So long story short: I recently discovered that my most (and only) successful software project (a pretty big web components library with 6 years of development) was being used by a famous big european corporation who did not donate a penny to me nor gave any attribution (and like 75% of their web IS heavily dependant on my project). And I don't know how many salaries or jobs positions they have saved, or how many money they have make thanks to my dedication and free work, but I felt so sick that I deleted any trace of it on the internet (I even contacted the Internet Archive though I didn't find my library there). And it was my fault because I used MIT license, which is too open and permissive.
Sadly I thought I have a copy of it on my computer, but as I recently bought a new one, turns out that the project is lost forever. However, it is just a minor nuissance compared to the joy I feel every time I think on the chaos and panic I have probably caused in some departments of this specific company and potentially other companies that might be using my software. Now GOOD FUCKING LUCK Renault Group.
But I don't want it to happen again. So after looking for some open source restrictive licenses, I found none tailored to my needs. So I'm writing my own license, because why not. And I need your help there, because my imagination is limited, I don't have much idea about international license/copyright laws and my English is not very good (I learned it too late, too old and certainly in an unorthodox way).
I don't mind my license has more in common with a political manifesto than to an actual license, but I don't want it to sound TOO anti-capitalist because companies are actually going to read it and I don't want to reduce my “employability” (if that word even exists) too much.
So here is what I've got so far… Any ideas? Corrections? Additions? (Sorry for the TL;DR)
Copyright (c)
(2023)All Rights Reserved Progressive Restrictive Open Source License (PROSL)(A license by Andrés Brugarolas Martínez)
YOU ARE FREE TO USE THIS LICENSE IN ANY OF YOUR PROJECTS
Project name:
(the “Software”)Author: (the “Author”)Email: Webpage: Repository: INTRODUCTION:
Below is the Progressive Restrictive Open Source License (PROSL), crafted to reflect the values and principles of its author, Andrés Brugarolas Martínez, and others who might adhere to it, while establishing guidelines for the use, modification, and distribution of the Software under this license.
SUMMARY:
This license allows individuals and organizations that align with progressive values to freely use, modify, and distribute this software. Restrictions are placed on certain entities, particularly those associated with military or mercenary activities, and those that don't uphold certain progressive principles. Redistribution is encouraged under open-source licenses that are compatible with this one. Compatibility terms are described below.
TERMS:
Free Use: Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any individual, public administration, or non-profit organization obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the “Software”), to deal in with the Software without any limitation to the rights to use, modify, and distribute this Software, provided they do not violate the restrictions listed below and ensure these restrictions are met.
Any individual, public administration, or non-profit organization that makes use of this Software, redistribute it, or modify it, has the obligation to conserve this copyright with the information about the original Author intact and has the responsibility of enforcing the terms, limitations and rights this License entails are met.
This Software or any derivative of it may not be sublicensed, merged with any other software with private or incompatible license, commodified, be sold, monetized, or be used in any kind of commercial activity; including but not limiting to any software-as-a-service like, data-mining or crypto-mining commercial activities; without the express consent of the original Author, who might ask for a compensation in return.
This Software, any modification of it or any derivate of it must conserve this original License (PROSL) and not even the original Author is entitled to negotiate or make any kind of deal that states the opposite.
Any kind of deal with the original Author does not mean under any circunstance that this Software may be sold, monetized, retristributed or used under a different license; does not mean neither that the other part is exempt of enforcing this license, the rights it guarantees to users and the restrictions it imposes to certain entities or activities are met; nor gives it the right to the other party to negotiate about the use, sell, redistribution, monetization, or modification of this Software with any third parties without the original Author express consent.
- Company and Commercial Restrictions:
Companies with more than 10 employees must notify the original Author about the nature of their usage of this Software.Companies with over 50 employees require express consent from the original Author for usage, modification and/or redistribution of this Software.Any kind of commercial activity, monetization or commodification of this Software and any derivate of it requires express consent from the original Author.
2) Exceptions:The following organizations are not considered companies or are exempt of company restrictions:Worker unions.Cooperative businesses where at least 80% of ownership is worker-based.Left wing organizations.Public administrations or state-owned companies from countries provided they align with progressive values described below.
