[License-review] Request for a new license review

Wed Mar 19 05:16:46 UTC 2025

Dear License review,

Below is the recommendation of the License Committee to the Board 
regarding approval of the OSC License version 1. The Board should be 
voting on the license at the next Board meeting.

Pam

Pamela S. Chestek
Board Member
Open Source Initiative

=============

License: OSC License version 1 (Exhibit A)
Submitted: December 23, 2024, 
https://lists.opensource.org/pipermail/license-review_lists.opensource.org/2024-December/005616.htmll
Decision date: due no later than the first Board meeting after February 
23, 2025 (delayed due to wait for certified translation)

License Review Committee Recommendation:

Resolved that it is the opinion of the OSI that the OSC License version 
1 be approved as an Open Source Initiative Certified license in the 
International category of licenses.

Rationale Document

Notes: The license is intended to be the same in effect as the MIT 
License but the disclaimer of warranty is more specifically written to 
comply with German law. The value of the license is that, under German 
law, an attempt to disclaim liability that cannot lawfully be disclaimed 
might create greater liability than necessary for the copyright owner. 
The licensor provided a certified English translation of the license, 
which is reproduced below.

One commenter had two comments 
<https://lists.opensource.org/pipermail/license-review_lists.opensource.org/2025-March/005728.html>, 
although not raised as objections per se. The first comment was a 
suggestion that, because English is a more universal language, a 
licensee who was providing license information should be able to provide 
the English version. The chair of the license committee disagreed with 
this suggestion 
<https://lists.opensource.org/pipermail/license-review_lists.opensource.org/2025-March/005733.html>on 
the basis that German is the controlling language and therefore is the 
version that should be provided, pointing out that the translation would 
be available on the OSI website.

The second comment was that the narrower limitation of liability (the 
reason for the license) was that it created too much risk in countries 
where liability could be disclaimed. The chair of the license committee 
opined 
<https://lists.opensource.org/pipermail/license-review_lists.opensource.org/2025-March/005733.html>that 
it made the license unappealing to both contributors and other potential 
adopters of the license, but that it did not violate the OSD. A second 
commenter agreed 
<https://lists.opensource.org/pipermail/license-review_lists.opensource.org/2025-March/005734.html>with 
this statement.

These concerns therefore were not reason enough to reject the license.

Exhibit A

Original language

Copyright (c) <Jahr> <Copyright Inhaber>

Jedem, der eine Kopie dieser Software und der zugehörigen 
Dokumentationsdateien (die „Software“) erhält, wird hiermit kostenlos 
die Erlaubnis erteilt, ohne Einschränkung die Software zu verwenden, 
einschließlich und ohne Einschränkung der Rechte zur Nutzung, zum 
Kopieren, Ändern, Zusammenführen, Veröffentlichen, Verteilen, 
Unterlizenzieren und/oder Verkaufen von Kopien der Software, und 
Personen, denen die Software zur Verfügung gestellt wird, dies unter den 
folgenden Bedingungen zu gestatten:

Der obige Urheberrechtshinweis und dieser Genehmigungshinweis müssen in 
allen Kopien oder wesentlichen Teilen der Software enthalten sein.

DIE URHEBER ODER URHEBERRECHTSINHABER HAFTEN UNBESCHRÄNKT BEI VORSATZ, 
ARGLISTIGER TÄUSCHUNG, GROBER FAHRLÄSSIGKEIT, DER VERLETZUNG VON LEIB, 
LEBEN ODER GESUNDHEIT UND SOWEIT DIE HAFTUNG GESETZLICH NICHT BESCHRÄNKT 
ODER AUSGESCHLOSSEN WERDEN KANN. BEI FAHRLÄSSIGER VERLETZUNG EINER 
PFLICHT, DEREN ERFÜLLUNG WESENTLICH FÜR DIE DURCHFÜHRUNG DES VERTRAGS 
IST (KARDINALPFLICHT), HAFTEN DIE URHEBER ODER URHEBERRECHTSINHABER DER 
HÖHE NACH BEGRENZT AUF DEN SCHADEN, DER BEI VERTRAGSSCHLUSS VORHERSEHBAR 
UND TYPISCH IST.

DARÜBER HINAUS IST EINE HAFTUNG AUSGESCHLOSSEN.

DIE VORSTEHENDE HAFTUNGSBESCHRÄNKUNG GILT AUCH FÜR DIE HAFTUNG DER 
MITARBEITER, VERTRETER UND ORGANE DER URHEBER ODER URHEBERRECHTSINHABER.

Certified translation (for review only - see OSI records for original 
copy of translation)

Copyright © <year> <Copyright holder>
Each person who receives a copy of this software and the associated 
documentation files (the “software”) is hereby granted permission, free 
of charge, to use the software without limitation, including, without 
limitation, the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, 
sublicense and/or sell copies of the software, and to allow persons to 
whom the software is provided to do the above, subject to the following 
conditions:

The copyright notice above and this notice of permission must be 
included in all copies or material parts of the software.

