Licensing
On this page
dembrane is source available under the Business Source License 1.1. You may copy, modify and redistribute the code and use it outside production. You may use it in production as long as your Total Finances do not exceed EUR 1,000,000 for the most recent 12-month period. Each version later becomes available under GPL v3.
The LICENSE file at the root of the repository is the authority. This page quotes it and is not legal advice. If your case is close to a line, read the file and take your own advice.
The terms of this licence#
| Term | What the LICENSE file says |
|---|---|
| Licensor | Dembrane B.V. |
| Licensed Work | “Dembrane ECHO”. “The Licensed Work is Copyright © 2025 Dembrane B.V.” |
| Additional Use Grant | “You may use the Licensed Work in production as long as your Total Finances do not exceed EUR 1,000,000 for the most recent 12-month period, provided that Dembrane B.V. will not be liable to you in any way, including for any damages, including general, special, incidental or consequential damages, arising out of such use.” |
| Change Date | “Three years from release date” |
| Change License | “GNU General Public License (GPL) v3” |
What the words mean#
The file defines three words. Read them before you decide which side of the line you are on.
- “Total Finances” means “the largest of your aggregate gross revenues, entire budget, and/or funding (no matter the source)”.
- “you” and “your” include “any individual or entity agreeing to these terms and any affiliates of such individual or entity”. The finances of affiliates count.
- “production” means “any use other than (i) development of (including evaluation of the Licensed Work), debugging, or testing your offerings, or (ii) making the Licensed Work available standalone in unmodified object code form”.
What you may do#
The licence grants “the right to copy, modify, create derivative works, redistribute, and make non-production use of the Licensed Work”.
Production use is allowed inside the Additional Use Grant above. If your use does not comply, the file says “you must purchase a commercial license from the Licensor, its affiliated entities, or authorized resellers, or you must refrain from using the Licensed Work”.
When a version becomes GPL v3#
The change happens “on the Change Date, or the fourth anniversary of the first publicly available distribution of a specific version of the Licensed Work under this License, whichever comes first”. From then on that version is available under GPL v3, and the rights granted under the Business Source License end.
The licence applies separately to each version, and the Change Date can differ per version.
Conditions#
- “You must conspicuously display this License on each original or modified copy of the Licensed Work.”
- A use that violates the licence “will automatically terminate your rights under this License for the current and all other versions”.
- The licence grants no right in any trademark or logo of the Licensor.
- The work is provided “AS IS”, with no warranties.
Source available, not open source#
The file says so itself: “The Business Source License … is not an Open Source license. However, the Licensed Work will eventually be made available under an Open Source License”.
Other arrangements#
For alternative licensing arrangements, the LICENSE file names [email protected].
Contributions are covered by a separate agreement. See contributing.
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