[License-review] For Approval: OpenMDW License Agreement, versions 1.1 (OpenMDW-1.1)

[Pamela Chestek]

On 8/14/2026 10:08 AM, Michael Dolan wrote:
> OpenMDW-1.1 places no condition on anything distributed alongside the 
> Model Materials. A licensee may ship them with proprietary code, 
> copyleft code, or anything else, and OpenMDW does not touch that 
> software. 

This is not how I understand the license. The concern is that the 
OpenMDW-1.1 terms, including the termination provision, are imposed on 
software that is not code that is original to the OpenMDW-1.1 licensor. 
Suppose the OpenMDW-1.1 licensor's product uses, and includes as part of 
the OpenMDW-1.1 Model Materials, an MIT licensed package. The definition 
of "Model Materials" is not limited to what is original to the OpenMDW 
1.1 licensor, but is a license to "the materials provided to you under 
this agreement." I read this as saying that the MIT package is also now 
subject to the OpenMDW-1.1 license (since they are compatible).

Suppose the MIT licensor is also a user of the Model Materials licensed 
under the OpenMDW 1.1 and learns that the OpenMDW-1.1 licensor is in 
breach of the MIT license. The MIT licensor would lose their license to 
the Model Materials if they filed a lawsuit against the OpenMDW 1.1 
licensor's infringement.

Pam

Pamela S. Chestek
Chestek Legal
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