The Unlicense
UnlicensePermissiveOSI-approved open-source licence
Dedicates the code to the public domain as far as the law allows.
Verify with a lawyer. This is guidance, not legal advice. Check with a lawyer before deciding.
What the licence means per use case
The verdict applies to the licence family (Permissive). An individual product can have its own terms; you get the full per-product analysis when you sign in. Confidence: high.
| Use case | Verdict | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| U1 Self-hosted, internal use, unmodified | Allowed | Free to use. Keep the licence notices. |
| U2 Self-hosted and modified | Allowed | Free to modify. Keep the licence notices. |
| U3 Novro hosts it for you (single-tenant) | Allowed | Allowed to host for customers. |
| U4 Shared multi-tenant instance | Allowed | Allowed in a shared instance. |
| U5 In your cloud, managed by Novro | Allowed | Allowed. Ship the licence notices. |
| U6 Redistribution (builds, images, appliances) | Allowed | Allowed. Include licence and NOTICE texts. |
| U7 Commercial use | Allowed | Commercial use is allowed. |
| U8 AI acceptable use (AUP, EU AI Act) | Not applicable | Not applicable to this licence type. |
Building on it: what may you do?
Short answers based on the licence, for the version in the catalog.
- B1 Change the code for internal use in your company Yes Yes. Keep the licence notices.
- B2 Build your own product or service on top and offer it to customers as SaaS Yes Yes. You don't have to share your code.
- B3 Make a closed-source derivative and sell or distribute it Yes Yes, even closed. The licence and copyright notices must ship with it.
- B4 Use the project's name and trademark No No, not without permission. The licence covers the code, not the name or logo.
This is guidance, not legal advice. Check with a lawyer before deciding.
Common pitfalls
- Public-domain dedications work differently by country (e.g. moral rights in Sweden); low risk in practice.
The licence text
Last reviewed:
Products in the catalog under Unlicense
This is guidance, not legal advice. Check with a lawyer before deciding.