@insertcopying: Include Permissions Text

The @insertcopying command is simply written on a line by itself, like this:

     @insertcopying
     

This inserts the text previously defined by @copying. To meet legal requirements, it must be used on the copyright page in the printed manual (see Copyright).

We also strongly recommend using @insertcopying in the Top node of your manual (see The Top Node), although it is not required legally. Here's why:

The @copying command itself causes the permissions text to appear in an Info file before the first node. The text is also copied into the beginning of each split Info output file, as is legally necessary. This location implies a human reading the manual using Info does not see this text (except when using the advanced Info command g *). Therefore, an explicit @insertcopying in the Top node makes it apparent to readers that the manual is free.

Similarly, the @copying text is automatically included at the beginning of each HTML output file, as an HTML comment. Again, this text is not visible (unless the reader views the HTML source). And therefore again, the @insertcopying in the Top node is valuable because it makes the copying permissions visible and thus promotes freedom.

The permissions text defined by @copying also appears automatically at the beginning of the XML output file.