The License Review process – Open Source Initiative

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Learn more about OSI’s mission, history, people, and programs.
Explore the list of OSI-Approved licenses and learn more about the license review process.
Learn more about Open Source AI, how do we define it, and its benefits to society.
Advancing Open Source through policy, regulation, and standards.
Supporting research, education, and knowledge about Open Source.
Connecting the people and organizations that build and support Open Source.
Explore the latest news, blog posts, newsletters, press mentions, and events from the OSI.
All licenses must go through a public review process described below.
The OSI Board is happy to consult with entities in advance to help them navigate the process and improve their license, but formal approval requires going through the License Review Process.
Someone who wishes to have a license reviewed and approved by the OSI submits the license to the license-review mailing list. Anyone can join the license-review mailing list and participate in the license review process. There is also a license-discuss mailing list; this is for discussion of Open Source in general and we also encourage license submitters to ask for advice on the license-discuss list before formally submitting a license to license-review.
To navigate the process, the license submitter should bear in mind that license approval is a consensus process. This means that no one person, including a Board member, has the authority to approve or reject a license nor require a change, no matter how strongly they may state their position.
The person submitting the license must join the license-review mailing list. When a license is submitted for review, there are often questions for the license submitter. The license submitter should be attentive and responsive to those questions. If they are not, we will assume that they are not interested in participating in the process and the license will be at high risk of rejection.Once a license is submitted, anyone wishing to comment on it will comment on the license-review list.
There are likely to be all different kinds of comments made during the license review process. Some of the comments may impact whether the license will be approved and some may not. There might be observations not relevant to approval; praise or criticism of the writing style or policy choices in the license; ideological statements about the license or the OSI’s approval policies more generally; or an explanation why the license fails to meet the requirements for approval. Some discussions can get quite lengthy.
Board members and employees of OSI may participate in license review in their individual capacity. When participating in their individual capacity, they are expected to use a non-OSI email address.
There will often be suggestions made for changes to the license. Suggestions are only that; the license submitter should not feel obligated to change the license, although it might be wise to do so if comments are pointing out a reason why the license is unlikely to be approved. However, a license cannot be changed while it is being considered.
If the license submitter would like to change the language of the license, the current version of the license should be withdrawn from review and an updated version submitted. We recommend that, if changes are going to be made, that the license submitter wait and collect all the desired changes in a single new submission rather than withdrawing and resubmitting the same license several times.
The “Decision Date” for a license normally means (a) 60 days after a license is initially submitted to the license-review list for review, or (b) 30 days after submission of a revised version of a license that was previously submitted for review, provided that date is no earlier than 60 days after the original license was submitted. While we will try to adhere to this 60/30 day Decision Date definition, circumstances may require us to extend the Decision Date further.
The License Committee observes the ongoing discussion to determine whether it has reached a conclusion and whether there is consensus on approving or rejecting the license. If there is not yet consensus, the License Committee will ask for further discussion in an effort to reach consensus. This process may require that the Decision Day be further extended.
Upon reaching a consensus, the License Committee Chair will provide recommendations for approval or rejection to the OSI board, copying the License Review list.
The Board will then vote on whether to adopt the recommendation of the License Committee. The License Committee Chair will report the Board’s decision to the list. If a license is approved, the OSI website will be updated as appropriate.
Licenses being submitted will either be a “legacy” license or a “new” license.
A “legacy” license is one that has been in use for at least five years by more than twenty projects maintained by different unrelated entities.
A “new” license is any license that is not a legacy license.If it is a family of licenses, each license must be submitted separately.If the license is in a language other than English, the license submitter must provide a certified translation into English.
Who may submit a request: Anyone
The license submitter must:
Who may submit a request: Anyone, but the License Steward is preferred. The submitter must be a natural person, ideally on behalf of the License Steward, if the latter is an organization.
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