Summary
PublicSchema uses a dual license. The vocabulary definitions are freely available under a Creative Commons license. The software that builds and serves the vocabulary is available under the Apache License.
In practice: you can use the vocabulary in your systems, documentation, and data exchanges without restriction, as long as you provide attribution and share derivative vocabulary work under the same terms.
Vocabulary definitions: CC BY-SA 4.0
The vocabulary definitions, including concept definitions, property
definitions, controlled value sets, and credential schemas (everything
under the schema/ directory in the
source repository),
are licensed under the
Creative Commons
Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
You are free to:
- Share: copy and redistribute the vocabulary in any medium or format, for any purpose, including commercial use.
- Adapt: remix, transform, and build upon the vocabulary for any purpose, including commercial use.
Under the following terms:
- Attribution: you must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made.
- ShareAlike: if you remix, transform, or build upon the vocabulary, you must distribute your contributions under the same license.
Using PublicSchema vocabulary terms in your data, APIs, or documentation
(e.g., referencing publicschema.org/Person or adopting our
property names) constitutes normal use and requires only attribution, not
ShareAlike. The ShareAlike clause applies when you create derivative
vocabulary works: modified or extended versions of the definitions themselves.
Code: Apache License 2.0
The software in this project, including the build pipeline, the website
source code, tests, and configuration files (everything under
build/, site/, and tests/), is
licensed under the
Apache License,
Version 2.0.
You may use, modify, and distribute the code under the terms of the Apache License. See the LICENSE file for the full text.
JSON-LD context and JSON Schemas
The generated JSON-LD context (ctx/v0.1.json) and JSON
Schema files are considered part of the vocabulary and are covered by the
CC BY-SA 4.0 license. They are machine-readable representations of the
vocabulary definitions.
Attribution
When using PublicSchema vocabulary definitions, appropriate attribution is:
Based on PublicSchema, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Questions
If you have questions about licensing or use of PublicSchema, please open an issue on GitHub.