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2026

Academic Free License 3.0

Also known as AFL.

Commercial use
allowed
Share alike
not required
Attribution
required (keep the copyright and license notices)
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Write this as a license text (needs an account) DALICC reads the model above and writes what it permits, requires and prohibits in plain English. Without an account, the Text download above writes the model out from the vocabulary.

Canonical URI https://dalicc.net/licenselibrary/AFL-3.0

Permissions

  • Change license from the text Replacing the license of the work, or of an adaptation, with another license, or changing its terms.

    Duties

    • Use a compliant license from the text The text says: "to distribute or communicate copies of the Original Work and Derivative Works to the public, under any license of your choice that does not contradict the terms and conditions ... in this Academic Free License" Choosing a replacement license that stays compliant with the terms of the original license.
  • Charge distribution fee from the text Charging a fee for the act of providing a copy of the work to someone else.
  • Charge license fee from the text Charging a fee for granting someone a license to the work.
  • Commercial use from the text Using the work to generate income, directly or indirectly, for example by selling it or by using it in advertising.
  • Derivative works from the text Distributing an adaptation of the work and making it available to the public.

    Duties

    • Attribution from the text Giving credit to the copyright holders or authors of the work, in the form the licensor asks for.
    • Modification notice from the text Marking a changed work as changed, saying how it differs from the original and keeping earlier notices of change.
    • Notice from the text Notice: keeping the license and copyright notices with every copy.
    • Source code from the text Providing access to the source code of the work with every copy distributed.
  • Derive from the text Creating a new work from the work, such as a translation, adaptation or arrangement of it or of a part of it.
  • Display from the text Showing the work to the public without making a copy the viewer keeps.
  • Distribute from the text Providing copies of the work to the public or to anyone else.

    Duties

    • Attribution from the text Giving credit to the copyright holders or authors of the work, in the form the licensor asks for.
    • Notice from the text Notice: keeping the license and copyright notices with every copy.
    • Source code from the text Providing access to the source code of the work with every copy distributed.
  • Grant use from the text Granting third parties the right to use the work.
  • Modify from the text Altering the work, for example by updating it, without creating a new work; an alteration that creates a new work is Derive.

    Duties

    • Modification notice from the text Marking a changed work as changed, saying how it differs from the original and keeping earlier notices of change.
  • Patent grant from the text Granting a license under the patent claims that a contributor holds and that the contribution necessarily infringes.
  • Present from the text Performing the work in public, including by broadcast or other communication to the public.
  • Reproduce from the text Making copies of the work in any form.

Prohibitions

  • Promote from the text Not permitted: Promote. Using the name or trademarks of the licensor or of contributors to endorse or promote a product.

License-wide duties

This license states no duties that apply to the work as a whole.

What applies by default

The statements above are the library's reading of this license: each is marked with the sentence it rests on, or as a library convention where the text is not explicit. The statements below are the ones the DALICC reasoner supplies for acts the license says nothing about, from the default rules of the dependency graph it reasons with. Each one names the legal source it rests on. None of it is in the record.

No default rule of that graph reaches this license: it speaks about every act the rules are about.

Further terms

These are the things the license says about itself beyond the acts it permits, forbids and requires: when it ends, how long there is to put a breach right, which law governs it, and so on. A term that comes from the DALICC vocabulary links to its definition.

Patent license ends if you sue
Yes. Not a ban on suing: a patent claim over the work ends the patent license, or the whole license, as the text provides.

Clauses

Warranty disclaimer

Licensor warrants that the copyright in and to the Original Work and the patent rights granted herein by Licensor are owned by the Licensor or are sublicensed to You under the terms of this License with the permission of the contributor(s) of those copyrights and patent rights. Except as expressly stated in the immediately preceding sentence, the Original Work is provided under this License on an "AS IS" BASIS and WITHOUT WARRANTY, either express or implied, including, without limitation, the warranties of non-infringement, merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE QUALITY OF THE ORIGINAL WORK IS WITH YOU. This DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY constitutes an essential part of this License. No license to the Original Work is granted by this License except under this disclaimer.

Limitation of liability

Under no circumstances and under no legal theory, whether in tort (including negligence), contract, or otherwise, shall the Licensor be liable to anyone for any indirect, special, incidental, or consequential damages of any character arising as a result of this License or the use of the Original Work including, without limitation, damages for loss of goodwill, work stoppage, computer failure or malfunction, or any and all other commercial damages or losses. This limitation of liability shall not apply to the extent applicable law prohibits such limitation.

