[License-review] New License for Consideration - Public Benefit Zero Copyright License v. 2.0

[Wayne Thornton]

Good morning,

Attached please find the plaintext copy of the Public Benefit Zero Copyright License v. 2.0 (PBZC) for consideration as an OSI-approved license.

The PBZC complies with the OSD, including OSD 3,5,6, and 9.

Currently, only one project is actively using the PBZC, and that is the CryptoLib256 C++ library.

I am the License Steward and the submitter. My name is Wayne Thornton. My email is wmthornton-dev at outlook.com<mailto:wmthornton-dev at outlook.com>.

The submitted license is intended to be known as the Public Benefit Zero Copyright License v. 2.0 (PBZC).

The PBZC is intended to be a public domain dedication license, similar in some respects to the CC0, but going so far as to explicitly disclaim all copyright in software source code and related works. By their own explanation, the CC0 was not intended for software, although the FSF has stated it is compatible with the GPL and has added it to their approved list of licenses.

Where the PBZC stands out from the CC0 is that it defines the types of software and documentation to which it applies, and permits use of the public domain software within commercially available software so long as the commercially available software makes public the portions of source code which were used subject to the PBZC. This ensures that although software is sold under a different license, changes made by developers are available within the public domain and inure to the general public benefit. Simply put, the idea is that once public, software will always remain public no matter how morphed and changed the software becomes and to what purpose it is used.

No strict legal review was conducted pertaining to the definitions used within the license, although statements regarding the public domain dedication were taken directly from other OSI-approved licenses for form and language.
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PUBLIC BENEFIT ZERO COPYRIGHT LICENSE v. 2.0
SPDX Identifier: <TBD>

Revision Date: December 17th, 2024

Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this
license document, but changing it is expressly prohibited.

Definitions:

1) "This License" refers to version 1.0 or later of the Public Benefit
Zero Copyright License, whichever is the current release at the time of development.

2) "Copyright" means any laws intended to protect software and associated
works, such as written texts and documentation, however this definition is 
not limited to, and shall be construed to include, other related works as 
defined by local or international laws at the time of development.

3) "This Software" or "this software" refers to any ostensibly
copyrightable work to which This License has been assigned, including 
written texts and documentation, source code, computer binaries, and all 
other related materials and/or distributions.

4) "Derivative Software" or "derivative software" refers to any
ostensibly copyrightable work within which any portion was derived
from This Software or any work subject to This License.

5) "General Public Benefit" or "general public benefit" shall mean any Free
Open Source Software and/or Commercial Open Source Software, including operating 
systems and applications software from which the general public, developers, governments, 
individuals and any other such groups can gain use, knowledge, experience or any other 
benefit from, the definition of which is at their sole discretion.

6) "Public Domain" or "public domain" shall mean This Software or
Derivative Software is entirely free from ownership such as copyright, trademark, 
or patent.

7) "Free Open Source Software" shall mean This Software or Derivative
Software that licensed to be free to use, modify, and distribute.

8) "Commercial Open Source Software" shall mean This Software or Derivative
Software which is designed to interact with closed, proprietary software in such a way 
that not all code is publicly available. Software released under this definition may be sold 
as part of a larger commercial product, however a public repository must be maintained which 
includes This Software or Derivative Software, in addition to dedicated documentation regarding 
all API endpoints and system calls such that a Third-Party developer can understand what This Software 
or Derivative Software is doing when interacting with proprietary source code, binaries, libraries 
and APIs. Additionally, This Software or Derivative Software must be made free to use, modify or
distribute in derivative works by Third-Party developers.

This is free and unencumbered software released into the public domain,
and intended to be kept in the public domain in perpetuity.

Anyone is free to copy, modify, publish, use, compile, sell, or
distribute this software, either in source code form or as a compiled
binary, for any purpose, commercial or non-commercial, and by any
means provided:

1) This Software or Derivative Software is intended to inure to the
   General Public Benefit, and

2) They do not assign additional licensing or attribution
   requirements to This Software or Derivative Software, and

3) This Software or Derivative Software remains subject to this
   revision of the Public Benefit Zero Copyright License or its'
   superseding revision, whichever is most recent at the time of
   development, and

4) This Software or Derivative Software is publicly released as Free
   Open Source Software and/or as Commercial Open Source Software, as
   appropriate, and

5) A copy of This License is included with all distributions of This
   Software or Derivative Software.

In jurisdictions that recognize copyright laws, the author or authors
of this software dedicate any and all copyright interest in This
Software to the public domain subject to the provisions above.
We make this dedication for the benefit of the public at large and to 
the detriment of our heirs and successors. We intend this dedication to
be an overt act of relinquishment in perpetuity of all present and future
rights to this software under copyright law.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND,
EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF
MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT.
IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR
OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE,
ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR
OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.

For more information, please refer to <https://github.com/wmthornton-dev/PBZC.git>