Relicense examples under CC0

Author: ben

CONTRIBUTING.md

@@ -3,6 +3,12 @@
 We're making it easy to do interesting things with git, and we'd love to have
 your help.
 
+## Licensing
+
+By contributing to libgit2, you agree to release your contribution under the terms of the license.
+For code under `examples`, this is governed by the [CC0 Public Domain Dedication](examples/COPYING).
+All other code is released under the [GPL v2 with linking exception](COPYING).
+
 ## Discussion & Chat
 
 We hang out in the #libgit2 channel on irc.freenode.net.
@@ -70,7 +76,7 @@ you're porting code *from* to see what you need to do.  As a general rule,
 MIT and BSD (3-clause) licenses are typically no problem.  Apache 2.0
 license typically doesn't work due to GPL incompatibility.
 
-If you are pulling in code from core Git, another project or code you've pulled from 
+If you are pulling in code from core Git, another project or code you've pulled from
 a forum / Stack Overflow then please flag this in your PR and also make sure you've
 given proper credit to the original author in the code snippet.
 

README.md

@@ -7,9 +7,11 @@ libgit2 - the Git linkable library
 re-entrant linkable library with a solid API, allowing you to write native
 speed custom Git applications in any language with bindings.
 
-`libgit2` is licensed under a **very permissive license** (GPLv2 with a special Linking Exception).
-This basically means that you can link it (unmodified) with any kind of software without having to
-release its source code.
+`libgit2` is licensed under a **very permissive license** (GPLv2 with a special
+Linking Exception).  This basically means that you can link it (unmodified)
+with any kind of software without having to release its source code.
+Additionally, the example code has been released to the public domain (see the
+[separate license](examples/COPYING) for more information).
 
 * Website: [libgit2.github.com](http://libgit2.github.com)
 * StackOverflow Tag: [libgit2](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/libgit2)

examples/COPYING

@@ -0,0 +1,121 @@
+Creative Commons Legal Code
+
+CC0 1.0 Universal
+
+    CREATIVE COMMONS CORPORATION IS NOT A LAW FIRM AND DOES NOT PROVIDE
+    LEGAL SERVICES. DISTRIBUTION OF THIS DOCUMENT DOES NOT CREATE AN
+    ATTORNEY-CLIENT RELATIONSHIP. CREATIVE COMMONS PROVIDES THIS
+    INFORMATION ON AN "AS-IS" BASIS. CREATIVE COMMONS MAKES NO WARRANTIES
+    REGARDING THE USE OF THIS DOCUMENT OR THE INFORMATION OR WORKS
+    PROVIDED HEREUNDER, AND DISCLAIMS LIABILITY FOR DAMAGES RESULTING FROM
+    THE USE OF THIS DOCUMENT OR THE INFORMATION OR WORKS PROVIDED
+    HEREUNDER.
+
+Statement of Purpose
+
+The laws of most jurisdictions throughout the world automatically confer
+exclusive Copyright and Related Rights (defined below) upon the creator
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+
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+scientific works ("Commons") that the public can reliably and without fear
+of later claims of infringement build upon, modify, incorporate in other
+works, reuse and redistribute as freely as possible in any form whatsoever
+and for any purposes, including without limitation commercial purposes.
+These owners may contribute to the Commons to promote the ideal of a free
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+
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+
+1. Copyright and Related Rights. A Work made available under CC0 may be
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+
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+vii. other similar, equivalent or corresponding rights throughout the
+     world based on applicable law or treaty, and any national
+     implementations thereof.
+
+2. Waiver. To the greatest extent permitted by, but not in contravention
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+irrevocably and unconditionally waives, abandons, and surrenders all of
+Affirmer's Copyright and Related Rights and associated claims and causes
+of action, whether now known or unknown (including existing as well as
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+worldwide, (ii) for the maximum duration provided by applicable law or
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examples/README.md

@@ -8,7 +8,10 @@ handling, and cross-platform compatibility in the same manner as the rest
 of the code in libgit2, so copy with caution.
 
 That being said, you are welcome to copy code from these examples as
-desired when using libgit2.
+desired when using libgit2. They have been [released to the public domain][cc0],
+so there are no restrictions on their use.
+
+[cc0]: COPYING
 
 For annotated HTML versions, see the "Examples" section of: