A copyright is a legal process used by creators and inventors to protect their work and to control distribution of their product.
The copyleft is an invented term, used to describe a copyright that requires anyone distributing a copy or derived copy to allow redistribution of their code. Specifically, the term copyleft refers to the GNU copyleft license (which is in fact, a legal copyright).
The copyleft is not the same as open source. Many licenses are not compatible with the copyleft. The BSD license which allows code to be taken and made proprietary. (Did you know Microsoft used BSD code in their command line FTP client in ages past?)
There are many many open source licenses, not just BSD and the GNU copyleft. There's the Artistic License, and the X11 license, and so many more.
The copyleft is an invented term, used to describe a copyright that requires anyone distributing a copy or derived copy to allow redistribution of their code. Specifically, the term copyleft refers to the GNU copyleft license (which is in fact, a legal copyright).
The copyleft is not the same as open source. Many licenses are not compatible with the copyleft. The BSD license which allows code to be taken and made proprietary. (Did you know Microsoft used BSD code in their command line FTP client in ages past?)
There are many many open source licenses, not just BSD and the GNU copyleft. There's the Artistic License, and the X11 license, and so many more.
Additionally, They're the opposite of each other. Copyleft means there's no ownership claimed by the originator and the item can be used and modified by anyone in anyway. Copyright means the originator claims ownership and has the right to dictate whether anyone else uses it. This typically means they don't allow changes or sharing and the owner can legally stop its use whenever discovered to be used without their permission.
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