# Licensing

Open Brand Definition is released under two standard licences. Neither licence
text is modified. This file only says which licence applies to which material.

Copyright 2026 Kill The Dragon GmbH.

## Specification and documentation

**Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)**

Full text: [`LICENSES/CC-BY-4.0.txt`](LICENSES/CC-BY-4.0.txt)
Canonical: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Covers the prose of this project:

- the normative specification, `spec/*/OBDS-*.md`
- the architecture, changelog, migration, quickstart and test-requirement documents
- `README.md`, `GOVERNANCE.md`, `CONTRIBUTING.md`, `TRADEMARKS.md` and this file
- the notes under `proposals/`
- the content of the website at https://openbranddefinition.org

You may share and adapt this material for any purpose, including commercially,
provided you give appropriate credit, link to the licence and indicate whether
changes were made.

## Implementation layer

**Apache License 2.0**

Full text: [`LICENSES/Apache-2.0.txt`](LICENSES/Apache-2.0.txt)
Canonical: https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0

Covers everything a machine reads or runs:

- the JSON Schemas in `schemas/` and `value-schemas/`
- the release metadata: schema index, publication map, capability registry,
  package manifest, test result and final audit
- the reference implementation and the conformance suite shipped in the release
  package under `reference/`
- the machine-readable examples under `examples/`

You may use, modify, distribute and sublicense this material, including in
closed-source and commercial products, under the terms of the Apache licence.
See `NOTICE` for the attribution notice that Apache section 4(d) refers to.

## Commercial implementation

Permitted, with no separate permission and no separate agreement.

Building an OBDS implementation, shipping it in a commercial product, running it
in production, offering it as a service, or delivering OBDS work to paying
clients requires nothing from Kill The Dragon GmbH beyond compliance with the two
licences above.

There is no commercial licence to buy, no evaluation period, and no distinction
between commercial and non-commercial users.

## Trademarks

Trademark rights are not granted by either licence. CC BY 4.0 section 2(b)(2) and
Apache 2.0 section 6 both say so explicitly, and that is deliberate here.

Truthful statements about compatibility are always allowed. Use of the project
name as your own product name, use of the logo, and any future certification
claim are governed separately. See [`TRADEMARKS.md`](TRADEMARKS.md).

## Contributions

Contributions are accepted under the same licences that cover the material being
changed. See [`CONTRIBUTING.md`](CONTRIBUTING.md).

## If a file says otherwise

A licence header inside a file wins over this mapping for that file. Report any
conflict to lets@killthedragon.com so the mapping can be corrected.