THE LIBERTY LICENSE

The Liberty License

A universal copyright license which software and other
developers may use to protect the computer programs and
other works they develop, while simultaneously giving others
the freedom to use, adapt, modify and finally distribute those
Works; thereby creating an environment of open competition
intended to encourage the creative process.

THE LIBERTY LICENSE

2010 Libertarian Center for Peace and Justice
Copying is permitted, as is distribution, as long as you do not
change any part of the publication, attempt to take credit for
its development or use it for any purpose other than for those
for which it is intended.

ISBN:

We ask that you support the Libertarian Center for Peace and
Justice by buying copies of this book direct from us. All
proceeds from the sale of the book will go to benefit
development of our free and open source program.

Introduction
BY HADRIAN ISRAL

Copyright and patent laws exist to safeguard a developers

right to be credited for what they have created. The law is
there as a safety net to protect developers rights but does not
dictate to truly creative people what they can and cannot do
with those rights.
There is a certain advantage to retaining the copyright
over works that one owns, rather than simply passing them
into the public domain. The problem with releasing something
into the public domain is that once they are combined with
original works from other developers such works may be
copyrighted,
and their use
restricted from further
development. However, if you retain the copyright to a work,
you as the owner may control how that work is licensed and
used, and prevent it from becoming the proprietary property of
any one person or company at a later date.
Some misconceptions about copyrights exist which need
to be addressed. First of all, copyrights dont hinder
development of a work. Whereas most people who own
copyrights do wish to make money from them, other people
retain the copyright over the works they create in order to
assure that others may use, develop and advance their works
for the general betterment of society by issuing them under an
open-source license.
There are many different copyright licenses out there, and
there are a few open-source licenses which do allow the
general public to take up the work of the initial copyright
owner, and improve upon it by modifying it. A few of these
open-source copyright licenses are general copyright licenses
in the sense that they can be applied to any work, regardless of
the form that work may take.
A general copyright license is a copyright license that can
be applied to all works, regardless of the form that those
works might take. Such licenses can in practice be used by the
general public to license their works without any need to hire a
lawyer to review and rewrite documents to match the particular
type of media or form of the work, whether it be a book, a
computer
program,
a
patented
machine,
or
even
semiconductor mask.
Due to their relative complexity, only very few general
open-source licenses have been written. Of those that do

exist, few are truly well written, and even fewer actually hold
up to the legal standards required if such a license is to
adequately provide the sorts of protections required.
Some licenses written to protect open-source materials
have been written with political, rather than legal ends in mind,
meaning that the politics of their framers stand in the way of
their legal judgement and against the best interests of their
consumers. For instance, those offering supposedly copy-left
protection are based on untested legal concepts, which the
courts could easily define in a way that is radically different
than the way that the license authors intended.
In 2009, the Libertarian Center for Peace and Justice made
a review of the extant open-source general copyright
licenses which are available to the public, and in doing so
identified a need for a comprehensive copyright license to
protect open-source works that not only makes sense but
will also hold together under various legal challenges.
The Liberty License is the first truly responsible
copyright license to meet the legal needs of technological
advancement in the open-source community, by giving
developers of software and other works the ability to
benefit consumers by passing along the right to develop
and improve their work as a community.
The Liberty License may be combined with other
copyright licenses, thereby allowing it to pass its
protections even onto works that have previously been
published under other less-than-adequate open-source
licenses.
In those countries that do not presently have copyright
laws of their own, the Liberty License is designed to stand
on the merits of contract, which is quite different than
some of the other open-source licenses now being offered
to the public.

The Liberty License

2010 - LIBERTY TRUST - PUBLISHED BY THE
LIBERTARIAN CENTER FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE

The LIBERTY LICENSE (hereinafter License) is a copyright

license which software and other developers, authors, and
creators may use to protect computer programs and other
works they develop (hereinafter Work or Works), while
simultaneously giving others the freedom to use, adapt,
modify and finally to distribute those selfsame Works; thereby
creating an environment of open competition intended to
encourage the creative process.
By Publishing their Work under this License, the legal
owner of a Work (hereinafter the Developer), hereby offers
any person wishing to make use of the Work and any person
who desires a license to modify and distribute the same, for
their own intents and purposes (hereinafter the Licensee), the
right to use the same in accordance with the terms hereof.
Developer understands and warrants, by their publishing
any version of the Work, that it is either (A.) their unique and
exclusive property; and / or (B.) composed of their own unique
and exclusive property in combination with work that is in the
public domain; and / or (C.) they are a co-Developer and
Licensee of the Work.
Any person who uses the Work for any purpose, is
hereinafter User (or Users), whether or not they are also a
co-Developer of the same. By their use of the Work the User,
for their part is considered to have accepted such License and
hereby agree to the terms and conditions set forth here under,
in perpetuity.
Modification of the Work without acceptance of this
License is an infringement of the lawful copyright of the same;
and any party who republishes, modifies, or propagates any
Work in any way except as expressly allowed herein, does
permanently terminates their rights under this License.
TERMS & CONDITIONS
COPYRIGHT

Nothing in this License shall abridge, bestow, grant,

bequeath or abrogate any obligation of any copyright under
applicable law.

