Three Phases

The PCL uses a graduated model. Permissions start broad. Restrictions deploy only when specific risk thresholds are crossed.

Phase 1 — Open Foundation

Under normal conditions, the PCL grants broad, permissive access. This is the default state.

You may

• Read, share, and discuss the work freely
• Remix, adapt, and build upon the work for personal, educational, and research use
• Distribute the work with attribution
• Use the work privately without disclosure

You must

• Credit the original creator(s) in all copies and substantial portions
• Link to the original source when technically feasible
• Preserve the license text in all copies and derivatives

Phase 1 feels like any other permissive open license. The work flows freely. The only obligations are baseline expectations of honest attribution and license preservation.

Phase 2 — Conditional Restrictions

Phase 2 restrictions deploy automatically when use of the work crosses into territory that threatens the spirit of open contribution. These are proportional responses to detected risk.

Triggers

• Commercial use exceeding reasonable personal or educational scope, without permission
• Automated ingestion at scale — integration into training systems, bulk processing, or systematic extraction
• Mass replication or concealment of authorship
• Institutional reuse without acknowledgment (organizations with more than 50 employees)
• Use in systems that obscure provenance — pipelines where source attribution is structurally erased

Effects

• Commercial reuse requires express written permission and fair compensation to original contributors
• Institutional use requires contributor acknowledgment — the organization must publicly credit the source
• Remixed works must state their relationship to the original — derivative status must be transparent
• Attribution must include the statement: "Protected under Parachute Commons License"
• Automated systems must obtain explicit opt-in consent before ingesting the work
• Revenue sharing may be required for commercial derivatives

Phase 3 — Full Protection

Phase 3 is the last resort. It deploys when the use of the work is actively harmful — destructive to the integrity of the original contribution or dangerous to the public.

Triggers

• Harmful impersonation — automated or deliberate misrepresentation of the original author
• Use that obscures or falsifies the intent of the original work
• Appropriation that violates the spirit of open contribution — taking shared work and weaponizing it
• Use in surveillance, deception, or disinformation systems
• Willful violation of attribution requirements after notice
• Continued use after explicit objection by the copyright holder
• Use causing demonstrated public harm

Effects

• All use is suspended except by express written permission from the copyright holder
• Derivative and impersonated works must be removed — immediate cessation of use may be demanded
• Legal or community-led interventions are permitted — the copyright holder reserves all rights including legal action