Can I use my username in a legal license?

Question

I have an open source project, but I don't want to use my real name in the license file. Legally, can I just use my project hosting username instead?

I know programmers Are Not Lawyers™, but I'm looking for advice from people who may have dealt with simlar problems.

Answer 1

Copyright law permits anonymous and pseudonymous works. Though, anonymous or pseudonymous, is not synonymous to unidentifiable:

• "(3) if the work is anonymous or pseudonymous, the nationality or domicile of the author or authors;" required for registration of copyright

Though, copyright is far from always needs registration.

So, the answer is definite "yes"

Note also about differences between ownership and authorship

Answer 2

Pseudonyms are accepted for copyright registration, but it's not implicit, you will have to register your work at copyright.gov.

They will ensure that the link is made between you, the real person, and the pseudonym you use. Otherwise, you will have more difficulties to prove you are the original author.

More information about software copyrighting can be obtained in this PDF.

Answer 3

You don't need to put any name in there at all. The license should apply to contributions from other people too anyway, so it shouldn't just be a grant from you. It should be worded as a grant from the individual authors of the various elements.