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For the purposes of this License, Copyright shall also

include patents, masks, and any similar legal concept or
statutory provision, whereby ownership protections are
granted which are similar to those in extant copyright laws.
Anyone who modifies any Version of any Work covered by
this License, shall automatically become a co-Developer of that
Version, for the purpose(s) of ascertaining ownership thereof.
PROPAGATION

To propagate a Work is to do anything which, save for

this License, would be a contravention of the Developers
copyright of the same.
To modify a Work is to adapt or change any part of the
Work, in any way which, save for this License, would be a
contravention of the Developers lawful copyright of the same.
Developer hereby covenants that they will not bring suit
against any User of the Work, or against any Licensee, for any
reason whatsoever, except in such cases where this License
has been violated.
VERSIONS

For the purposes of this License, Version shall mean any

version of the Work which has been modified by a Licensee,
whether or not it has been published or propagated.
Licensee shall take on any and all liability for their Version
of the Work, and hold harmless and grant absolute
indemnification against all suits, actions, claims, demands,
costs or expenses of any kind, which are incurred while taking
or failing to take any action, with respect to the Work, to any
Developer whos Work they modified.
RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

By applying this Licence to their Work, Developer

understands that Licensee is free to develop the Work in any
way they see fit, and agrees to respect Licensees right to carry
on and modify the Work, without limitation or interference,
except as may be stated herein.
Developer agrees to publish and / or otherwise supply
Licensee with any and all source, code, source code, diagrams,
charts, et cetera, that pertain to the development of the work
(Sources). Specifically Developer may comply with this
provision by placing the Sources on the Internet.
By their use of the Work, Licensee accepts the License and
agrees not to modify the License in any way, and to pass on to
future Licensee(s) the same protections and liberties as they
received from Developer.
Whenever a Work is modified, the Licensee shall clearly
mark any and all new version(s) thereof as having been
modified, so that any problem which arises as a result of such

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modification will not be falsely attributed to the Developer of

any previous Version.
PUBLISHING

Every Version of the Work that is published must carry a

prominent notice stating that it is being released under this
License. Whenever a new Version of the Work is published, the
new version shall carry a prominent notice stating that it was
modified and giving the date of its modification, so that any
problems arising from such modification will not be attributed
to any Developer of any previous Version(s).
Licensee agrees to retain any and all copyright notices,
and to keep intact not only any and all reference(s) to this
License, but also any Additional Terms as defined herein
below; and any notice(s) disclaiming any warranty; such shall
be published in the same package as the Work is delivered.
PRICE

The Developer agrees that Licensee may charge any price

or no price at all, for any Version of the Work which they
publish or propagate.
TECHNICAL SUPPORT

Developer further agrees that the Licensee may also offer

technical support or warranty protection for any Version of the
Work, and may charge a fee for the same.
WIPO COPYRIGHT TREATY

No Work or aspect of a Work covered under this License

shall under any circumstances be deemed to be one of the
effective technological measures contemplated under any law
written to fulfil a Contracting Parties obligation under Article
11 of the WIPO Copyright Treaty, adopted in Geneva on
December 20, 1996, or of any similar law which might prohibit
or restrict the circumvention of such measures.
ADDITIONAL TERMS

Additional Terms (Additional Terms) are any and all

additional terms and conditions that the Developer shall cause
to be appended to this License as regards the use of a
particular Work.
Both Developer and Licensee agree that any Additional
Terms included with this License shall form a part of this
License, the same as if they were written herein, and shall
constitute a part hereof.
CONVEYANCE

Without exception, this License must be adequately and

properly conveyed by the Developer of any Version of any
Work. Developer shall place this License in the same folder or

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directory as the Work in a prominent place on any website, in

any open internet directory, FTP folder, or other place where
the Work is made available by them, and shall include a full
text copy of this License, together with any Additional Terms
being clearly identified. If the Work is transmitted on paper, or
other
media
which
does
not
support
electronic
implementation, then the Developer shall devise a mechanism
whereby this License shall be supplied to each every User and
Licensee in print. Failure to adequately convey this License
along with any Version of any Work licensed hereby shall be a
considered a breach of this License.
TERM

The permissions granted under this License are hereby

granted for the term of the copyright in each country where
the Work is published, and shall remain irrevocable provided
that all stated conditions are met.
REVOCATION

Anyone who at any time violates the terms of this License

automatically revokes any and all rights granted to them
herein.
Developer may revoke any and all rights of a specific
Licensee, by delivering a written Notice of Termination to them
by regular post, by facsimile, or by other means as allowed
under the local law in the place where the Licensee is
domiciled. Where no such law exists then the Notice of
Termination shall be considered to have been delivered once it
is received by the Licensee at their address, when mailed by
regular post or courier. A signature receipt from a postal
authority of courier shall serve as sufficient proof to show that
the Notice of Termination has been properly delivered and
received by the Licensee.
Termination of the rights of any Licensee under this
License shall not terminate the rights of any other Licensee or
party who has received copies and / or rights therefrom.
Once a Developer has terminated the License of Licensee,
such Licensee shall not to obtain a new license covering the
same Work.
Failure of any Developer to revoke a License in accordance
with the above shall not constitute an exception or be
construed so as to be permissive of any action in violation of
this License.