THE RIGHTS HOLDERS (AUTHORS AND/OR LICENSORS) SHALL BE LIABLE WITHOUT 
LIMITATION IN THE EVENT OF WILFUL INTENT, FRAUD, GROSS NEGLIGENCE, 
DAMAGE TO LIFE, LIMB OR HEALTH AND IF LIABILITY CANNOT BE LIMITED OR 
EXCLUDED BY LAW. IN CASE OF A NEGLIGENT BREACH OF AN OBLIGATION THAT IS 
MATERIAL FOR THE EXECUTION OF THIS OSC LICENSE AGREEMENT (MATERIAL 
DUTY), THE RIGHTS HOLDERS (AUTHORS AND/OR LICENSORS) SHALL BE LIABLE UP 
TO THE AMOUNT OF DAMAGE THAT IS TYPICALLY FORESEEABLE AT THE TIME THIS 
OSC LICENSE AGREEMENT IS CONCLUDED.

ANY FURTHER LIABILITY IS EXCLUDED.

THE ABOVE LIMITATION OF LIABILITY SHALL ALSO APPLY TO THE LIABILITY OF 
EMPLOYEES, REPRESENTATIVES AND GOVERNING BODIES OF THE RIGHTS HOLDERS 
(AUTHORS AND/OR LICENSORS).

On 12/11/2024 1:58 AM, Langenheim, Niccolo wrote:
>
> Dear Open Source Initiative Team,
>
> With this e-mail I am submitting a new Open Source license on behalf 
> of my client, the city of Solingen in Germany. The need for the new 
> license stems from the fact that the versatile MIT license does not 
> contain a limitation of liability that is effective under German law. 
> Even if it is predominantly assumed in the specialist literature that 
> Open Source licenses are generally subject to donation law and 
> therefore more favourable liability and warranty rights apply, it has 
> not yet been confirmed by the courts. This results in the risk that 
> courts may adopt a different legal interpretation in the event of a 
> dispute, with the result that the statutory liability limitations of 
> donation law no longer apply. However, it is particularly important 
> for public law projects of cities, municipalities, etc. to agree a 
> legally secure limitation of liability that guarantees a limitation of 
> liability regardless of the legal classification.
>
> In order to close this gap in the limitation of liability and at the 
> same time benefit from the advantages of an MIT license, we have 
> drafted the following license, which, apart from an effective 
> limitation of liability, is based on the MIT license:
>
> Copyright (c) <Jahr> <Copyright Inhaber>
>
> Jedem, der eine Kopie dieser Software und der zugehörigen 
> Dokumentationsdateien (die „Software“) erhält, wird hiermit kostenlos 
> die Erlaubnis erteilt, ohne Einschränkung mit der Software zu handeln, 
> einschließlich und ohne Einschränkung der Rechte zur Nutzung, zum 
> Kopieren, Ändern, Zusammenführen, Veröffentlichen, Verteilen, 
> Unterlizenzieren und/oder Verkaufen von Kopien der Software, und 
> Personen, denen die Software zur Verfügung gestellt wird, dies unter 
> den folgenden Bedingungen zu gestatten:
>
> Der obige Urheberrechtshinweis und dieser Genehmigungshinweis müssen 
> in allen Kopien oder wesentlichen Teilen der Software enthalten sein.
>
> DIE AUTOREN ODER URHEBERRECHTSINHABER HAFTEN UNBESCHRÄNKT BEI VORSATZ, 
> ARGLISTIGER TÄUSCHUNG, GROBER FAHRLÄSSIGKEIT, DER VERLETZUNG VON LEIB, 
> LEBEN ODER GESUNDHEIT UND SOWEIT DIE HAFTUNG GESETZLICH NICHT 
> BESCHRÄNKT ODER AUSGESCHLOSSEN WERDEN KANN. BEI FAHRLÄSSIGER 
> VERLETZUNG EINER PFLICHT, DEREN ERFÜLLUNG WESENTLICH FÜR DIE 
> DURCHFÜHRUNG DES VERTRAGS IST (KARDINALPFLICHT), HAFTEN DIE AUTOREN 
> ODER URHEBERRECHTSINHABER DER HÖHE NACH BEGRENZT AUF DEN SCHADEN, DER 
> BEI VERTRAGSSCHLUSS VORHERSEHBAR UND TYPISCH IST.
>
> DARÜBER HINAUS IST EINE HAFTUNG AUSGESCHLOSSEN.
>
> DIE VORSTEHENDE HAFTUNGSBESCHRÄNKUNG GILT AUCH FÜR DIE HAFTUNG DER 
> MITARBEITER, VERTRETER UND ORGANE DER AUTOREN ODER URHEBERRECHTSINHABER.
>
> Finally, I would like to note that the license has been legally 
> reviewed by our law firm.
>
> I will be happy to answer any further questions.
>
> Kind Regards
>
> NiccoloLangenheim
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> *Niccolo****Langenheim*
>
>
> *Luther Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH*
>
> Anna-Schneider-Steig 22 (Rheinauhafen), 50678 Köln, Germany
>
> Phone: +49 221 9937 21105
>
> Fax: +49 221 9937 110
>
> Mobile: +49 152 016 21105
>
> niccolo.langenheim at luther-lawfirm.com 
> <mailto:niccolo.langenheim at luther-lawfirm.com>
>
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>
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