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$ opensourcelicense.org

Extreme scenario matrix

What happens after you pick a license? Each cell answers one question and has its own page.

Legend: ✓ the other party can do this · ◐ with conditions · ✗ the license blocks it · — the license is silent (general law applies)

Code licenses

A · Commercial competition (6)
IDMITBSD-3Apache-2.0MPL-2.0LGPL-3.0GPL-3.0AGPL-3.0MulanPSL-2.0SSPL-1.0BSL-1.1ELv2BSD-2ISCUnlicenseZlibBoost-1.0MIT-0PostgreSQLUnicode-3.0Apache-2.0+LLVMGPL-2.0GPL-2.0+CPELGPL-2.1EPL-2.0EPL-1.0CDDL-1.0APSL-2.0Artistic-2.0Perl-5LPPL-1.3cFSL-1.1RSALv2Confluent CLUPL-1.0
A1 A cloud vendor sells your project as a managed serviceAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedNot distributionWith conditionsMust publish modificationsAllowedWith conditionsMust release the whole service stackBlocked by licenseUnless the Additional Use Grant allows itBlocked by licenseAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedWith conditionsAllowedAllowedAllowedBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseAllowed
A2 Someone forks it and distributes a closed-source competitorAllowedAllowedAllowedMust mark modified filesWith conditionsModified MPL files stay openWith conditionsChanges to the library stay openBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseAllowedBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseDerivatives stay under BSLWith conditionsLimitations must be keptAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseWith conditionsWith conditionsWith conditionsWith conditionsWith conditionsWith conditionsWith conditionsWith conditionsBlocked by licenseWith conditionsWith conditionsAllowed
A3 Embedded in a closed-source SaaS backend (not distributed)AllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedWith conditionsMust publish if modifiedAllowedWith conditionsIf its functionality is offered as a serviceWith conditionsDepends on the Additional Use GrantAllowedNot hosting the product itselfAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedWith conditionsAllowedAllowedAllowedWith conditionsAllowedAllowedAllowed
A4 Linked into a closed-source app or firmware and distributedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedFile-levelWith conditionsMust allow relinkingBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseAllowedBlocked by licenseWith conditionsDepends on the Additional Use GrantAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedBlocked by licenseAllowedWith conditionsAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedWith conditionsAllowedAllowedAllowed
A5 Someone promotes a modified version with your name or trademarkNot addressedBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedBlocked by licenseNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedBlocked by licenseNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressed
A6 Someone sells unmodified copiesAllowedAllowedAllowedWith conditionsSource must be offeredWith conditionsSource must be offeredWith conditionsSource must be offeredWith conditionsSource must be offeredAllowedWith conditionsSource must be offeredWith conditionsDepends on the Additional Use GrantAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedWith conditionsWith conditionsWith conditionsWith conditionsWith conditionsWith conditionsWith conditionsWith conditionsWith conditionsWith conditionsWith conditionsAllowedAllowedAllowed
B · Patents and law (3)
IDMITBSD-3Apache-2.0MPL-2.0LGPL-3.0GPL-3.0AGPL-3.0MulanPSL-2.0SSPL-1.0BSL-1.1ELv2BSD-2ISCUnlicenseZlibBoost-1.0MIT-0PostgreSQLUnicode-3.0Apache-2.0+LLVMGPL-2.0GPL-2.0+CPELGPL-2.1EPL-2.0EPL-1.0CDDL-1.0APSL-2.0Artistic-2.0Perl-5LPPL-1.3cFSL-1.1RSALv2Confluent CLUPL-1.0
B1 A user sues you for patent infringement and keeps using the codeNot addressedNot addressedBlocked by licensePatent license terminatesBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseNot addressedBlocked by licenseNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedBlocked by licenseNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseNot addressedNot addressedBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseNot addressedNot addressed
B2 A contributor asserts patents on their contributed codeNot addressedNot addressedBlocked by licenseExpress patent grantBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseNot addressedBlocked by licenseNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedBlocked by licenseNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseNot addressedNot addressedBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseNot addressedBlocked by license
B3 A cross-border dispute: governing law and venueNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedWith conditionsVenue: defendant's principal place of businessNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedWith conditionsChinese and English equally valid; Chinese prevails on conflictNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedWith conditionsWith conditionsWith conditionsWith conditionsWith conditionsWith conditionsWith conditionsNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressed
C · Evolution and business (6)
IDMITBSD-3Apache-2.0MPL-2.0LGPL-3.0GPL-3.0AGPL-3.0MulanPSL-2.0SSPL-1.0BSL-1.1ELv2BSD-2ISCUnlicenseZlibBoost-1.0MIT-0PostgreSQLUnicode-3.0Apache-2.0+LLVMGPL-2.0GPL-2.0+CPELGPL-2.1EPL-2.0EPL-1.0CDDL-1.0APSL-2.0Artistic-2.0Perl-5LPPL-1.3cFSL-1.1RSALv2Confluent CLUPL-1.0
C1 You later relicense or sell commercial licenses (contributors signed no CLA)With conditionsNew versions can change; old ones stayWith conditionsSame as MITWith conditionsSame as MITWith conditionsMPL files must stay MPLBlocked by licenseNeeds consent of all contributorsBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseWith conditionsSame as MITBlocked by licenseWith conditionsUsually relies on a CLAWith conditionsUsually relies on a CLAWith conditionsWith conditionsAllowedWith conditionsWith conditionsWith conditionsWith conditionsWith conditionsWith conditionsBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseWith conditionsWith conditionsWith conditionsWith conditionsWith conditionsWith conditionsWith conditionsWith conditionsWith conditionsWith conditionsWith conditions
C2 Your code is merged into a GPL-3.0 projectAllowedAllowedAllowedBut not compatible with GPL-2.0AllowedUnless marked incompatibleAllowedAllowedWith conditionsThe AGPL part stays AGPLAllowedBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseWith conditionsWith conditionsBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseAllowedAllowedBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseAllowed
C3 You use a GPL-3.0 dependency and still ship under this licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseAllowedAllowedBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseAllowedBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by license
C4 The project is abandoned and someone forks it to continueAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedWith conditionsRestricted until the Change DateWith conditionsLimitations continueAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedWith conditionsWith conditionsWith conditionsAllowed
C5 You want to block only big companies or competitorsBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseWith conditionsIndirectlyAllowedThrough the Additional Use GrantWith conditionsOnly for managed servicesBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseWith conditionsWith conditionsWith conditionsBlocked by license
C6 Key code was written by an employee and the employer objectsNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressed
D · Use and compliance (6)
IDMITBSD-3Apache-2.0MPL-2.0LGPL-3.0GPL-3.0AGPL-3.0MulanPSL-2.0SSPL-1.0BSL-1.1ELv2BSD-2ISCUnlicenseZlibBoost-1.0MIT-0PostgreSQLUnicode-3.0Apache-2.0+LLVMGPL-2.0GPL-2.0+CPELGPL-2.1EPL-2.0EPL-1.0CDDL-1.0APSL-2.0Artistic-2.0Perl-5LPPL-1.3cFSL-1.1RSALv2Confluent CLUPL-1.0
D1 Someone removes copyright or attribution noticesBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseAllowedBlocked by licenseWith conditionsAllowedBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by license
D2 Someone modifies files without marking the changesAllowedAllowedBlocked by licenseAllowedBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseAllowedBlocked by licenseAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedBlocked by licenseAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedUnder reviewUnder reviewAllowed
D3 Internal modification, no distribution and no external serviceAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedWith conditionsIntranet user interaction is disputedAllowedAllowedWith conditionsDepends on the Additional Use GrantAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedWith conditionsAllowedAllowedAllowed
D4 Used for military, surveillance or other uses you object toAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedWith conditionsDepends on the Additional Use GrantAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedWith conditionsAllowedAllowedAllowed
D5 Used by a sanctioned entityNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressed
D6 Your code is used to train an AI modelNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressed

