[License-review] [3rd Resubmission] ModelGo Zero License (MG0-2.0) AND ModelGo Attribution License (MG-BY-2.0)
Moming Duan
duanmoming at gmail.com
Tue Dec 9 02:57:02 UTC 2025
Dear OSI License Review Community,
As suggested, I am starting this new thread to submit the updated MG0-2.0 and MG-BY-2.0 licenses that address the comments from the second resubmission. The major modification is the exclusion of models created through distillation from the definition of Derivative Materials, along with two improvements suggested by McCoy. I have also provided word-diff comparisons with the previous versions. Please feel free to share any comments.
Word-diff:
MG0: https://www.diffchecker.com/f8OumPRF/
MG-BY: https://www.diffchecker.com/jVBWA9WF/

Best,
Moming
> —————— License Introduction (MG0-2.0)
>
> License Name: ModelGo Zero License
> Version: 2.0
> Short Identifier: MG0-2.0
> Copyleft: No
> Legacy or New: New License
> Drafted By Lawyer: Yes, Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP
> Approved or Used by Projects: No
>
> License URL: https://ids.nus.edu.sg/modelgo-mg0.html
> Introduction and Video: https://www.modelgo.li/
>
> Overview:
>
> ModelGo Zero License Version 2.0 (MG0-2.0) is a new license designed for publishing models (typically neural networks like Llama2, DeepSeek). It is one of the variants in the ModelGo License family. MG0-2.0 is the most permissive license in the ModelGo family.
>
> Complies with OSD:
>
> OSD 3 Derived Works — MG0-2.0 Clause 2.1 (a) grants copyright and patent rights to create derivatives.
> OSD 5 and OSD 6 — No discrimination clause is included in MG0-2.0.
> OSD 9 License Must Not Restrict Other Software — No such restriction is included in MG0-2.0.
>
> The Gap to Fill:
> Model sharing is very common on the web, with over 1.4 million models currently listed on Hugging Face (https://huggingface.co/models). However, most of these models are not properly licensed. When publishing their models, developers typically choose from three main options (as seen in the model license tags on the Hugging Face website):
>
> OSS licenses, e.g., Apache-2.0, MIT
> Open responsible AI licenses (OpenRAILs), e.g., CreativeML-OpenRAIL-M, OpenRAIL++
> Proprietary Licenses, e.g., Llama2, Llama3
>
> However, not all licenses are well-suited for model publishing.
>
> Why not use OSS licenses?
> Traditional OSS licenses lack clear definitions regarding machine learning concepts, such as Models, Output, and Derivatives created through knowledge transfer. This ambiguity can result in certain ML activities (e.g., Distillation, Mix-of-Expert) being beyond the control of the model owner.
>
> Why not use OpenRAILs?
> Recently, Responsible AI Licenses (https://www.licenses.ai/) have been widely advocated to govern AI technologies, aiming to restrict unlawful and unethical uses of models. While I acknowledge the growing need for such governance, these copyleft-style restrictions do not comply with the OSD and may cause incompatibility with licenses like GPL-3.0. Another concern is that these behavioral restrictions may proliferate within the AI model ecosystem, increasing the risk of license breaches.
>
> Why not use Llama2 or Llama3 Licenses?
> These licenses are proprietary licenses that are not reusable. Furthermore, they include exclusive terms such as "You will not use the Llama Materials or any output or results of the Llama Materials to improve any other large language model" and copyleft-style behavioral restrictions.
>
> In fact, the dilemma in current model publishing is the lack of a general-purpose license for model developers. Additionally, since no single license meets diverse model publishing needs, some developers resort to using CC licenses with different elements. However, CC licenses are ill-suited for this purpose as they do not grant patent rights. This motivated the drafting of ModelGo License family, which provides different licensing elements similar to CC but specifically designed for model publishing.
>
> Comparison with Existing OSI-Approved Licenses:
> Since I could not find an OSI-approved model license, I can only compare MG0-2.0 with one similar OSS license — Apache-2.0
>
> MG0-2.0 defines licensed materials and derivative works differently from Apache-2.0, tailoring them to models.
> MG0-2.0 can govern the remote access (e.g., chatbot) scenario.
> MG0-2.0 does not require retaining attribution or stating modifications when redistributing derivatives.
