The Unlicense
Public domain dedication. No restrictions whatsoever — not even attribution required.
Commercial use
✓ Yes
Modify
✓ Yes
Distribute
✓ Yes
Must open source changes
✗ No
Must attribute
✗ No
Patent grant
✗ No
What this license means
The Unlicense is a public domain dedication. It waives all copyright interest and places the work in the public domain. You don't need to include any license text, attribution, or copyright notice. It's the most permissive option possible.
When you encounter this license
Good for small utilities, code snippets, or projects where you truly want zero restrictions. Used by youtube-dl and some SQLite-related projects.
Watch out for
Public domain isn't recognized in all jurisdictions (notably Germany and some EU countries). The Unlicense includes a fallback MIT-like license for those cases, but some corporate legal teams still prefer MIT for certainty.
Tools using The Unlicense (1)
This guide is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. For licensing decisions in commercial products, consult a qualified attorney.