Legal & ComplianceOpen Source Standard

Standard OSI-Approved MIT Software License Template

The most popular permissive open-source license. Protects author liability while permitting unrestricted commercial and personal distribution.

open-source-software-license-mit.md•39 lines•303 words
# MIT License

Copyright (c) 2026 [Full Name or Organization Name]

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
SOFTWARE.

---

### Plain-English Summary

#### ✅ What You Can Do (Permissions)
- **Commercial Use:** You may use this software in commercial products and closed-source SaaS applications.
- **Modification:** You may edit, refactor, and adapt the source code freely.
- **Distribution:** You may distribute copies or derivative versions to customers or public repositories.
- **Private Use:** You may modify and run the software privately without disclosing your changes.

#### ⚠️ What You Must Do (Conditions)
- **License & Copyright Notice:** You must retain the original copyright notice and permission text in all copies.

#### ❌ What You Cannot Do (Limitations)
- **Liability:** The original software author is not liable for damages or legal disputes arising from use.
- **Warranty:** The software is provided "AS IS" with zero performance or security warranties.
💡 Ready to customize? Copy and paste directly into your preferred text editor or IDE.Open in DocSwift Tool

How to Use & Customize This Template

1

Insert Copyright Year & Name

Replace [Full Name or Organization Name] with your legal name, company, or open-source collective.

2

Save to Repository Root

Save the text as `LICENSE` or `LICENSE.md` in the root directory of your Git repository.

3

Update package.json SPDX

Set `"license": "MIT"` in your project package.json to inform npm and automated license scanners.

Pro Formatting & Best Practice Tips

  • The MIT License is the industry favorite for npm libraries because it has zero copyleft requirements.
  • If you need explicit patent grant protections, consider the Apache 2.0 license instead.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the MIT License allow commercial companies to sell my code?

Yes! The MIT License explicitly allows commercial use and sublicensing, provided your original copyright attribution notice is retained.