> —————— License Introduction (MG-BY-2.0)
>
> License Name: ModelGo Attribution License
> Version: 2.0
> Short Identifier: MG-BY-2.0
> Copyleft: No
> Legacy or New: New License
> Drafted By Lawyer: Yes, Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP
> Approved or Used by Projects: No
>
> License URL: https://ids.nus.edu.sg/modelgo-mg-by.html
> Introduction and Video: https://www.modelgo.li/
>
> Overview:
>
> ModelGo Attribution License Version 2.0 (MG-BY-2.0) is a new license designed for publishing models (typically neural networks like Llama2, DeepSeek). It is one of the variants in the ModelGo License family. MG-BY-2.0 is the a permissive license in the ModelGo family, requiring that the original license and attribution be provided when distributing the original Licensed Materials or Derivative Materials (Licensed Materials and Derivative Materials are defined in Clause 1). A statement of modification is required, if applicable.
> (Red content represents the differences from MG0-2.0 license)
>
> Complies with OSD:
>
> OSD 3 Derived Works — MG-BY-2.0 Clause 2.1 (a) grants copyright and patent rights to create derivatives.
> OSD 5 and OSD 6 — No discrimination clause is included in MG-BY-2.0.
> OSD 9 License Must Not Restrict Other Software — No such restriction is included in MG-BY-2.0.
>
> The Gap to Fill:
> Model sharing is very common on the web, with over 1.4 million models currently listed on Hugging Face (https://huggingface.co/models). However, most of these models are not properly licensed. When publishing their models, developers typically choose from three main options (as seen in the model license tags on the Hugging Face website):
>
> OSS licenses, e.g., Apache-2.0, MIT
> Open responsible AI licenses (OpenRAILs), e.g., CreativeML-OpenRAIL-M, OpenRAIL++
> Proprietary Licenses, e.g., Llama2, Llama3
>
> However, not all licenses are well-suited for model publishing.
>
> Why not use OSS licenses?
> Traditional OSS licenses lack clear definitions regarding machine learning concepts, such as Models, Output, and Derivatives created through knowledge transfer. This ambiguity can result in certain ML activities (e.g., Distillation, Mix-of-Expert) being beyond the control of the model owner.
>
> Why not use OpenRAILs?
> Recently, Responsible AI Licenses (https://www.licenses.ai/) have been widely advocated to govern AI technologies, aiming to restrict unlawful and unethical uses of models. While I acknowledge the growing need for such governance, these copyleft-style restrictions do not comply with the OSD and may cause incompatibility with licenses like GPL-3.0. Another concern is that these behavioral restrictions may proliferate within the AI model ecosystem, increasing the risk of license breaches.
>
> Why not use Llama2 or Llama3 Licenses?
> These licenses are proprietary licenses that are not reusable. Furthermore, they include exclusive terms such as "You will not use the Llama Materials or any output or results of the Llama Materials to improve any other large language model" and copyleft-style behavioral restrictions.
>
> In fact, the dilemma in current model publishing is the lack of a general-purpose license for model developers. Additionally, since no single license meets diverse model publishing needs, some developers resort to using CC licenses with different elements. However, CC licenses are ill-suited for this purpose as they do not grant patent rights. This motivated the drafting of ModelGo License family, which provides different licensing elements similar to CC but specifically designed for model publishing.
>
> Comparison with Existing OSI-Approved Licenses:
> Since I could not find an OSI-approved model license, I can only compare MG-BY-2.0 with one similar OSS license — Apache-2.0
>
> MG-BY-2.0 defines licensed materials and derivative works differently from Apache-2.0, tailoring them to models.
> MG-BY-2.0 can govern the remote access (e.g., chatbot) scenario.
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ModelGo Zero License
Version 2.0, Dec 2025
By exercising the rights granted in Section 2.1, You acknowledge that You have read and
understood this License, including the Disclaimer in Section 3.
1. DEFINITIONS
"Complementary Materials" means the source code and scripts used to define, run, load,
benchmark and/or evaluate the Model, and prepare data for the purpose of training,
pretraining, fine-tuning and/or evaluation of the Model, and any tutorials, operating
manuals, user guides and/or documentation that guide users in using, operating,
implementing and/or customising the Model.
"Derivative Materials" means all improvements, modifications or derivative works to the
Licensed Materials or any part thereof that are created or developed by You (either by
Yourself or jointly with other third parties). The Derivative Materials do not include any
model developed by transferring patterns from Output, such as through distillation methods
or synthetic data generation techniques.