Info

Target asset types
Creative work (i.e. text, picture, sound, movie), Dataset, Software
Region / jurisdiction
Worldwide
Validity
Perpetual
Source
http://opensource.org/licenses/AFL-3.0
Legal code
http://opensource.org/licenses/AFL-3.0
This description is published under
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
SPDX identifier
AFL-3.0 on the SPDX license list
DALICC identifier
AFL-3.0

This record is published under CC BY 4.0. Credit it as: DALICC License Library, DALICC - Verein zur Förderung der Rechtssicherheit in der Datenbewirtschaftung, https://dalicc.net, CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The license it describes belongs to its publisher.

Use this license

Everything below is generated from this record. Replace the example address with the address of your own work.

JSON sidecar 

{
  "license-uri": "https://dalicc.net/licenselibrary/AFL-3.0",
  "license-title": "Academic Free License 3.0",
  "spdx-id": "AFL-3.0",
  "attribution": "Copyright (c) [year] [copyright holder]",
  "asset": null,
  "generated-by": "DALICC"
}

RDF, Turtle 

@prefix cc: <http://creativecommons.org/ns#> .

<https://example.org/my-work>
    cc:license <https://dalicc.net/licenselibrary/AFL-3.0> .

RDF, JSON-LD 

{
  "@context": {
    "cc": "http://creativecommons.org/ns#"
  },
  "@id": "https://example.org/my-work",
  "cc:license": {
    "@id": "https://dalicc.net/licenselibrary/AFL-3.0"
  }
}

HTML attribution 

<p>This work is licensed under <a href="https://dalicc.net/licenselibrary/AFL-3.0" rel="license">Academic Free License 3.0</a>.</p>

This license asks for attribution, so the credit line is part of it.

Badge DALICC badge for Academic Free License 3.0

Markdown 

[![License: Academic Free License 3.0](https://dalicc.net/license-library/AFL-3.0/badge.svg)](https://dalicc.net/license-library/AFL-3.0)

HTML 

<a href="https://dalicc.net/license-library/AFL-3.0"><img src="https://dalicc.net/license-library/AFL-3.0/badge.svg" alt="License: Academic Free License 3.0"></a>

Review

Status
Reviewed against the license text
Last checked
2026-09-15
Reviewer
Giray Havur
Verdict
corrected during the review
Record changed since this review
yes (version 2, 2026-09-24)
Findings
7 recorded, 2 applied to the record, 1 proposed, 2 settled in a later version

The Academic Free License is the permissive twin of the Open Software License: same structure, same author, but clause 1(c) lets the licensee distribute under any license of their choice as long as it does not contradict this one. That right was not modelled and has been added. The share-alike prohibition the template contributes contradicts the same clause.

5 findings

  • major Rubric 3 odrl:permission applied

    Clause 1(c) grants the right "to distribute or communicate copies of the Original Work and Derivative Works to the public, under any license of your choice that does not contradict the terms and conditions ... in this Academic Free License". That is exactly dalicc:ChangeLicense with a dalicc:compliantLicense duty, the pattern Apache-2.0 and the Common Development and Distribution License use. Added.

  • gap Rubric 8 vocabulary none

    Clause 2 grants a patent license, clause 10 terminates the whole license on patent action, and clause 5 treats "External Deployment", that is making the work usable over a network, as a distribution. None of the three has a term. Proposed: dalicc:patentGrant, dalicc:patentRetaliationTermination, dalicc:networkUseTrigger.

  • minor Rubric 6 dalicc:WarrantyDisclaimer proposed

    The stored disclaimer is clause 8, the limitation of liability, not clause 7, the warranty of provenance and disclaimer of warranty. The record has no dalicc:LiabilityLimitation, so the two clauses are conflated.

  • info Rubric 10 family none

    AFL-3.0 and OSL-3.0 are the same document with one clause changed: 1(c) says "any license of your choice" in AFL and "shall be licensed under this Open Software License" in OSL. After the review the two records differ in exactly that place, which is the intended shape.

  • major Rubric 10 record applied

    Standard-license addition of 2026-09-15, decision 9: the record was corrected against its new siblings and versioned. The review's finding on family consistency and consolidation decision 4: the record prohibited cc:ShareAlike and dalicc:addStatement without support, permitted dalicc:noWarrantyNotice although no clause of the AFL grants such a right, kept the limitation of liability inside dalicc:WarrantyDisclaimer while section 7, the disclaimer of warranty, was absent, made no patent statement although section 2 grants one and section 10 ends it on patent litigation, and carried the placeholder '- not specified - '.

