MPL 2.0 itself is licensed under CC-BY-SA?

Localization
#1

Mozilla Public License 2.0 is translated by Japanese community members and published on a website, https://www.mozilla.jp/documents/mpl/2.0/ .

Japanese community ought to publish this under CC-BY-SA.
And, here is the question: Is original MPL 2.0 licensed under CC-BY-SA?

Original MPL 2.0 is placed under https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/MPL/ and no info about license of MPL itself.
I can just guess according the footnote " Content available under a Creative Commons license." on the top page of mozilla.org

We know that the translation is just for the convenience for Japanese speakers and it has no legal effect by itself.
I don’t think there is no license conflict to do this, just want make sure.
Thank you for your reading.

#2

While I understand this is about the license to apply to a localized version of text, this is really not the best place to ask, because it doesn’t have the right audience (legal).

I’ll see if I can get anyone to find a better recipient for this question.

#3

Hi flod.

I have to explain a story about this translation for a note.
We are discussing about this at here:

A year ago, the original Japanese translation was published by Guest126. And he presented his translation to Mozilla Japan community with public domain license.
I suggested to put it to our community website, and I and some community members reviewed it. (and just finished this month. :slight_smile:

While we were reviewing, Guest126 asked about the license of translated MPL 2.0 document to mhoye a license staff of Mozilla Foundation. But, he has not been answered clearly about our concern.

We are sure the translation is unofficial as hmatrjp said above. It is very nice if our concern has cleared.

Thanks.

#4

Hello,

This is Daniel Nazer, IP & Product Counsel at Mozilla legal. You generally do not need to treat the Mozilla Public License 2.0 (MPLv2) as being creative commons licensed so don’t need to do a Creative Commons-style attribution, etc. When source code is licensed under the MPLv2 people must include the MPLv2 license text and people don’t include CC licensing information with that text. (That would make software license notices longer and more confusing.)

BUT there are some very important things to keep in mind with respect to copies and translations of the license. Mozilla is the license steward and must approve any new versions of the Mozilla Public License. This means that ONLY the original official English language version is the Mozilla Public License 2.0. It is okay to provide a translation for reference and study. But DO NOT distribute code licensed with a translated version while purporting to license it as the Mozilla Public License 2.0.

If you wish to license code using an altered or translated version of the MPLv2, you must call the license something else and not use the “Mozilla” name.

I recommend adding some language (in both English and Japanese) with your copy that says: “This is a community translation of the Mozilla Public License 2.0. that is provided for reference. But please note that only the original English version is the official Mozilla Public License 2.0.”

Thanks,
Daniel

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#5

Thank you flod, marsf and Daniel.

This sounds natural for me, so text of MPL 2.0 is an exception from the scope of footnote on top page of mozilla.org:

Content available under a Creative Commons license.

and thank you for your suggestion:

“This is a community translation of the Mozilla Public License 2.0. that is provided for reference. But please note that only the original English version is the official Mozilla Public License 2.0.”

This is noted at the beginning of the page in Japanese language.
https://www.mozilla.jp/documents/mpl/2.0/

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#6

This crowdsourced translation of the Mozilla Public License 2.0 is offered for informational purposes.
However, kindly take note that the Mozilla Public License 2.0 is only valid in its original English language form.