Licensing Policy

This policy is approved by the Open Source Ecology (OSE) Board of Directors as of xx, xx, xxxx to apply to all OSE projects.
It may not be circumvented, eroded, or ignored.

OSE Policies
Licensing Donor Policy Document Retention Trademarks Board and staff Code of Conduct Conflicts of Interest Conflict Resolution Credit Card Usage Discrimination Gifts Purchasing and Reimbursement Whistleblowing

License and IP Policy

Whereas the mission of Open Source Ecology is to "accelerate the growth of the next economy - the Open Source Economy - one that optimizes both production and distribution while promoting environmental regeneration and social justice":

• OSE uses this Copyright and OSE License for Distributive Economics, which are together called the OSE License.

• All machine designs, research, and other content created by Open Source Ecology is required to be published under a Free Content License, or which is otherwise free as recognized by the 'Definition of Free Cultural Works' below. No core assets shall be protected by any forms of restrictions whatsoever. A Free Content License is a license which meets the terms of the Definition of Free Cultural Works specific to licenses, as can be found at http://freedomdefined.org/Definition version 1.0.
• OSE shall license all educational materials for broad and free public distribution. However, OSE may charge for anything that takes time, money, or resources to provide or takes special effort to produce on demand. The context of any free or paid decision shall be examined carefully on a case by case basis. The ground rule is that all knowhow remains open source and freely accessible. However, if that knowhow is packaged or distributed and marketed, it may be paid. For any paid product, therefore, the source shall be free. For example, we will release any software as open source. If we are paying for servers to provide various services that cost money, OSE may charge for that. The OSE wiki is the source of all OSE design and knowhow, and the wiki will always remain free.
• Proprietary platforms - OSE may use proprietary platforms for social media and marketing, but not for any core knowhow such as designs, enterprise blueprints, or other our source code. As resources allow, OSE will develop open platforms for the same, in its general framework of Distributive Economics creation. Workflows for marketing and social media, as well as other enterprise protocols - are to be documented openly to promote replication - and as soon as possible - within constraints of resources and strategic priorities - OSE will develop open source turnkey software solutions. This is within the framework of lowering the barriers to entry for enterprise and replication.
• As a general rule OSE will not monetize content or knowhow - but the physical artifacts that come from the designs: houses, tractors, building materials, energy production, etc.
• Services such as private groups, workshops, eucation programs - which require staff an infrastructure - will be paid services, and not free.
• OSE may acquire a Trademark to protect assets. Currently, Open Source Ecology has such reach that obtaining a trade mark does not make sense. As of 2026, OSE does not see the need for any trademarks.
• Brand assets are proprietary to OSE, but may be licensed to replicators, chapters and allied derivatives.
• This license shall evolve in contractual detail as OSE develops its programs.

See Also

• Copyright
• OSE License for Distributive Economics
• Open Source Hardware License
• OSE Licensing Agreement
• Why OSE Doesn't Support the Use of Creative Commons Non-Commercial Licenses
• CC BY-NC Problem
• Contributor Agreement
• One Community Contributor Agreement