diff --git a/docs/source/license.rst b/docs/source/license.rst new file mode 100644 index 000000000..06e7cc041 --- /dev/null +++ b/docs/source/license.rst @@ -0,0 +1,124 @@ +======= +License +======= + +I've been writing spaCy for six months now, and I'm very excited to release it. +I think it's the most valuable thing I could have built. When I was in +academia, I noticed that small companies couldn't really make use of our work. +Meanwhile the tech giants have been hiring *everyone*, and putting this stuff +into production. I think spaCy can change that. + + + +------------+-----------+----------+-------------------------------------+ + | License | Price | Term | Suitable for | + +============+===========+==========+=====================================+ + | Commercial | $5,000 | Life | Production use | + +------------+-----------+----------+-------------------------------------+ + | Trial | $1 | 90 days | Evaluation, seed startup | + +------------+-----------+----------+-------------------------------------+ + | AGPLv3 | Free | Life | Research, teaching, hobbyists, FOSS | + +------------+-----------+----------+-------------------------------------+ + +To make spaCy as valuable as possible, licenses to it are for life. You get +complete transparency, certainty and control. There is much less risk this +way. And if you're ever in acquisition or IPO talks, the story is simple. + +spaCy can also be used as free open-source software, under the Aferro GPL +license. If you use it this way, you must comply with the AGPL license terms. +When you distribute your project, or offer it as a network service, you must +distribute the source-code, and grant users an AGPL license to it. + + +.. I left academia in June 2014, just when I should have been submitting my first + grant proposal. Grant writing seemed a bad business model. I wasn't sure + exactly what I would do instead, but I knew that the work I could do was + valuable, and that it would make sense for people to pay me to do it, and that + it's often easy to convince smart people of things that are true. + +.. I left because I don't like the grant system. It's not the + best way to create value, and it's not the best way to get paid. + + +Examples +-------- + +In order to clarify how spaCy's license structure might apply to you, I've +written a few examples, in the form of user-stories. + +Ashley and Casey: Seed stage start-up +##################################### + +Ashley and Casey have an idea for a start-up. To explore their idea, they want +to build a minimum viable product they can put in front of potential users and +investors. + +They have two options. + + 1. **Trial commercial license.** With a simple form, they can use spaCy for 90 + days, for a nominal fee of $1. They are free to modify spaCy, and they + will own the copyright to their modifications for the duration of the license. + After the trial period elapses, they can either pay the license fee, stop + using spaCy, release their project under the AGPL. + + 2. **AGPL.** Casey and Pat can instead use spaCy under the AGPL license. + However, they must then release any code that statically or dynamically + links to spaCy under the AGPL as well (e.g. if they import the module, or + import a module that imports it, etc). They also cannot use spaCy as + a network resource, by running it as a service --- this is the + loophole that the "A" part of the AGPL is designed to close. + +Ashley and Casey find the AGPL license unattractive for commercial use. +They decide to take up the trial commercial license. +However, over the next 90 days, Ashley has to move house twice, and Casey gets +sick. By the time the trial expires, they still don't have a demo they can show +investors. They send an email explaining the situation, and a 90 day extension +to their trial license is granted. + +By the time the extension period has elapsed, spaCy has helped them secure +funding, and they even have a little revenue. They are glad to pay the $5,000 +commercial license fee. + +spaCy is now permanently licensed for the product Ashley and Casey are +developing. They own the copyright to any modifications they make to spaCy, +but not to the original spaCy code. + +No additional fees will be due when they hire new developers, run spaCy on +additional internal servers, etc. If their company is acquired, the license will +be transferred to the company acquiring them. However, to use spaCy in another +product, they will have to buy a second license. + + +Alex and Sasha: University Academics +#################################### + +Alex and Sasha are post-doctoral researchers working for a university. Part of +their funding comes from a grant from Google, but Google will not own any part +of the work that they produce. Their mission is just to write papers. + +Alex and Sasha find spaCy convenient, so they use it in their system under the +AGPL. This means that their system must also be released under the AGPL, but they're +cool with that --- they were going to release their code anyway, as it's the only +way to ensure their experiments are properly repeatable. + +Alex and Sasha find and fix a few bugs in spaCy. They must release these +modifications, and they ask that they be accepted into the main spaCy repo. +In order to do this, they must sign a contributor agreement, ceding their +copyright. When commercial licenses to spaCy are sold, Alex and Sasha will +not be able to claim any royalties from their contributions. + +Later, Alex and Sasha implement new features into spaCy, for another paper. The +code was quite rushed, and they don't want to take the time to put together a +proper pull request. They must release their modifications under the AGPL, but +they are not obliged to contribute it to the spaCy repository, or concede their +copyright. + + +Phuong and Jessie: Open Source developers +######################################### + +Phuong and Jessie use the Calibre to manage their e-book libraries. They have an +idea for a search feature, and they want to use spaCy to implement it. Calibre is +released under the GPLv3. The AGPL has additional restrictions for projects +used as a network resource, but they don't apply to this project, so Phuong and +Jessie can use spaCy to improve Calibre. They'll have to release their code, but +that was always their intention anyway.