Dual License Templates

Various commercial license templates for open source projects that want to use the sustainable dual-license model.

How does the dual license model work?

With dual licensing, developers can distribute software using both an open source license and a commercial license. This allows the developer to have the advantages of both types of licenses.

The open source license allows the developer to share the source code with the community, usually for teaching purposes or to allow contributions. Typically in a dual license model, the open source license is a copyleft or "viral" license, such as the GPLv3 or Affero GPL. Licenses like these allow licensees to use the software for commercial purposes, but require that the new software and any changes to the original code are also open-sourced under the same license. The same-license requirement creates a problem for companies that need to keep the rest of their source code proprietary to maintain a competetive advantage.

This is where the commercial license comes in. Rather than only choosing a copyleft license and making your code unfit for most commercial use, you can offer to sell commercial licenses that don't have the same terms as the open source license. This allows the company that wants to use your code to develop their own software without worrying about license infringement or maintaining competetive advantage. Additionally, open source projects and ecosystems are typically difficult to sustain because of the lack of funding. The money that you gain from selling the commercial license can help fund further development of the project.

What license templates are in this repo?

There are various commercial license templates in this repo that you can use for free. These are the ones that you would sell to a company and modify to fit your specific needs. If you use one of these templates, make sure you understand all of your responsibilities in the agreement. Below are short descriptions of the license templates and what each one covers.

Click on the name of the template to see a full PDF rendering of it, or click on the "📄" icon to download the template as a .docx file.

📄 Basic-Yearly

Term: 1 Year (licensee must renew annually)

Support: No support (separate agreement)

Permissions:

modification of original source code
use as a component in a new software or service

Restrictions:

sell, license, or sublicense the original software or documentation
share modifications with others
modify in a way that competes with the original software for customers

📄 Basic-Perpetual

Term: Perpetual (license does not expire)