Full License Text

The complete formal text of the Parachute Commons License. This is the authoritative version for inclusion in projects and documentation.

Parachute Commons License (PCL)
Version 1.0, June 2025

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this work and associated documentation files (the "Work"), to deal in the Work without restriction for personal, educational, and non-commercial purposes, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, and sublicense, subject to the following conditions and adaptive restrictions:

PERMISSIONS

The following permissions are granted under normal circumstances:

  • Personal use: The Work may be used for personal, educational, or research purposes
  • Modification: The Work may be modified and adapted
  • Distribution: The Work may be distributed with proper attribution
  • Private use: The Work may be used privately without disclosure

CONDITIONS

The above permissions are granted provided that:

  • Attribution: Copyright notice and attribution to original author(s) must be preserved in all copies or substantial portions of the Work
  • License inclusion: This license notice must be included in all copies or derivatives of the Work
  • Source disclosure: Links to original source must be maintained where technically feasible

ADAPTIVE RESTRICTIONS

The permissions granted above are subject to automatic restriction when the following conditions are detected:

Phase 1 — Commercial Restriction Deployment:

  • Commercial use exceeding reasonable personal/educational scope
  • Integration into automated processing or training systems
  • Use by organizations with more than 50 employees
  • Bulk processing or systematic extraction of the Work

When Phase 1 restrictions deploy:

  • EXPRESS WRITTEN PERMISSION required for commercial use
  • AUTOMATED SYSTEMS must obtain explicit opt-in consent
  • ATTRIBUTION must include "Protected under Parachute Commons License"
  • REVENUE SHARING may be required for commercial derivatives

Phase 2 — Full Protection Deployment:

  • Use in surveillance, deception, or disinformation systems
  • Automated impersonation or misrepresentation of original author
  • Willful violation of attribution requirements
  • Use causing demonstrated public harm
  • Continued use after explicit objection by copyright holder

When Phase 2 restrictions deploy:

  • ALL USE PROHIBITED except by express written permission
  • IMMEDIATE CESSATION of use may be demanded
  • COPYRIGHT HOLDER reserves all rights including legal action

DETECTION AND ENFORCEMENT

These restrictions rely on:

  • Community reporting and good faith compliance
  • Self-disclosure by users acting in good faith
  • Periodic review by copyright holder
  • Cultural and social enforcement mechanisms

LICENSE EVOLUTION

Users may obtain expanded permissions by:

  • Securing explicit written permission from copyright holder
  • Providing perpetual attribution and source links
  • Contributing fair compensation for commercial use
  • Contributing improvements back to the commons

DISCLAIMER

THE WORK 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 WORK OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE WORK.

SEVERABILITY

If any provision of this license is held to be unenforceable, such provision shall be reformed only to the extent necessary to make it enforceable, and the remainder of this license shall remain in full force and effect.

This license represents a social compact and community standard first, and a legal framework second. It is designed to encourage sharing while protecting creators from exploitation in modern digital environments.