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).