"Distribution" (or "Distribute") means any transmission, publication, sharing, or other
methods of making the Licensed Materials, Derivative Materials and/or Output available to
a third party, including providing the Licensed Materials or any part thereof as a hosted
service or remotely accessible service, such as API-based access or web access.
"Licensor" means the rights owner that is granting the License.
"Licensed Materials" means the Model and Complementary Materials that are Distributed
by the Licensor under this License. The Licensed Materials do not include any datasets
used for pretraining, training, adapting, or evaluating the Model, which may or may not be
made available under a separate license.
"Model" means the machine-learning constructs and/or assemblies licensed by the
Licensor under this License, including any checkpoints, learned weights, parameters
(including optimizer states) and the model architecture.
"Output" means any information, data, and/or content, including but not limited to images,
text, text effects, audio files, and/or video files, generated through operation of the Model.
"You" (or "Your") means you, or any other person or entity you are entering into this
license on behalf of, provided you have the legal authority to bind such person or entity.
2. LICENSE RIGHTS
2.1 Grant of Rights
(a) The Licensor hereby grants to You a non-exclusive, sublicensable, irrevocable,
royalty-free, worldwide license under the relevant copyrights, patent rights, database
rights, and any other intellectual property rights to:
(i) make, have made, use, reproduce, sell, offer to sell, import, publicly display,
publicly perform, and Distribute the Licensed Materials;
(ii) use the Licensed Materials to create Derivative Materials; and
(iii) make, have made, use, reproduce, sell, offer to sell, import, publicly display,
publicly perform, and Distribute Derivative Materials.
2.2 Reservation of Rights
You shall not refer to the Licensor or use the Licensor's trademarks, trade names, and
service marks, for any publicity, advertising or marketing purposes, without the Licensor's
prior written consent.
3. DISCLAIMER
TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMISSIBLE UNDER APPLICABLE LAW, THE LICENSED MATERIALS ARE
PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS WITHOUT ANY REPRESENTATION OR
WARRANTY OF ANY KIND (WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED, STATUTORY OR OTHERWISE), INCLUDING
OF MERCHANTABILITY, SATISFACTORY QUALITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE,
ACCURACY, CORRECTNESS, ABSENCE OF ERROR, RELIABILITY, TIMELINESS, NON-INFRINGEMENT
OF OR COMPLIANCE WITH ANY LAWS, REGULATIONS AND/OR THIRD-PARTY RIGHTS, ALL OF WHICH
ARE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMED BY THE LICENSOR.
4. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMISSIBLE UNDER APPLICABLE LAW, THE LICENSOR SHALL NOT BE
LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIMS, DAMAGES, OR ANY OTHER LIABILITIES, IN ANY WAY ARISING OUT OF OR IN
CONNECTION WITH THE LICENSED MATERIALS, DERIVATIVE MATERIALS, AND/OR OUTPUT,
WHETHER ON AN ACTION OR CLAIM IN CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), BREACH OF
STATUTORY DUTY OR OTHERWISE, EVEN IF THE LICENSOR HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY
OF SUCH DAMAGES.
5. MODIFICATION OF THIS LICENSE
This License is Copyright © 2025 National University of Singapore. Permission is granted
to copy, distribute, or communicate this License without modification. Nothing in this
License permits You to modify this License as applied to the Licensed Materials. However,
You may modify the text of this License and copy, distribute or communicate Your modified
version and apply it to other original works of authorship, provided that You do not use the
name "ModelGo" for your version of the license and furnish a readable notice describing
Your modifications to this License.
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ModelGo Attribution License
Version 2.0, Dec 2025
By exercising the rights granted in Section 2.1, You acknowledge and agree that You have read,
understood, and agree to be bound by the terms and conditions of this License. If You do not
agree to any terms and/or conditions of this License, then the Licensor grants You no rights
under this License.
1. DEFINITIONS
"Complementary Materials" means the source code and scripts used to define, run, load,
benchmark and/or evaluate the Model, and prepare data for the purpose of training,
pretraining, fine-tuning and/or evaluation of the Model, and any tutorials, operating
manuals, user guides and/or documentation that guide users in using, operating,
implementing and/or customising the Model.
"Derivative Materials" means all improvements, modifications or derivative works to the
Licensed Materials or any part thereof that are created or developed by You (either by
Yourself or jointly with other third parties). The Derivative Materials do not include any
model developed by transferring patterns from Output, such as through distillation methods
or synthetic data generation techniques.
