Blue Ninja Software is developing a new license to address the divide between open-source and commercial software, for companies like us and individual coders.

This license targets small software shops and freelance developers. It aims to be a pragmatic compromise between the ideals and philosophy of the Open-Source movement, and the need for many companies who purchase software development services from software shops and freelance coders to have additional rights and privileges to the code they purchased. It also attempts to balance the proprietary and sometimes confidential nature of custom software developed for clients against the reality that many parts of even specialized applications are generic and reusable.

The “short” version of this license agreement is this: The licensed software is a piece of the overall application, and is either generic and reusable in non-proprietary scenarios or implements public or otherwise open APIs or algorithms. Further, the use of this code by other parties or the public does not diminish the value of the overall application to the original purchaser. As such, while the original purchaser has full usage and distribution rights to the code, they do not (or logically/legally cannot) claim ownership or control of it.

While developed by and for Blue Ninja Software, this license may be freely used by anyone.

For full details, see the license here.