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WARRANTY
BY THEIR USE OF THE WORK, USER SIGNIFIES THAT THEY
UNDERSTAND THAT THIS LICENSE NEITHER CONVEYS NOR ASSUMES THE
EXISTENCE OF ANY WARRANTY OF ANY KIND AND AGREE THAT THE
WORK IS BEING PROVIDED TO THEM AS IS. USER FURTHERMORE AGREES
THAT THE DEVELOPER CANNOT GUARANTEE THAT THE WORK HAS ANY
FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE, INCLUDING ANY STATUTORY OR OTHER
PRESUMPTION OF MERCHANTABILITY, OR THAT IT WILL MEET ANY
REQUIREMENTS, BE FREE FROM SUBSTANTIAL ERROR OR DEFECT, BE SAFE
TO USE, OR BE GOOD FOR ANY PURPOSE(S), INCLUDING BUT IN NO WAY
LIMITED TO THE PURPOSE(S) FOR WHICH IT WAS OSTENSIBLY INTENDED,
AND AGREES TO TAKE UPON THEMSELVES ANY AND ALL RISK AS TO THE
PERFORMANCE AND QUALITY OF THE WORK. AS SUCH IT IS THE
RESPONSIBILITY OF THE USER AND NOT THE DEVELOPER OR ANY
LICENSEE, TO ASSUME ANY AND ALL COSTS OR LIABILITY ASSOCIATED
WITH THE SERVICING, REPAIR, CORRECTION OR USE OF THE WORK,
WITHOUT LIMITATION.

LIABILITY
EXCEPT WHERE REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE LAW OR OTHERWISE
AGREED TO IN WRITING, THE DEVELOPER OF ANY VERSION OF THE WORK,
SHALL NOT BE LIABLE TO THE USER, OR TO ANY OTHER PARTY FOR
DAMAGES, INCLUDING BUT IN NO WAY LIMITED TO ANY GENERAL,
SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF
THE USE, AND / OR THE INABILITY TO USE THE THE WORK FOR ANY
PURPOSE WHATSOEVER, INCLUDING THE PURPOSE(S) FOR WHICH IT WAS
INTENDED (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO LOSS OF DATA OR DATA
BEING RENDERED INACCURATE OR LOSSES SUSTAINED BY USER. THE SAME
SHALL APPLY EVEN UNDER SUCH CIRCUMSTANCES WHERE THE DEVELOPER
HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OR EVEN PROBABILITY OF SUCH
DAMAGE OCCURRING.

Wherever the Warranty and Liability sections of this

License cannot be given local legal effect according to their
term, the parties hereunto hereby ask the court to apply such
local law as most closely resembles an absolute wavier of any
and all civil liabilities in connection with the Work, except in
such cases where the the Developer has provided the same in
exchange for a fee.

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COMBINING

Notwithstanding any other provision of this License, the

Developer may combine or link the Work with any work which
is licensed under any other license, providing that where any
conflict may exist between this License and the other license,
that the permissive provisions of this License shall take
precedence.
Unless otherwise stated in Additional Terms published
together with this License, the Developer hereby extends to
Licensee any and all rights granted to them under any previous
license of the Work.
PROHIBITED ACTS

For the purposes of this License, Prohibited Act shall

mean any act of publishing a Work under this License where
the Developer is not the sole owner or developer of the Work,
and / or where Developer does not own the copyright, patent,
or mark for the Work, and / or where the Work is covered by a
previous license which limits its publication, distribution or
modification.
Developer hereby covenants and agrees to indemnify
Licensee against the full cost of any and all suits, actions, or
torts which arise as the result of any Prohibited Act.
SEVERABILITY

If any part of this License is or becomes illegal and / or

unenforceable under applicable law in any jurisdiction, then it
is the stated intention of both the Developer and the Licensee,
that this License shall not be cancelled, whether in whole or in
part, but instead shall be considered modified in said
jurisdiction, in whatever form is necessary to preserve and
effect the intent hereof.
HERE END THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS

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ADDITIONAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Any Additional Terms should be published below:
(*It is highly advisable that you seek the assistance of legal counsel in
writing Additional Terms for this License.)

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