software licenses are unavoidably a legal tool. the legal system, in the US and approximately everywhere else, is not a machine that leads to justice. therefore, software licenses do not lead to justice.
The Anti-Capitalist Software License
A software license towards a world beyond capitalism.
Licenses Alone Do Not Govern Behavior in Open Source
I put things here so they are on the internet
Sorting out the Ethical Licensing Mess
Software developers who give the world, for free, usage rights to the code they write often use open source licenses to make this gift legally explicit. These free usage rights (and then some) are …
Licenses in a Subscription World
Most new startups default to a subscription model for their software. Should they consider selling licenses instead?
en:license [CoopCycle]
This License grants rights to study, execute, modify and redistribute the Software or its derivatives to any Licensee, but reserve the commercial use of these rights to the only entities defined in Article 3. Any redistribution or online interaction with the Software or its derivative must be done accordingly to the License’s conditions.
Pluralistic: The (other) problem with automatic conversion of free software to proprietary software (23 Apr 2026) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow
Here's an interesting stunt: a project called Malus.sh will take your money, and in exchange, it will ingest any free/open source code you want, refactor that code using an LLM, and spit out a "clean room" version that is freed from all the obligations imposed by the original project's software license:
Some argue that dual-licensing in commercial open source indicates a lack of ability to provide superior service
This is obviously wrong. The use of dual licensing and the ability to provide superior service for open source are unrelated forms of competitive advantage, and without further circumstances, a bus…
Tailoring Legal Protection for Computer Software
Peter S. Menell, Tailoring Legal Protection for Computer Software, Stanford Law Review, Vol. 39, No. 6 (Jul., 1987), pp. 1329-1372
Unlicense Yourself: Set Your Code Free
An initiative to help software developers waive their copyright and dedicate their work to the public domain by offering a standard template and process for disclaiming copyright interest in software, both for original authorship and for contributions.
Introducing the Permissive License Stack
We believe open-source values are critical to free societies, especially in the digital age. To that end, we’ve created a new approach to licensing invoking the principles of the Default Open Pledge
