[License-review] [SUBMISSION] CompanioNation Public Licence, version 1.0 (CNPL-1.0)

[Drew McPherson]

To the license-review list,

I am submitting the CompanioNation Public Licence, version 1.0 (CNPL-1.0)
for OSI approval. I am the author and license steward.

License steward and submitter:
  Drew McPherson (DrewZero®)
  drew.mcpherson at gmail.com

The full license text is attached as plain text.

---

## 1. Unique name and identifier

CompanioNation Public Licence, version 1.0
Proposed SPDX identifier: CNPL-1.0

Note: I am aware that CPL-1.0 is already registered (IBM Common Public
License). CNPL-1.0 is intentionally distinct.

---

## 2. OSD compliance affirmations

I affirm that CNPL-1.0 complies with the Open Source Definition.
Specifically:

- OSD §3 (Derived Works): Section 2 grants unrestricted rights to prepare
and distribute derivative works. ✓
- OSD §5 (No Discrimination Against Persons or Groups): The license places
no restrictions on any person or group. ✓
- OSD §6 (No Discrimination Against Fields of Endeavor): The license
explicitly permits commercial use, SaaS deployment, and any other purpose. ✓
- OSD §9 (License Must Not Restrict Other Software): The license contains
no such restriction. ✓

Full OSD mapping:

§1 Free Redistribution — Sections 2 and 3 grant unconditional
redistribution rights with no royalty. ✓
§2 Source Code — The license imposes no source-withholding restriction. ✓
§3 Derived Works — See above. ✓
§4 Integrity of Author's Source Code — No patch-file or name-change
restriction is imposed. ✓
§5 No Discrimination — See above. ✓
§6 No Field Restriction — See above. ✓
§7 Distribution of License — Rights apply to all downstream recipients
automatically. ✓
§8 Not Specific to a Product — Section 1 defines "Software" generically; no
product dependency. ✓
§9 No Restriction on Other Software — See above. ✓
§10 Technology Neutral — No technology-specific provision exists. ✓

---

## 3. Projects using this license

CNPL-1.0 is a new license. It is currently in use by one project:

  CompanioNation™ — an open-source online dating platform
  https://github.com/CompanioNation/Core

---

## 4. Gap not filled by existing licenses

CNPL-1.0 is a simple permissive license with two features not combined in
any single currently approved license:

a) An explicit, broad patent grant (as in Apache 2.0) combined with
permissive, copyleft-free terms (as in MIT). The MIT License contains no
patent grant. Apache 2.0 contains one, but also imposes a NOTICE file
requirement and has considerably more complexity.

b) A redistribution condition requiring the complete license text (not
merely a copyright notice) to be retained. This ensures downstream
recipients always receive the full grant of rights — including the patent
licence — rather than just a copyright attribution line that may be
stripped of legal context.

The intent is a license that is as simple as MIT, but legally complete:
explicit patent grant, full-text redistribution, and no overhead.

---

## 5. Comparison to similar approved licenses

Most similar: MIT License
- Both are permissive, copyleft-free, and impose minimal conditions.
- MIT requires retention of the copyright notice and permission notice
only. CNPL-1.0 requires retention of the complete license text.
- MIT contains no patent grant. CNPL-1.0 includes an explicit patent grant
with a litigation termination clause.

Also comparable: Apache License 2.0
- Both include explicit patent grants with litigation termination.
- Apache 2.0 requires a NOTICE file, tracks modifications, and is
substantially longer. CNPL-1.0 imposes none of those requirements.
- Apache 2.0 is permissive but complex. CNPL-1.0 is intentionally minimal.

In short: CNPL-1.0 occupies the space between MIT (no patent grant,
notice-only) and Apache 2.0 (patent grant, significant overhead).

---

## 6. Legal review

The license was drafted by the submitter, who is not a lawyer. No formal
legal review has been conducted. I welcome scrutiny of the text on this
list.

---

## 7. Proposed tags

Permissive, Patent-Grant, Simple

---

The license text is attached. I have subscribed to license-review and will
be attentive and responsive to discussion.

Thank you for your consideration.

Drew McPherson
License Steward, CNPL-1.0
drew.mcpherson at gmail.com
https://github.com/CompanioNation/Core
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CompanioNation Public Licence (CNPL-1.0)

Copyright © 2026 Drew McPherson (DrewZero®)

Licensed under the CompanioNation Public Licence (CNPL-1.0).

This licence is an OSI-compatible, permissive open-source licence intended to
encourage unrestricted use, modification, redistribution, and deployment of
the Software, including commercial and hosted use.

1. Definitions

For the purposes of this Licence:

"Software" means the software distributed under this Licence,
including any modifications or derivative works.

"Contributor" means any individual or entity that submits a Contribution to
the Software.

"Contribution" means any original work of authorship, including code,
documentation, or other material, intentionally submitted for inclusion in
the Software.

"You" means any individual or entity exercising rights under this Licence.

2. Grant of Copyright Licence

Subject to the terms of this Licence, each Contributor hereby grants to You a
perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, irrevocable copyright
licence to:

- use the Software;
- reproduce the Software;
- prepare derivative works of the Software;
- distribute the Software and derivative works; and
- sublicense the foregoing rights,

in source or binary form, with or without modification, for any purpose.

3. Grant of Patent Licence

Each Contributor hereby grants to You a perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive,
royalty-free, irrevocable patent licence to make, have made, use, offer to
sell, sell, import, and otherwise transfer the Software, where such licence
applies only to those patent claims licensable by the Contributor that are
necessarily infringed by their Contribution alone or by combination of their
Contribution with the Software.

If You institute patent litigation alleging that the Software or a Contribution
constitutes patent infringement, any patent licences granted to You under this
Licence shall terminate as of the date such litigation is filed.

4. Conditions

The above licences are granted subject to the following conditions:

A. Redistributions of source code must retain the complete text of this
Licence.

B. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the complete text of this
Licence in accompanying documentation or other materials provided with
the distribution.

5. Trademarks

This Licence does not grant permission to use the CompanioNation™ name, logo,
or trademarks, except to describe the origin of the Software.

6. Disclaimer of Warranty

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 NON-INFRINGEMENT.

7. Limitation of Liability

IN NO EVENT SHALL ANY CONTRIBUTOR OR COPYRIGHT HOLDER 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.