title: License Update – Now CC0 1.0 OR Apache 2.0 description: Explanation of the dual-license change for AgDR v0.2 and why it was made. date: 2026-03-10

License Update – March 2026

AgDR v0.2 is now dual-licensed under CC0 1.0 Universal OR Apache License 2.0, at your choice.

Why the Change?

We originally chose CC0 to dedicate the work fully to the public domain — maximum freedom, no restrictions, no strings attached. This remains fully available and unchanged.

However, feedback from potential enterprise users, regulated industries (finance, healthcare, government), compliance teams, and contributors highlighted practical friction points with pure CC0 for software:

• No explicit patent license grant (CC0 explicitly does not grant patent rights — see section 4(a)).
• No patent retaliation/termination clause (defensive protection if someone sues over patents).
• Frequent flags in automated compliance scanners (Black Duck, FOSSA, etc.) and corporate policies that block or require manual review of pure CC0 projects.
• Slightly weaker, more general warranty/liability disclaimers compared to modern software licenses.

Apache License 2.0 addresses all of these: - Explicit, broad patent grant from contributors. - Patent retaliation clause (license terminates if you sue over patents). - Universal acceptance in enterprise environments and green across all major compliance tools. - Strong, software-specific “AS IS” disclaimers that legal departments prefer.

What This Means for You

• You can still use AgDR under CC0 if you want the purest public-domain dedication (no obligations, no attribution required).
• You can choose Apache 2.0 if you need patent protection, enterprise compliance, or contributor safety.
• The project remains maximally open — we are not adding restrictions, only offering a well-tested alternative that removes adoption barriers.
• Existing users, forks, and derivatives are unaffected — you may continue under whichever license you were already using.

How It Works

This project is licensed under either of the following licenses, at your choice:

• CC0 1.0 Universal (Public Domain Dedication)
  Full text: LICENSE-CC0.txt or https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/legalcode

• Apache License, Version 2.0
  Full text: LICENSE-APACHE.txt or https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0

SPDX-License-Identifier: CC0-1.0 OR Apache-2.0

We believe this dual approach keeps AgDR as open as possible while making it easier for regulated/high-stakes domains to adopt verifiable AI decision logging without legal hesitation.

Questions? Reach out via issues or @aiccountability on X.