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Paid Source License [ASSET NAME] Copyright (c) [YEAR] [AUTHOR] Pay to own your copy here: [PURCHASE PAGE URL] Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any individual person or entity obtaining a copy of this digital asset and associated files (the "Asset"), to borrow the Asset without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, or distribute copies of the Asset, and to permit any individual person or entity to whom the Asset is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions: Only the copyright holder may sell ownership of the Asset. Any individual person may borrow the Asset for up to ONE YEAR, and any non-individual entity may borrow the Asset for up to THIRTY DAYS, after which retention violates copyright law. The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Asset. THE ASSET 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 ASSET OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE ASSET.
Sell the right to say "I own this" and for it to be true, with proof of purchase as proof of ownership, granting ownership rights.
Give copies, sell ownership. Free the copies to turn them into leads for more sales. Then get paid when your work proves its value.
The license itself is meant to be apolitical and neutral, and is a simple revision of the MIT license, adding language surrounding borrowing and ownership, expanding Software to Asset, and including the name of the Asset with the license. The only statement the license is intended to make is that you did a little homework on licenses, and you chose the best one.
The default recommended borrowing limit is ONE YEAR for individuals and THIRTY DAYS for entities. The only external dependency is the purchase link which may expire or even be spoofed and some form of security and verification is highly recommended. For this purpose, paidsource.wiki maintains a free database of PDL authors and their assets, as well as a list of alternatives.
Income allows for work, and only work that pays can make up for work that doesn't.
Capitalism allows innovative creators to get paid for the new value they create, with consumers already lined up ready to pay. Though capitalism cannot force you to participate, why prevent others from supporting your work? At what point is that on you?
If an asset has value, it can be sold, will sell, and should be sold, so that you can produce more of it. Not only will your users agree, they will pay you.
You already know how easy and free making copies are. There is no value in a copy. But there is value in ownership. You would pay for ownership.
You also already know when you stole something, and that it's bad, especially if it's someone's work. Even those that do steal know it's bad.
The point is, the government is't what prevents us from stealing. Most of us just do not steal.
Today, and especially online, almost all transactions have no legal or government enforcement, and licenses and copyright laws really are inconsequential to average consumers. Lawyers only chase big fish, and the police don't arrest liars insisting their order was stolen. Bad actors exist, but they're a minority, and mostly chalked up as the cost of doing business, even by the banks, even by the credit card companies, and even by the government.
For most of us, we pay because we want to, and because we love ownership. We also recognize it's the right thing to do, and don't consider ourselves bad actors. We honor the transaction.
Fear also does exist. However, beyond legal ramifications (which are mostly false), there is shame. There's public humiliation and there's internal shame, along with the thrill of getting away with it if being bad.
But to steal, there must be betrayal, and to pay, there must be a transaction. Transactions happen when two parties agree on the value proposition, which ideally only happens in a win-win situation. The buyer receives goods worth more than they're paying, and the seller receives compensation greater than the cost of goods. This is capitalism working. This is capitalism at work.
The way value is proposed and delivered is your value logistics. The greatest take-away here is understanding that the innovation with selling digital copies has always been with logistics, and never with policing or the law.
CDs and DVDs rely on plastic to sell copies. The registration key system sells the keys, not the software. The subscription system sells access. And larger businesses love paying for support, training, and less liabilty, which are all upsells.
Think of Paid Source as value logistics.
With most free software and digital content, you've already given the consumer the product. The transaction already happened. There is no value proposition left. Hence, the call for donations. But you're not offeriing anything in return. That's not a value proposition. It's charity. It's not capitalism, and it's not a win-win either, if authors cannot sustain their work. Your work also becomes charity.
Paid Source is simply about getting your value logistics right, by making the value proposition transparent and timely, and by providing a convenient way to pay. Their receipt will act as proof of ownership, and grant them ownership rights. And in exchange, you get paid.
The term "Open Source" is avoided to avoid any confusion or politics. With Paid Source, the source is made available before any transactions take place. The only stipulation is that ownership of the copy is not granted until purchased. That's it.
- $x for an individual to own a copy.
- $y for a business to own a copy.
- $z for help and other services.
You're a business if it's a business expense.
Owners can do anything except misrepresent origin, identity, or authorship of their copy.
Copies may be freely redistributed, but ownership is non-transferable, and can only be sold by the author.
Ownership may come with further perks.
Referral kickbacks optional.
The buyer pays the author a one time price for ownership of a copy and proof of purchase.
The buyer will not misrepresent origin, identity, or authorship of the copy.
The buyer may distribute copies, and recipients can decide whether they purchase ownership from the author.
The author must maintain a public listing that describes the product and how to pay for the product.
Software, when packaged, has always sold like books.
No one pays for closed books and financial books don't charge based on financial gains. And when you buy a book, that physical copy is yours. You can sell it, lend it, burn it, or give it away. You can even copy it. You own the book.
What you can't do is sell copies or pretend you wrote the book or plagiarize. But for all practical intent and purposes, the copy of that book is yours.
Most books, like software, are also written by single authors, and are a labor of love.
Paid source is the equivalent of books for digital goods, including software, and digital books.