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Auditable · Commercial License
ACL · Version 1.0 · 2026A source-available commercial license for the AI era. Read, run, and modify the source internally. No redistribution, no hosted service. Every version becomes Apache 2.0 in four years — with the AI-training protection older commercial licenses were never built to address.
Three differences that matter What makes this license different from the ones that came before it. 01 / AUDITABLESource available by right, not by favor. Licensees may read, review, and audit the source code for security, compliance, and operational purposes — the rights enterprise buyers and regulated industries actually need, written in explicitly rather than implied. 02 / AI-PROTECTEDThe clause the others forgot. Section 2.3 prohibits use of the Licensed Work as AI training data, with a knowledge qualifier, a safe harbor for ordinary AI-tool use, and a flow-through obligation to AI vendors. The first commercially drafted clause built for the agent era. 03 / SELF-EXPIRINGApache 2.0 in four years. Automatic. Every released version automatically converts to the Apache License, Version 2.0 on the fourth anniversary of its public release. Adopters are never permanently dependent on the licensor's goodwill for any given version.
How it compares Against the licenses you would otherwise reach for. Apache 2.0 BUSL 1.1 Elastic 2.0 PolyForm ACL 1.0 Source available Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Blocks hosted-service competition No Yes Yes Partial Yes AI training protection No No No No Yes Auto-converts to OSI license N/A After 4y No No After 4y Tier structure built in No No No No Yes Enterprise IP indemnification No No No No Yes Contributor patent grant Yes Partial Partial No Yes
Generate your license Fill in five values. Download a license ready for counsel review. Identity Licensor name The individual or entity that owns and distributes the Licensed Work. Copyright year
Jurisdiction (Section 8.1) Governing law Venue (courts) City and state/country where courts have exclusive jurisdiction.
Notices (Section 8.7) — optional Contact address for legal notices (optional) Published separately on your website or README; not embedded in the license body by default.
Release metadata — for header & notice Version number First public release date Change Date is automatically set to four years after this date.
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The clause that defines it Section 2.3 — the AI training clause. Commercial source-available licenses were drafted for a world that didn't have autonomous code assistants. BUSL in 2017. Elastic 2.0 in 2021. None addresses the threat that now matters most — that the act of working with source code, using the tools developers actually use, quietly becomes an act of exfiltration into someone else's model. This license addresses it. Three layers: a knowledge-qualified prohibition, a safe harbor for ordinary AI-tool use, and a flow-through obligation that reaches the vendor relationship without requiring surveillance. The clause is not proprietary. Adopt it, adapt it, improve it. What matters is that the category has one — because every commercial license drafted in 2026 and 2027 will eventually need it, and the version that becomes standard will be the version written with the enforcement problem in mind. Read the full essay on Substack →
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