[License-review] License Review: IDCIYMI-1.0 (I Don't Care If You Mod It)

[Pamela Chestek]

I do not think this license can be approved because of the optional 
language. Anything at all could be added here, such as "I would love for 
you to use it, but you cannot use it for profit!" The submission 
guidelines <https://opensource.org/licenses/review-process> say that a 
license cannot have ambiguous terms that have a material effect on the 
license and that every possible variation of the license must meet the 
OSD. These aren't true where there is a possibility that more terms 
could be added to the license.

Pam

Pamela S. Chestek
Chestek Legal
4641 Post St.
Unit 4316
El Dorado Hills, CA 95762
+1 919-800-8033
pamela at chesteklegal.com
www.chesteklegal.com

On 1/10/2026 5:14 AM, PTFS wrote:
> Dear OSI License Review Committee,
> I am formally submitting the "I Don't Care If You Mod It" (IDCIYMI) 
> license, version 1.0, for official approval as an Open Source license.
>
>  1. */License Text/*
>
> *========================================================*
> IDCIYMI License (I Don't Care If You Mod It)
> Copyright (c) 2026 [Name]
> Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining 
> a copy
> of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), 
> to deal
> in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the 
> rights
> to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
> copies of the Software.
> The only condition is that the above copyright notice and this permission
> notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the 
> Software.
> CREATOR NOTE:
> [Add your note here. For example: "I built this for the 
> community—please mod it
> and share what you create!"]
> 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 OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS 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.
> ==============================================
>
>  2. Rationale
>     The IDCIYMI license fills a unique social gap by standardizing a
>     "Creator Note" field within a permissive legal framework. While
>     legally similar to MIT, it provides a dedicated space for authors
>     to express their intent and encouragement for modifications
>     without introducing legally binding restrictions that would
>     violate the OSD. This fosters a culture of remixing and open
>     collaboration.
>  3. Open Source Definition (OSD) Affirmation
>     I affirmatively state that this license complies with the Open
>     Source Definition. Specifically:
>
>   * OSD 3 (Derived Works): It explicitly permits modifications and
>     sublicensing.
>   * OSD 5 & 6 (No Discrimination): The license and its "Creator Note"
>     are structured to ensure no groups or fields of endeavor are
>     restricted.
>   * OSD 9 (License Must Not Restrict Other Software): It does not
>     restrict other software distributed with it.
>
>  4. Stewardship
>     I, Bernardo Hora, am the steward of this license.
>  5. Existing Usage
>     Since I do not use GitHub, the license and the software using it
>     can be found at the following public locations:
>
> site : https://idciymi.neocities.org/ (the site is in wip)
>
> _______________________________________________
> The opinions expressed in this email are those of the sender and not necessarily those of the Open Source Initiative. Communication from the Open Source Initiative will be sent from an opensource.org email address.
>
> License-review mailing list
> License-review at lists.opensource.org
> http://lists.opensource.org/mailman/listinfo/license-review_lists.opensource.org
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.opensource.org/pipermail/license-review_lists.opensource.org/attachments/20260116/0626cc74/attachment.htm>