1.4 source code linked below is made available under the GNU General Public License 2.0 (http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.html). When you redistribute and/or modify this Scratch 1.4 code, you must abide by the terms of the GPL 2.0 license and the Scratch Trademark Policy.
Requirements
When making derivative works (i.e. modifying the source code), you should be aware of the following requirements:
- The Scratch trademark policy says that you may not use the word "Scratch" to refer to substantially modified derivative works (except in the phrase "Based on Scratch from the MIT Media Laboratory") and may not use the Scratch logo, the Scratch cat, or the Gobo character (Scratch trademarks); see the TRADEMARK_POLICY text file in the source tarball or the Trademark Policy description on our website. Minor modifications like re-packaging can be done under the Scratch name. But substantial changes, like adding new or changing existing features, means you have to remove the marks. If you are ever unsure, you can always help
scratch [dot] mit [dot] edu (ask us). - The Scratch website community guidelines prohibit you from using modified versions of Scratch to upload projects to any MIT Scratch website. As a result, if you make substantial changes to the Scratch source code, you cannot use it to upload to the Scratch website. "Substantially unmodified" versions of Scratch, as defined by the Scratch Trademark Policy, may be used to upload projects to the Scratch website.
- The GPL says that you must acknowledge that you've modified the original code with an appropriate addition to modified source files, and you must preserve the original copyright notices. Because Scratch is interactive, we currently do that in the Help -> About dialog.
The purpose of these restrictions is to avoid confusion in the Scratch user community between the official version of Scratch (supported by the Lifelong Kindergarten group at the MIT Media Laboratory) and modified versions of the Scratch source with different features. We are happy to share our source code, but we want to protect the Scratch brand and our user community.
