Bring your AI. Build software everyone owns.

OPEN Licence, version 1.0
DRAFT FOR LEGAL REVIEW, 16 October 2026. Not ready to use.

SPDX-License-Identifier: LicenseRef-OPEN-1.0

0. Purpose

Some people want to give software away completely, so that it belongs to no one and anyone can build on it. This licence lets them do that. It aims for the same result in every country: where rights can be given up, they are given up; where they cannot, everyone receives the widest possible licence instead, with no conditions.

1. Definitions

1.1 "Work" means the software, documentation and other material released under this licence, including every version of it.

1.2 "Contributor" means each person or organisation that releases the Work, or submits a Contribution to it, under this licence.

1.3 "Contribution" means anything a Contributor adds to or changes in the Work.

1.4 "Rights" means every right a Contributor has in their Contribution anywhere in the world, now or in the future, other than trademark rights and patent rights. This includes copyright and related rights, moral rights, database rights, design rights and rights against unfair copying.

1.5 "Patent Claims" means the claims of any patent, in any country, that a Contributor owns or may license, and that would be infringed by making, using, selling or importing their Contribution on its own or as part of the Work.

1.6 "You" means any person or organisation using the permissions in this licence.

2. Dedication

To the fullest extent the law allows, each Contributor permanently, irrevocably and unconditionally waives, abandons and gives up all Rights in their Contribution, for the benefit of every member of the public. Each Contributor intends this to be a public dedication that no one, including the Contributor and anyone who later holds their Rights, can withdraw. Each Contributor makes it without expecting payment or any other benefit.

3. Fallback licence

3.1 If any part of the dedication in section 2 does not take effect under the law that applies, each Contributor grants You, and every other person, a worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive, perpetual, irrevocable and unconditional licence to exercise all Rights in their Contribution for any purpose. This includes the right to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense and sell it, in any medium and form, and to let others do the same.

3.2 Where the law does not allow a Right to be waived or licensed, such as some moral rights, each Contributor promises, as far as the law allows, never to assert that Right against You or anyone else in connection with the Work.

3.3 If a court finds part of section 2 or this section unenforceable, only that part is affected.

4. Patents

4.1 Each Contributor grants You a worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive, perpetual and irrevocable licence under their Patent Claims to make, have made, use, sell, offer for sale, import and otherwise deal in their Contribution, on its own, as part of the Work, or as part of any work based on it.

4.2 [Option A, recommended: no further wording.] [Option B: If You start a lawsuit claiming that the Work infringes a patent, the licence in 4.1 granted to You ends on the date the lawsuit is filed. No other permission in this licence is affected.]

4.3 Each Contributor also promises never to assert any Patent Claim against anyone for using, changing or distributing the Work.

5. No conditions

You do not need to give credit, keep any notice, include a copy of this licence, share Your changes, or tell anyone what You do with the Work. You may release works that include or are based on the Work under any terms You choose, including closed-source and commercial terms. Nothing You do changes the Work's status for anyone else.

6. Names and trademarks

This licence grants no rights in any name, trademark, logo or trade dress, including those of any Contributor, of the Work's project, of OPEN or of Onlyintelligence. You may say truthfully that Your work is based on the Work, but You may not suggest that any Contributor or Onlyintelligence endorses it.

7. Other people's material

This licence covers only the Rights and Patent Claims that Contributors hold. Material in the Work that belongs to someone else, such as a library with its own licence, stays under its own terms. Each release lists that material in a file named THIRD-PARTY.

8. Material without rights

Parts of the Work may have been generated by artificial intelligence and may carry no Rights at all. This licence does not claim that any Right exists in those parts. It only makes sure that whatever Rights do exist are dedicated or licensed as set out above.

9. Contributions

Anything a Contributor submits to a Work released under this licence is released under this licence, unless the Contributor clearly marks it, before submitting, as not intended for the Work. By submitting, each Contributor makes the certificate in Appendix A.

10. No warranty, and limits on liability

10.1 To the extent the law allows, the Work is provided "as is", without any warranty, express or implied, including warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, accuracy or freedom from defects.

10.2 To the extent the law allows, no Contributor is liable to You for damages of any kind arising from the Work or this licence. Nothing in this licence limits liability that the law does not allow to be limited, such as liability for intent, gross negligence or personal injury where the applicable law forbids it.

11. The host

Onlyintelligence, which hosts OPEN projects, gains no more rights in any Work than any other member of the public, and claims no exclusive right in any Work.

12. Versions of this licence

Onlyintelligence may publish revised versions of this licence to improve its wording. A later version may give the public more freedom, never less. A Work released under version 1.0 stays available under version 1.0 for ever, and You may also choose to use it under any later version.

13. Interpretation

If a court finds any provision unenforceable, it is changed only as much as needed to make it enforceable, and the rest continues. This licence is to be read so as to give the public the widest possible freedom. [Governing law: to be decided with counsel.]

Appendix A: Contributor certificate

By submitting a Contribution to a Work released under the OPEN Licence, I certify that:

1. I created the Contribution, in whole or in part, including with tools such as AI systems, and I have the right to release it under the OPEN Licence; or
2. the Contribution is based on earlier material that, as far as I know, is in the public domain or under a licence that lets me release it under the OPEN Licence; or
3. someone who made certification 1 or 2 gave me the Contribution, and I have not changed it.

I also certify that:

4. if my employer, a client or anyone else has rights in what I create, they have agreed to this release;
5. I have declared which AI tools I used to make the Contribution, and roughly how much of it they wrote;
6. I understand that the Contribution and this certificate, including my name or handle, are public and kept permanently.