The first ever open source license invented by middle schoolers.

An education-based license that isdeveloper-first

Want a license that protects your open source projects as a developer from being used in corporations, but still able to be used for research and educational purposes? Check out the TLEEM Educational License.


About the license

Why we made a license

The TLEEM Educational License is a license designed to prevent the commercial usage of software and also has a strict termination policy for users who fail to comply with the license, giving software maintainers more rights over their project.

Installation

How to use the license

To use the TLEEM Educational License, simply add the following to your project's LICENSE/LICENSE.TXT file:



                     TLEEM Educational License 1.0
                         Version 1.0, Jul 2024

                              Definitions

  "License" means this TLEEM Educational License. "Licensor" means the
individual or entity that offers the Work under the terms of this
License. "You" means an individual or entity exercising permissions
granted by this License. "Work" means the software, documentation, or
other material licensed under this License.

                            Grant of Rights

  Subject to the terms and conditions of this License, the Licensor
hereby grants You a worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive,
non-commercial, non-transferable, and revocable license to: - Use the
Work for personal, educational, or non-commercial research purposes.

                              Conditions

  Your rights to use the Work are subject to the following conditions:
a) You must not use the Work for commercial purposes. b) You must not
use the Work in any manner that suggests or implies any endorsement by
the Licensor. c) You must not sublicense, distribute, or transfer the
Work to any third party.

                              No Warranty

  THE WORK IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS
OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF
MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND
NON-INFRINGEMENT. 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 WORK OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE WORK.

                        Limitation of Liability

  IN NO EVENT SHALL THE LICENSOR BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES OF ANY KIND
ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OF THE WORK, INCLUDING
BUT NOT LIMITED TO DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY,
OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS, EVEN IF
ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

                      Trademark and Patent Rights

  This License does not grant permission to use the trade names,
trademarks, service marks, or product names of the Licensor, except as
required for describing the origin of the Work. This License does not
grant any rights in patents that may be infringed by the Work.

                              Termination

  This License and the rights granted hereunder will terminate
automatically if You fail to comply with the terms of this License.
Upon termination, You must cease all use of the Work and destroy all
copies of the Work in Your possession or control.

                                Notices

  If you distribute copies or modified versions of the Work, you must
include a copy of this License and provide attribution to the original
authors.

                  Contributor License Agreement (CLA)

                      Grant of Copyright License:

  By making a Contribution to the Work, You grant the Licensor a
perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive, no-charge, royalty-free,
irrevocable copyright license to reproduce, prepare derivative works
of, publicly display, publicly perform, sublicense, and distribute
Your Contributions and such derivative works.

                       Grant of Patent License:

  By making a Contribution to the Work, You grant the Licensor a
perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive, no-charge, royalty-free,
irrevocable (except as stated in this section) patent license to make,
have made, use, offer to sell, sell, import, and otherwise transfer
the Work, where such license applies only to those patent claims
licensable by You that are necessarily infringed by Your
Contribution(s) alone or by combination of Your Contribution(s) with
the Work to which such Contribution(s) was submitted. If any entity
institutes patent litigation against You or any other entity
(including a cross-claim or counterclaim in a lawsuit) alleging that
Your Contribution, or the Work to which You have contributed,
constitutes direct or contributory patent infringement, then any
patent licenses granted to that entity under this License for that
Contribution or Work shall terminate as of the date such litigation is
filed.

                           Representations:

  You represent that You are legally entitled to grant the above
licenses. If Your employer has rights to intellectual property that
You create that includes Your Contributions, You represent that You
have received permission to make Contributions on behalf of that
employer, or that Your employer has waived such rights for Your
Contributions to the Work.

                              Disclaimer:

  The Work and Contributions are provided "as is", without warranty of
any kind, express or implied, including but not limited to the
warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and
non-infringement. 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 Work or the use or other dealings in the Work.

                             Miscellaneous

  This License constitutes the entire agreement between the parties
with respect to the Work licensed here. It supersedes any prior
agreements, understandings, or representations with respect to the
Work. If any provision of this License is held to be unenforceable,
such provision shall be reformed only to the extent necessary to make
it enforceable.

License Benefits

Why Choose TLEEM?

    • Instead of needing to find a Contributor License Agreement (CLA) to pair a traditional license with, the TLEEM Educational License has an built-in CLA.
    • The TLEEM Educational License protects your open source projects from being used in commercial projects. The license only permits personal, educational, and non-commercial purposes.
    • Contrary to other popular licenses, the TLEEM Educational License requires all users to cease use of the project if they violate the terms of the license and destroy all the copies of your project that they have.
    • The TLEEM Educational License allows people to use your project, without infringing on your property (trademarks and patents).
    • The TLEEM Educational License does not provide any warranty or liability for the project.

License FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

    • You can use the TLEEM Educational License for personal, educational, or non-commercial research purposes. You cannot use the license for commercial purposes, or in any way that suggests or implies endorsement by the licensor. You can use the project on the conditions that you do not sublicense the project in question. Additionally, you must include a copy of the license and provide attribution to the original authors if you distribute copies or modified versions of the project. If you fail to comply with the terms of the license, you must cease all use of the project and destroy all copies of the project in your possession or control.
    • The TLEEM Educational License was made in July 2024 by two middle schoolers: Arjun Sharda, and Sulayman Baig.
    • It's very simple! Just copy the license text and place it into your `LICENSE` or `LICENSE.txt` file appropriately.
    • Yes! If your nonprofit is using a project licensed under the TLEEM Educational License for educational, research, or non-commercial purposes, you are allowed to use the project.
    • Source available licenses are similar to open source licenses -- however, per the Open Source definition, open source licenses are not able to restrict usage based on use case (e.g prevent businesses from using a license). Source available licenses are just like open source licenses, however source available licenses are allowed to place restrictions.
    • Please contact Arjun Sharda (arjun.sharda@tleem.org).