Settled in version 2 (2)

  • settled odrl:prohibition

    cc:ShareAlike is prohibited, which asserts that the licensee may not redistribute under this same license. Clause 1(c) says "any license of your choice", which includes this one. Removing it is the right answer but it belongs with the library-wide decision on the eight template records, so it is proposed rather than applied.

  • settled odrl:prohibition

    dalicc:addStatement is prohibited, which contradicts clause 1(c) as well.

Report an issue The review record as JSON The review checks the model against the license text. It is not legal advice.

History

This license model has 2 versions. Version 2 is the one served today; every earlier version keeps its own address, so a conclusion drawn from one of them can still be checked against it.

  1. Version 2 current2026-09-24 Giray Havur

    The content review of 2026-09-15 added 1 permission and recorded the review state. Later changes brought it in line with its family and its text in the verification of 2026-09-15, recorded which sentence of the text each statement rests on and named the license the record itself is published under.

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    14 changes

    • added dalicc:reviewStatus dalicc:Reviewed

      Review state Every record records how far it has come in the editorial workflow and when it was last checked against the legal text.

    • added dalicc:reviewedOn "2026-09-15"^^xsd:date

      Review state Every record records how far it has come in the editorial workflow and when it was last checked against the legal text.

    • added permission dalicc:ChangeLicense with duties [dalicc:compliantLicense]

      Review finding Clause 1(c) grants the right "to distribute or communicate copies of the Original Work and Derivative Works to the public, under any license of your choice that does not contradict the terms and conditions ... in this Academic Free License". That is exactly dalicc:ChangeLicense with a dalicc:compliantLicense duty, the pattern Apache-2.0 and the Common Development and Distribution License use. Added.

    • removed cc:attributionName "- not specified - "

      Manual edit The review's finding on family consistency and consolidation decision 4: the record prohibited cc:ShareAlike and dalicc:addStatement without support, permitted dalicc:noWarrantyNotice although no clause of the AFL grants such a right, kept the limitation of liability inside dalicc:WarrantyDisclaimer while section 7, the disclaimer of warranty, was absent, made no patent statement although section 2 grants one and section 10 ends it on patent litigation, and carried the placeholder '- not specified - '.

    • added dalicc:LiabilityLimitation "Under no circumstances and under no legal theory, whether in tort (including negligence), contract, or otherwise, shall the Licensor be liable to anyone for any indirect, special, incidental, or consequential damages of any character arising as a result of this License or the use of the Original Work including, without limitation, damages for loss of goodwill, work stoppage, computer failure or malfunction, or any and all other commercial damages or losses. This limitation of liability shall not apply to the extent applicable law prohibits such limitation."

      Manual edit The review's finding on family consistency and consolidation decision 4: the record prohibited cc:ShareAlike and dalicc:addStatement without support, permitted dalicc:noWarrantyNotice although no clause of the AFL grants such a right, kept the limitation of liability inside dalicc:WarrantyDisclaimer while section 7, the disclaimer of warranty, was absent, made no patent statement although section 2 grants one and section 10 ends it on patent litigation, and carried the placeholder '- not specified - '.

    • changed dalicc:WarrantyDisclaimer "Licensor warrants that the copyright in and to the Original Work and the patent rights granted herein by Licensor are owned by the Licensor or are sublicensed to You under the terms of this License with the permission of the contributor(s) of those copyrights and patent rights. Except as expressly stated in the immediately preceding sentence, the Original Work is provided under this License on an \"AS IS\" BASIS and WITHOUT WARRANTY, either express or implied, including, without limitation, the warranties of non-infringement, merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE QUALITY OF THE ORIGINAL WORK IS WITH YOU. This DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY constitutes an essential part of this License. No license to the Original Work is granted by this License except under this disclaimer."

      was dalicc:WarrantyDisclaimer "Under no circumstances and under no legal theory, whether in tort (including negligence), contract, or otherwise, shall the Licensor be liable to anyone for any indirect, special, incidental, or consequential damages of any character arising as a result of this License or the use of the Original Work including, without limitation, damages for loss of goodwill, work stoppage, computer failure or malfunction, or any and all other commercial damages or losses. This limitation of liability shall not apply to the extent applicable law prohibits such limitation."