"Distribution" (or "Distribute") means any transmission, publication, sharing, or other
methods of making the Licensed Materials, Derivative Materials and/or Output available to
a third party, including providing the Licensed Materials or any part thereof as a hosted
service or remotely accessible service, such as API-based access or web access.
"Licensor" means the rights owner that is granting the License.
"Licensed Materials" means the Model and Complementary Materials that are Distributed
by the Licensor under this License. The Licensed Materials do not include any datasets
used for pretraining, training, adapting, or evaluating the Model, which may or may not be
made available under a separate license.
"Model" means the machine-learning constructs and/or assemblies licensed by the
Licensor under this License, including any checkpoints, learned weights, parameters
(including optimizer states) and the model architecture.
"Output" means any information, data, and/or content, including but not limited to images,
text, text effects, audio files, and/or video files, generated through operation of the Model.
"You" (or "Your") means you, or any other person or entity you are entering into this
license on behalf of, provided you have the legal authority to bind such person or entity.
2. LICENSE RIGHTS
2.1 Grant of Rights
(a) Subject to the conditions in Section 2.2 of this License, the Licensor hereby grants to
You a non-exclusive, sublicensable, irrevocable, royalty-free, worldwide license
under the relevant copyrights, patent rights, database rights, and any other
intellectual property rights to:
(i) make, have made, use, reproduce, sell, offer to sell, import, publicly display,
publicly perform, and Distribute the Licensed Materials;
(ii) use the Licensed Materials to create Derivative Materials; and
(iii) make, have made, use, reproduce, sell, offer to sell, import, publicly display,
publicly perform, and Distribute Derivative Materials.
2.2 Conditions
(a) If You Distribute any of the Licensed Materials or Derivative Materials, You shall:
(i) provide a copy of this License with the Licensed Materials or Derivative
Materials;
(ii) in the case of Distributing Derivative Materials, provide as part of the
Distribution, prominent notices stating that You have modified the Licensed
Materials and the relevant date of such modification;
(iii) retain as part of the Distribution any existing copyright notice, attribution notice,
and/or any notice identifying the authors of the Licensed Materials and any
Derivative Materials.
2.3 Reservation of Rights
You shall not refer to the Licensor or use the Licensor's trademarks, trade names, and
service marks, for any publicity, advertising or marketing purposes, without the Licensor's
prior written consent.
3. DISCLAIMER
TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMISSIBLE UNDER APPLICABLE LAW, THE LICENSED MATERIALS ARE
PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS WITHOUT ANY REPRESENTATION OR
WARRANTY OF ANY KIND (WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED, STATUTORY OR OTHERWISE), INCLUDING
OF MERCHANTABILITY, SATISFACTORY QUALITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE,
ACCURACY, CORRECTNESS, ABSENCE OF ERROR, RELIABILITY, TIMELINESS, NON-INFRINGEMENT
OF OR COMPLIANCE WITH ANY LAWS, REGULATIONS AND/OR THIRD-PARTY RIGHTS, ALL OF WHICH
ARE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMED BY THE LICENSOR.
4. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMISSIBLE UNDER APPLICABLE LAW, THE LICENSOR SHALL NOT BE
LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIMS, DAMAGES, OR ANY OTHER LIABILITIES, IN ANY WAY ARISING OUT OF OR IN
CONNECTION WITH THE LICENSED MATERIALS, DERIVATIVE MATERIALS, AND/OR OUTPUT,
WHETHER ON AN ACTION OR CLAIM IN CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), BREACH OF
STATUTORY DUTY OR OTHERWISE, EVEN IF THE LICENSOR HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY
OF SUCH DAMAGES.
5. TERMINATION
This License shall terminate immediately if You breach any material term and/or condition
of this License, or if You initiate any legal action against the Licensor alleging that the
Licensed Materials and/or Derivative Materials infringe any patent worldwide. Sections 3, 4
and 6 shall survive the termination of this License.
6. MODIFICATION OF THIS LICENSE
This License is Copyright © 2025 National University of Singapore. Permission is granted
to copy, distribute, or communicate this License without modification. Nothing in this
License permits You to modify this License as applied to the Licensed Materials. However,
You may modify the text of this License and copy, distribute or communicate Your modified
version and apply it to other original works of authorship, provided that You do not use the
name "ModelGo" for your version of the license and furnish a readable notice describing
Your modifications to this License.
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