# Early thoughts on "Apple sample code license"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Open Source AI\ **Created:** [April 30, 2024, 10:05am UTC](https://discuss.opensource.org/t/early-thoughts-on-apple-sample-code-license/318 "2024-04-30T10:05:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![stefano](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/user_avatar/discuss.opensource.org/stefano/32/4_2.png) [@stefano](https://discuss.opensource.org/u/stefano)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2024, 10:05am UTC](https://discuss.opensource.org/t/early-thoughts-on-apple-sample-code-license/318/1 "2024-04-30T10:05:32Z")
Apple wrote a new license to distribute its new model, OpenELM. The license looks BSD/MIT-like with the exclusion of patents. Does this look like an OSD-compliant license? > **[LICENSE · apple/OpenELM at main](https://huggingface.co/apple/OpenELM/blob/main/LICENSE)** > > We’re on a journey to advance and democratize artificial intelligence through open source and open science. > Copyright (C) 2024 Apple Inc. All Rights Reserved. > > Disclaimer: IMPORTANT: This Apple software is supplied to you by Apple > Inc. (“Apple”) in consideration of your agreement to the following > terms, and your use, installation, modification or redistribution of > this Apple software constitutes acceptance of these terms. If you do > not agree with these terms, please do not use, install, modify or > redistribute this Apple software. > > In consideration of your agreement to abide by the following terms, and > subject to these terms, Apple grants you a personal, non-exclusive > license, under Apple’s copyrights in this original Apple software (the > “Apple Software”), to use, reproduce, modify and redistribute the Apple > Software, with or without modifications, in source and/or binary forms; > provided that if you redistribute the Apple Software in its entirety and > without modifications, you must retain this notice and the following > text and disclaimers in all such redistributions of the Apple Software. > > Neither the name, trademarks, service marks or logos of Apple Inc. may > be used to endorse or promote products derived from the Apple Software > without specific prior written permission from Apple. Except as > expressly stated in this notice, no other rights or licenses, express or > implied, are granted by Apple herein, including but not limited to any > patent rights that may be infringed by your derivative works or by other > works in which the Apple Software may be incorporated. > > The Apple Software is provided by Apple on an “AS IS” basis. APPLE > MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF NON-INFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, REGARDING THE APPLE SOFTWARE OR ITS USE AND OPERATION ALONE OR IN COMBINATION WITH YOUR PRODUCTS. > > IN NO EVENT SHALL APPLE BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE, REPRODUCTION, MODIFICATION AND/OR DISTRIBUTION OF THE APPLE SOFTWARE, HOWEVER CAUSED AND WHETHER UNDER THEORY OF CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), STRICT LIABILITY OR OTHERWISE, EVEN IF APPLE HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE. > > * * * > > SOFTWARE DISTRIBUTED IN THIS REPOSITORY: > > This software includes a number of subcomponents with separate > copyright notices and license terms - please see the file ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. > > * * * ---
**Author:** ![pchestek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c37758/32.png) [@pchestek](https://discuss.opensource.org/u/pchestek)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2024, 1:41am UTC](https://discuss.opensource.org/t/early-thoughts-on-apple-sample-code-license/318/2 "2024-05-01T01:41:08Z")
It’s one of the licenses closer to open source that I’ve seen. But there are still some things about it that might interfere with the exercise of all of the rights that open source licenses ensure. It looks like Apple’s intention is to withhold a patent license, although it’s not entirely clear what’s going on with patents. The rights grant is specifically for copyright only and there is a disclaimer of any implied licenses. Where there isn’t a grant of a patent license, and there is a disclaimer of any implied licenses, you have to assume that Apple isn’t granting any patent licenses. That’s something OSI doesn’t allow in approved licenses anymore. This also shows how much more challenging it is to talk about open source for AI. The grant of only a copyright license for an AI model may not be enough to assure all the necessary freedoms. There are a lot of opinions about whether models are protected by any rights regime at all and, if they are, by which one. This is why the current draft of the AI Source Definition says, for most elements, that they must be “available under OSI-compliant license” but for the model itself it says “available under OSD-conformant terms.” This license grants rights under only one of the possibilities, copyright. So if the model is protectable by some other regime (contract, database rights, or perhaps newly created rights in models), a grant of a copyright license only isn’t going to ensure that the model is fully available as required by an open source license. ---
**Author:** ![shujisado](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/user_avatar/discuss.opensource.org/shujisado/32/230_2.png) [@shujisado](https://discuss.opensource.org/u/shujisado)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2024, 10:50am UTC](https://discuss.opensource.org/t/early-thoughts-on-apple-sample-code-license/318/3 "2024-05-02T10:50:57Z")
There is no doubt that Apple’s license is a license that is mostly compatible with open source in terms of copyright. The terms related to trademarks and patents need to be scrutinized, but there seems to be no problem with trademarks, as long as the Apple trademark is removed in derivative works. The patents need to be carefully considered.