Frequently Asked Questions

General

What is the COMMONS License?

The COMMONS License is a software license designed for stewarded digital commons. It allows individual human beings (Natural Persons) to freely use, study, modify, and share software, while requiring organizations to obtain permission from a designated Steward before ongoing use. A Steward may optionally enable a limited Evaluation in the Steward Record so organizations can try the software without prior negotiation.

Is COMMONS an open source license?

No. COMMONS is not approved by the Open Source Initiative (OSI). The OSI definition of open source requires that licenses not discriminate against persons or groups, whereas COMMONS deliberately distinguishes between Natural Persons and Organizations. COMMONS is better described as a commons license or a stewarded source license.

Who can use COMMONS-licensed software for free?

Any individual human being (Natural Person) may freely use, study, modify, and share COMMONS-licensed software, as long as they do so on their own behalf and not on behalf of any organization.

Why does COMMONS distinguish between individuals and organizations?

Organizations — including corporations, nonprofits, cooperatives, and government bodies — have structural advantages in accumulating value from software. COMMONS reserves commercial exploitation rights to the Steward to ensure that the stewardship model remains viable and that the software continues to serve its stated purposes rather than being captured by extractive capital.

For Individuals

Can I use COMMONS-licensed work for my personal projects?

Yes. Personal projects are allowed so long as you are acting as a Natural Person on your own behalf and not for an organization. You may use, study, modify, and share the work under the COMMONS License. You only need to notify the Steward if you distribute your work, and distribution is what allows your contribution to flow back into the commons. When you distribute, you must preserve the license text, copyright notices, and Steward Record.

Can I use COMMONS-licensed software at work?

If you are acting on behalf of your employer or any other organization, that activity is subject to organizational restrictions under the License. Personal use on your own devices for your own purposes is permitted. If in doubt, contact the Steward.

Can I fork and publish a modified version?

Yes. You may modify the software and distribute your modifications under the COMMONS License. When you do so, you become a contributor and must notify the Steward of the distribution and make your changes available to them.

Can I build a product or service on top of COMMONS software?

If you intend to provide a service or product to others, that activity likely constitutes Commercial Exploitation or organizational use, which requires the Steward's permission. Contact the Steward to discuss your use case.

For Organizations

My organization wants to use this software. What do we do?

First check the Steward Record (COMMONS-STEWARD.md). If Organizational Evaluation is enabled, you may evaluate under the stated Evaluation Terms without prior negotiation. A trial is not a general organizational license and does not authorize ongoing or production use beyond those terms.

For any use beyond Evaluation — or if Evaluation is not enabled — contact the Steward identified in the Steward Record. Briefly describe your intended use and context. The Steward may grant a license or exception, free of charge or on other terms, depending on the nature of your use.

Does a nonprofit or open-source organization need permission?

Yes. The License applies to all organizations, including nonprofits, cooperatives, foundations, and open-source projects. The Steward may choose to grant exceptions to certain categories of organizations.

Can we use COMMONS software internally without a license?

Any ongoing use by or on behalf of an organization — including internal tooling or development — requires the Steward's prior written permission unless an exception has been granted.

If the Steward Record expressly enables Organizational Evaluation, an Organization may evaluate the software without prior negotiation, but only within the Evaluation Terms (for example: Production Use not allowed, time-limited, and a capped number of evaluations per organization). A trial is not a general organizational license. When Evaluation ends, continued use requires Steward permission or an exception. Evaluation does not change Natural Person rights or stewardship duties.

If Organizational Evaluation is not enabled in the Steward Record, evaluation also requires prior written permission.

How does Organizational Evaluation work?

Check the Steward Record. Evaluation is off by default. When enabled, the Steward configures limits such as duration, whether Production Use is allowed, evaluations per organization, and notice requirements. License defaults (unless the Steward states otherwise) are: Production Use not allowed, one Evaluation per Organization (counting Controlled Affiliates together), ninety days, and no Commercial Exploitation, external distribution, or sublicensing during Evaluation.

How long does it take to get a license?

The Steward is obligated to not persistently or unreasonably fail to respond to bona fide inquiries. In practice, response times depend on the Steward's capacity. A clear, brief description of your intended use will help the Steward respond promptly.

Stewardship

Who is the Steward?

The current Steward is identified in the COMMONS-STEWARD.md file that accompanies the software. For this License itself, the Steward is ZinZen B.V.

Can the Steward change?

Yes. Stewardship may be transferred, but only to another eligible Steward and only for the purpose of preserving or continuing the stewardship of the software in accordance with the License's purposes. A change of Steward for extractive purposes is void under the License.

What prevents the Steward from acting badly?

The License includes enforceable stewardship obligations. Any person with a legitimate interest may seek relief from a court for material breaches of stewardship, including abandonment, failure to maintain contact, or attempting to transfer the software for speculative gain. A court may remove a Steward and appoint a successor.

What qualifies as a "Steward-Owned" organization?

A Steward-Owned organization is one whose mission takes precedence over financial returns, whose capital providers have no control rights and only a capped predetermined return, and whose control is held by mission-bound stewards under governance arrangements that cannot be altered by investors.

Contributions

If I contribute code, do I retain my copyright?

You retain copyright in your contribution, but by contributing you grant the Steward a broad irrevocable license to use, reproduce, modify, distribute, and relicense your contribution. This is necessary for the Steward to maintain and evolve the software under a single cohesive license.

Can I contribute without agreeing to these terms?

No. Intentional submission of material for inclusion constitutes a Contribution under the License. If you do not wish to contribute on these terms, do not submit the material.

Does contributing give me any governance rights?

No. Contributions do not confer ownership, stewardship, governance, or other rights in the software beyond what is expressly provided in the License.

The License Itself

Can I use the COMMONS License for my own project?

Yes. The COMMONS License text is made available for others to adopt without needing permission. When you do, you become the Steward of your project and must identify yourself in a COMMONS-STEWARD.md file. See STEWARDRECORDSPEC.md for the required format. The Steward of the COMMONS License text (currently ZinZen B.V.) requests (but does not require) a brief notification of your adoption, and you may optionally register your project as described in RATIONALE.md.

How do I notify or register a project?

A minimal notification should include your project name, a link or contact point, and the version of the COMMONS License you adopted. Registration is optional and intended to help people understand how widely the license is used.

Is there an SPDX identifier?

COMMONS is not yet listed in the SPDX License List. Until accepted, use:

SPDX-License-Identifier: LicenseRef-COMMONS-1.0

See SPDX.md for more information.

Where can I find the canonical license text?

The canonical text is published at https://zinzen.me/commons/license.html (LICENSE.md in the repository). A plain-text version is available as LICENSE.txt.