Model and data licenses

E · AI models and data (6)
IDApache-2.0MITLlamaOpenRAIL-MCC BY 4.0CC BY-NC 4.0ODC-By-1.0ODbL-1.0CC0CC BY-SA 4.0CC BY-NC-SA 4.0GFDL-1.3OFL-1.1CDLA-Permissive-1.0OGL-UK-3.0Etalab-2.0GemmaDeepSeek LicenseBLOOM RAIL 1.0Stability CommunityFLUX.1-dev NCHunyuan CommunityMistral ResearchQwen LicenseFalcon License 2.0NVIDIA Open ModelBaichuan 2ChatGLM License
E1 Weights are used for military, surveillance or disinformationAllowedAllowedBlocked by licenseAcceptable Use PolicyBlocked by licenseUse-based restrictionsAllowedWith conditionsNon-commercial onlyAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedWith conditionsAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseWith conditionsWith conditionsBlocked by licenseWith conditionsBlocked by licenseBlocked by license
E2 Distillation, or training other models on its outputsAllowedAllowedWith conditionsName must include "Llama"With conditionsDerivatives inherit restrictionsAllowedAttributionWith conditionsNon-commercial onlyWith conditionsAttributionWith conditionsAttributionAllowedWith conditionsWith conditionsWith conditionsAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedWith conditionsWith conditionsWith conditionsWith conditionsWith conditionsWith conditionsWith conditionsWith conditionsAllowedAllowedWith conditionsWith conditions
E3 A hyperscale company uses it commerciallyAllowedAllowedWith conditionsOver 700M MAU needs a separate licenseAllowedAllowedBlocked by licenseAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedBlocked by licenseAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedAllowedWith conditionsBlocked by licenseWith conditionsBlocked by licenseWith conditionsAllowedAllowedWith conditionsWith conditions
E4 Fine-tuned, renamed and released as closed weightsAllowedAllowedWith conditionsMust include the license and show "Built with Llama"With conditionsMust pass on use restrictionsAllowedAttributionWith conditionsNon-commercial onlyWith conditionsAttributionWith conditionsDerivative databases stay ODbLAllowedWith conditionsWith conditionsWith conditionsWith conditionsAllowedAllowedAllowedWith conditionsWith conditionsWith conditionsWith conditionsWith conditionsWith conditionsWith conditionsWith conditionsWith conditionsWith conditionsWith conditionsWith conditions
E5 A dataset is used commercially and redistributedAllowedAllowedNot addressedNot applicableNot addressedNot applicableAllowedAttributionBlocked by licenseWith conditionsAttributionWith conditionsDerivative databases stay ODbLAllowedWith conditionsBlocked by licenseWith conditionsWith conditionsWith conditionsAllowedAllowedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedBlocked by licenseNot addressedBlocked by licenseNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressedNot addressed
E6 You want to allow research use onlyBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseWith conditionsCan restrict to non-commercial, not to researchBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseWith conditionsBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseWith conditionsBlocked by licenseAllowedBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by licenseBlocked by license

Rows with only "—" are here on purpose. The answer depends on employment contracts (C6), export-control law (D5) or ongoing lawsuits (D6), not on the license.