Plain Unlicense

Public Domain Dedication

No restrictions. No rules. Your work belongs to everyone.

The Unlicense is a public domain dedication that allows you to do whatever you want with the work without restrictions or required notices.

The short version:
  • You can do whatever you want with this work — no restrictions, no required notices.

What you can do

Keep it private

You have no obligation to publish or share your changes.

Sell it

You can sell this work or use it in a paid product.

Change it

You can change this work however you want.

Share it

You can share or give copies of this work to anyone.

Explore alternatives

Standard protections — the same across all licenses

No warranties

The work is provided as-is. The creators make no promises about whether it will work, whether it is accurate, or whether it is fit for any particular purpose.

No liability

The creators are not responsible for any damages or losses that result from using this work.

Legal interpretation

The Plain Unlicense is a plain language version of the The Unlicense (opens in new tab) . We wrote it to make the The Unlicense more accessible and understandable, without changing its legal intent.

If precise legal language matters for your situation — for example, if you're in a dispute or reviewing compliance — refer to the official The Unlicense (opens in new tab) .

If a court finds that any part of this dedication can't be enforced, the rest of the dedication's rules still apply.

Get this license

Readability

Reading level ⚠ 11.48 (High school)
Original ✗ 16.27 (Post-graduate)
4.8 grades easier to read
Legal jargon remaining 0

Measured with the Gunning Fog Index — lower scores mean easier reading.

Version History

v0.2.0

Initial release of Plain Unlicense on new Astro platform

This isn't legal advice

We are not lawyers. This is not legal advice. If you need legal advice, talk to a lawyer. You use this license at your own risk.

We are normal people who want to make licenses accessible for everyone. We hope that our plain language helps you and anyone else understand this license (including lawyers). If you see a mistake or want to suggest a change, please submit an issue on GitHub.