Artisan Software Licence

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The Artisan Software Licence is an open source software licence created by Alexander Nicholi in response to a Twitter conversation started by Wolf Tivy about monastic software development. Wolf identified that a good way to enshrine this is through a new sort of software licence that ensures sharing of source code as it is, but gives the authors discretion through copyright who is allowed to distribute derivative works. In principle it is very similar to the Creative Commons Attribution–No Derivatives licence for creative and cultural works.

In 2022, the ASL was updated to version 1.1 to comply with the Open Source Definition as defined by the Open Source Initiative. It includes a clause explicitly permitting the inclusion of discrete "patch files" as the form taken by modifications to ASL-licenced source code. Plain text, rich text, Unicode and ASCII-only versions were differentiated for both versions of the ASL.

Theory

Open source has become exploited to the point that it is tantamount to corporate welfare. Major companies that dominate media attention are able to freely lift content made by hard-working programmers at no credit to them, and this has had a stratifying effect on the purpose and quality of software writ large.

A recent example of this is in the AI industry, where Microsoft had lifted an entire product from GPT Labs, as the company was in the throes of raising funding. Permissive open source licencing without copyleft or with only weak copyleft (such as that of the MPL) enables this.

Solutions

Conventionally, there are two kinds of solutions to this problem:

  • Strong copyleft
  • Strong copyright

The Artisan Software Licence attempts to break this dichotomy by introducing a new delineation of the creative domain, similarly to how the MPL introduced "files" into their licence concept to achieve a weak form of copyleft. Unlike the MPL, however, the ASL is much more viral in terms of the banal scope of creative works. The MPL's FAQ says:

Broadly speaking, the scope of the MPL, LGPL, and GPL can be summarized this way:

  • MPL: The copyleft applies to any files containing MPLed code.
  • LGPL: The copyleft applies to any library based on LGPLed code.
  • GPL: The copyleft applies to all software based on GPLed code.

In this sense, the ASL adds a fourth delineation: the copyleft applies to any modifications of ASL'd code. If you didn't modify it, you can distribute it as-is. If you did modify it, you gotta keep 'em separated.

From an institutional perspective, the MPL is trivial to defeat because project structure is very easy to manipulate to satisfy the constraints of the licence. Version 1.1 of ASL closes this technical loophole by mandating that all modifications be provided separately from the original materials in the form of "patch" files. It is careful not to specify what this means so that it is not imposing "technological restrictions" in the OSI's sense of the phrase, so it does qualify as an open source licence by their definition. For instance, it is possible to leverage Git to satisfy these requirements, but care must be taken in how this is done: while providing derivative software using a Git history as-is would violate the licence, providing the original unmodified repository coupled with a collection of Git diff patches would satisfy it.

If GPT Labs' codebase was provided under the ASL 1.1, it would not be possible for Microsoft to lift it in the way that they did. Creative assets such as demonstration videos and screenshots would also be similarly unworkable for them if they were provided under a Creative Commons Attribution–NoDerivatives class of licence. At the same time, it would still be practical for another open source project to fork their codebase by distributing and mirroring an unmodified snapshot (which is explicitly allowed by the licence) along with their new project which applies diffs to the original code as required.

Licence texts

ASL 1.1

Rich text, Unicode

Artisan Software Licence, version 1.1.

Copyright © 20XX John Doe. All rights reserved.

Redistribution and use in source and binary forms are permitted, provided that all of the following conditions are met:

  1. Derivative works of the source code cannot be distributed unless either:
    1. express written consent has been given by the copyright holder(s) to do so, or
    2. all modifications are given solely in the form of “patch” files that modify the original source code to produce the derivative work;
  2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation or other materials provided with the distribution.

THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS “AS IS” AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

Rich text, ASCII

Artisan Software Licence, version 1.1.

Copyright (C) 20XX John Doe. All rights reserved.

Redistribution and use in source and binary forms are permitted, provided that all of the following conditions are met:

  1. Derivative works of the source code cannot be distributed unless either:
    1. express written consent has been given by the copyright holder(s) to do so, or
    2. all modifications are given solely in the form of "patch" files that modify the original source code to produce the derivative work;
  2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation or other materials provided with the distribution.

THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

Plain text, Unicode

Artisan Software Licence, version 1.1.
Copyright © 20XX John Doe. All rights reserved.

Redistribution and use in source and binary forms are permitted,
provided that ALL of the following conditions are met:

 1. Derivative works of the source code cannot be distributed unless
    either:
     a. express written consent has been given by the copyright
        holder(s) to do so, OR
     b. all modifications are given solely in the form of “patch” files
        that modify the original source code to produce the derivative
        work;
 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
    documentation or other materials provided with the distribution.

THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS “AS
IS” AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED
TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A
PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT
HOLDER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL,
SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT
LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE,
DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY
THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT
(INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE
OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

Plain text, ASCII

Artisan Software Licence, version 1.1.
Copyright (C) 20XX John Doe. All rights reserved.

Redistribution and use in source and binary forms are permitted,
provided that ALL of the following conditions are met:

 1. Derivative works of the source code cannot be distributed unless
    either:
     a. express written consent has been given by the copyright
        holder(s) to do so, OR
     b. all modifications are given solely in the form of "patch" files
        that modify the original source code to produce the derivative
        work;
 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
    documentation or other materials provided with the distribution.

THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS
IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED
TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A
PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT
HOLDER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL,
SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT
LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE,
DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY
THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT
(INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE
OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

ASL 1.0

Rich text, Unicode

Copyright © 20XX John Doe. All rights reserved.

Redistribution and use in source and binary forms are permitted, provided that the following conditions are met:

  1. Redistributions of source code cannot be modified without the prior written consent of the copyright holder(s); and
  2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.

THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS “AS IS” AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

Rich text, ASCII

Copyright (C) 20XX John Doe. All rights reserved.

Redistribution and use in source and binary forms are permitted, provided that the following conditions are met:

  1. Redistributions of source code cannot be modified without the prior written consent of the copyright holder(s); and
  2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.

THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

Plain text, Unicode

Copyright © 20XX John Doe. All rights reserved.

Redistribution and use in source and binary forms are permitted,
provided that the following conditions are met:
 1. Redistributions of source code cannot be modified without the prior
    written consent of the copyright holder(s); AND
 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
    documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.

THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS “AS
IS” AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED
TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A
PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT
HOLDER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL,
SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED
TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR
PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF
LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING
NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS
SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

Plain text, ASCII

Copyright (C) 20XX John Doe. All rights reserved.

Redistribution and use in source and binary forms are permitted,
provided that the following conditions are met:
 1. Redistributions of source code cannot be modified without the prior
    written consent of the copyright holder(s); AND
 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
    documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.

THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS
IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED
TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A
PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT
HOLDER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL,
SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT
LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE,
DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY
THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT
(INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE
OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
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