3) Prohibited Entities:Military, paramilitary, police forces or agencies, mercenary companies or private security, intelligence agencies, public or private penitentiary systems and companies with affiliations to such entities.Any entity that promotes hate, discrimination, misinformation or any form of violence against individuals based on race, gender, sexual orientation, or any other discriminatory grounds.Racist, fascist, misogynist, nationalist, anti-communist or right-wing extremist individuals, groups, communities, parties, organizations or media, even if they don't explicitly promote hate, discrimination, misinformation or any kind of violence against any individuals.The Author is aware that the last sentence is a bit vague and open to interpretation, however, if you felt uncomfortable or felt referented while reading it, there is a high change that you are part of the list and you should reconsider your values.
4) Redistribution:Redistribution is allowed under open-source licenses that allow dual-licensing and which do not conflict with the terms of this License.Redistributors must retain the original license and provide free access to the source code of, at least, this or any piece of this Software is being used.More details about compatible licenses are listed below.
5) Progressive Values:A country must meet the following conditions to be considered aligned with progressive values: free universal education, free universal health system, secular governance, free elections under the supervision of independant and international authorities, and equal rights for all individuals irrespective of race, gender, or sexual orientation.However, any country that met the previous conditions but infringe any of the following is not considered to be aligned with progressive values and is excluded from the exceptions: countries with references to any religion in their national anthem or flags, or that give special status to any religion, or have military forces (excluding UN peacekeepers) deployed outside their borders, or provide military aid to countries at war or to any country that is not meeting the aforementioned standards.
6) No Warranties:This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED “AS IS”, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
7) Universality:This license is meant to be universally applicable, however it was written in a specific european jurisdiction context, so it is possible that it conflicts with any local, state, national or federal laws of some other countries.If you have any doubt about its applicability, please, consult a lawyer or contact the original Author to develop a similar software of your ownership and more tailored to your needs.
8) Compatible Licenses:A compatible license is one that:Must allow that the parts of the software under PROSL license or any derivative of it are allowed to be distributed under the same terms and the same original PROSL license or any derivative of it.Respects and upholds the restrictions placed on certain entities, as outlined in this license.Does not permit sublicensing under terms that would violate the principles of PROSL.Ensures that redistributions continue to enforce the guidelines of PROSL, especially concerning prohibited entities and commercial restrictions.Allows for open-source dual-licensing, ensuring that the software remains freely accessible and modifiable by those who adhere to PROSL's values.
9) Attribution:Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are permitted provided that the previous conditions and the conditions below are met.These conditions require a modest attribution to
(the “Author”), who hopes that its promotional value may help justify the thousands of dollars in otherwise billable time invested in writing this and other freely available, open-source software.Redistributions of source code, in whole or part and with or without modification (the “Code”), must prominently display this GPG-signed text in verifiable form.Redistributions of the Code in binary form must be accompanied by this GPG-signed text in any documentation and, each time the resulting executable program or a program dependent thereon is launched, a prominent display (e.g., splash screen or banner text) of the Author’s attribution information, which includes:(a) Complete name of the Author/s and/or any pseudonyms they may have included in their Software's license,(b) Professional identifications if she/he/they have included it in their Software's license, and(c) URL to her/his/their professional web page, personal web pages, GitHub or GitLab accounts, or any other professional or social media platforms they have included in their Software's license.Neither the name/s nor any trademark of the Author/s may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this Software without specific prior written permission. OBLIGATIONS FOR THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR:
1) Contributors' Rights:Any contributor to this project through the official GitHub/GitLab/repository project has the right to add their details (username, real name, contact, etc.) to a contributors' section.
2) Acknowledgment of Third-Party Code:If using third-party code, the original author will acknowledge the source and, if requested by the third-party, either attribute correctly or remove the third-party code within a specified timeframe of one month.
3) Safety comes First:If you are an individual living in a country where your integrity, your rights and/or your liberty of freedom could be compromised because of the public use of this License, feel free to contact the Author to together figure out a solution, like an exception from granting free access to the source code of the Software and its License.
Edit: I think I fixed the format issues.