      Manual edit The review's finding on family consistency and consolidation decision 4: the record prohibited cc:ShareAlike and dalicc:addStatement without support, permitted dalicc:noWarrantyNotice although no clause of the AFL grants such a right, kept the limitation of liability inside dalicc:WarrantyDisclaimer while section 7, the disclaimer of warranty, was absent, made no patent statement although section 2 grants one and section 10 ends it on patent litigation, and carried the placeholder '- not specified - '.

    • removed dct:publisher "- not specified - "

      Manual edit The review's finding on family consistency and consolidation decision 4: the record prohibited cc:ShareAlike and dalicc:addStatement without support, permitted dalicc:noWarrantyNotice although no clause of the AFL grants such a right, kept the limitation of liability inside dalicc:WarrantyDisclaimer while section 7, the disclaimer of warranty, was absent, made no patent statement although section 2 grants one and section 10 ends it on patent litigation, and carried the placeholder '- not specified - '.

    • removed permission dalicc:noWarrantyNotice

      Manual edit The review's finding on family consistency and consolidation decision 4: the record prohibited cc:ShareAlike and dalicc:addStatement without support, permitted dalicc:noWarrantyNotice although no clause of the AFL grants such a right, kept the limitation of liability inside dalicc:WarrantyDisclaimer while section 7, the disclaimer of warranty, was absent, made no patent statement although section 2 grants one and section 10 ends it on patent litigation, and carried the placeholder '- not specified - '.

    • added permission dalicc:patentGrant

      Manual edit The review's finding on family consistency and consolidation decision 4: the record prohibited cc:ShareAlike and dalicc:addStatement without support, permitted dalicc:noWarrantyNotice although no clause of the AFL grants such a right, kept the limitation of liability inside dalicc:WarrantyDisclaimer while section 7, the disclaimer of warranty, was absent, made no patent statement although section 2 grants one and section 10 ends it on patent litigation, and carried the placeholder '- not specified - '.

    • removed prohibition cc:ShareAlike

      Manual edit The review's finding on family consistency and consolidation decision 4: the record prohibited cc:ShareAlike and dalicc:addStatement without support, permitted dalicc:noWarrantyNotice although no clause of the AFL grants such a right, kept the limitation of liability inside dalicc:WarrantyDisclaimer while section 7, the disclaimer of warranty, was absent, made no patent statement although section 2 grants one and section 10 ends it on patent litigation, and carried the placeholder '- not specified - '.

    • removed prohibition dalicc:addStatement

      Manual edit The review's finding on family consistency and consolidation decision 4: the record prohibited cc:ShareAlike and dalicc:addStatement without support, permitted dalicc:noWarrantyNotice although no clause of the AFL grants such a right, kept the limitation of liability inside dalicc:WarrantyDisclaimer while section 7, the disclaimer of warranty, was absent, made no patent statement although section 2 grants one and section 10 ends it on patent litigation, and carried the placeholder '- not specified - '.

    • added prohibition dalicc:patentRetaliationTermination

      Manual edit The review's finding on family consistency and consolidation decision 4: the record prohibited cc:ShareAlike and dalicc:addStatement without support, permitted dalicc:noWarrantyNotice although no clause of the AFL grants such a right, kept the limitation of liability inside dalicc:WarrantyDisclaimer while section 7, the disclaimer of warranty, was absent, made no patent statement although section 2 grants one and section 10 ends it on patent litigation, and carried the placeholder '- not specified - '.

    • changed permission dalicc:ChangeLicense with duties [dalicc:compliantLicense]

      was permission dalicc:ChangeLicense with duties [dalicc:compliantLicense]

      Manual edit Its duty dalicc:compliantLicense quotes "to distribute or communicate copies of the Original Work and Derivative Works to the public, under any license of your choice that does not contradict the terms and conditions ... in this Academic Free License"

    • added dct:license <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/>

      Manual edit Every record is published under CC BY 4.0. cc:license names the record DALICC keeps of that licence; dct:license now names it by the address Creative Commons publishes it at, so that a consumer matching the canonical IRI finds it.

  2. Version 1

    The version this model had before the content review of 2026-09-15.

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Every change names the reason behind it: a finding of the content review, one of its library-wide decisions, the metadata that review wrote onto every record, or a hand edit. None of it is legal advice.

Nothing on this page is legal advice. What a license means is decided by its text; ask a legal advisor before you rely on it.