PolyForm Noncommercial 2.0.0-pre.1shorter, better noncommercial license terms for software
This post is part of a series, PolyForm.
Heather Meeker and I have long wanted to do new version 2s of the PolyForm licenses, to make them even shorter and easier to read. We now have a draft of a new Noncommercial license to share, down to less than 550 words.
If you have a chance to read through, do share any thoughts to kyle@kemitchell.com. We give these licenses away for free, and put a ton of extra work in to try and make them approachable. Every fresh pair of eyes and fresh perspective makes the terms better for all involved.
PolyForm Noncommercial License 2.0.0-pre.1
https://polyformproject.org/licenses/noncommercial/2.0.0-pre.1
Noncommercial Use
This license gives you free permission for this software, but only for noncommercial uses. The next two sections give examples of noncommercial uses, but do not rule out others.
Personal Uses
Research, experiment, and testing for the benefit of public knowledge, education, private entertainment, hobby projects, amateur pursuits, and religious observance are all noncommercial uses.
Noncommercial Organizations
Work on behalf of any charitable organization, educational institution, public research organization, public safety or health organization, environmental protection organization, or government institution are all noncommercial uses.
Copyrights
The licensor gives you permission under its copyrights in this software to run, make changes to, and share copies of and changes to this software, but only for noncommercial uses.
Patents
The licensor gives you permission under any patent claims it can license, or becomes able to license, that you would infringe by running, changing, or sharing this software, but only for noncommercial uses.
Notices
Make sure anyone who gets a copy of this software from you also gets a copy of this license or the URL for it above, as well as copies of any plain-text lines beginning with
Required Notice:that the licensor provided with this software.Fair Use
This license does not limit “fair use” under copyright law.
No Other Rights
You may not sublicense or transfer your license for the software to anyone else. The terms of this license do not imply any other licenses.
Patent Defense
If you claim in writing that this software infringes or contributes to infringement of any patent, your patent permission under this license ends immediately. If your company claims in writing that this software infringes or contributes to infringement of any patent, your patent permission ends immediately for work on behalf of your company.
Violations
The first time the licensor warns you in writing that you have violated any term of this license, or done anything with the software not permitted by this license, your license can nonetheless continue if you come into full compliance with this license, and take practical steps to correct past violations, within 30 days. Otherwise, your copyright and patent permission under this license ends immediately.
No Liability
As far as the law allows, this software comes as is, without any warranty or condition. As far as the law allows the licensor will not be liable to you for any legal damages related to this license or this software, under any kind of legal claim.
You and Your Company
Throughout this license, you refers to the individual or legal entity agreeing to these terms, and your company refers to any legal entity, sole proprietorship, or other kind of organization that you work for, plus all organizations that have control over, are under the control of, or are under common control with that organization. Control means ownership of substantially all the assets of an organization or the power to direct its management and policies by vote, contract, or otherwise.
Your thoughts and feedback are always welcome by e-mail.