FAQ
Whose definition of “responsible”? There’s no universal definition of responsible!
We want to provide developers, researchers, and technology providers to release their code/software but retain some leverage about how it might be used.
Why are you focusing only these four domain areas (healthcare, justice, media, surveillance)?
This is the first version of the license. It is the first step in addressing potential misuse. We aim to build different licenses in a variety of domains and we will expand scope and improve the existing licenses over time.
Why are you focusing only on AI applications?
Recent advances in machine learning and pattern recognition have led to the development of powerful methods. These end-to-end methods mean that the same algorithm trained on different data can serve a very different purpose than the developer initially intended.
Why can’t I define my own clauses?
We are looking for community involvement and contributions to the design of these licenses. However, to make them legally robust, the clauses should be carefully designed by legal experts. Please contact us at responsibleailicenses (at) gmail.com or fill up this form if you have suggestions.
Why are there four separate licenses?
Having a diffferent license for each domain provides flexibility of use, so that you can opt in to restrictions in areas where you have concerns about misuse.
How do I use these licenses?
End user licenses: For the end user licenses we recommend you include this license in addition to your existing end user license agreements if any. You can also use include the end user license even if you dont have existing end-user license agreement.
Open Source licenses: We recommend you include a reference to this license at each modular block of your source code i.e. in each file and preferably at each code function/method, class, data structure definition and especially in methods that involve any algorithmic processing. The licenses derive their enforcibility from copyright law, because of how courts have interpreted it software, having the notice at each modular block is important.
What if I want to use all of your licenses (or more than one)?
You can use our combined license or choose to include more than one of the licenses which users of your code/software should individually accept prior to use/installation/subscription.
Does this license affect any of my rights of ownership or intellectual property rights?
No, the license does not take away or reduce any rights of ownership or intellectual property from you. In contrast, it empowers you to have conditions under which you have the right to revoke usage, reproduction or distribution of your software/code based on conditions outlined in the license.
How do the source code licenses compare with existing open source licenses?
Our license is closest to the Apache 2.0 open source license but it includes specific conditions under which restrictions to the USE, REPRODUCTION, AND DISTRIBUTION of source code can apply.