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0BSD

BSD Zero Clause License (0BSD)

BSD with every condition removed: no notice, no credit. It is a permission grant, not a waiver, and that is why counsel like it.

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What it does

The BSD Zero Clause License is, despite its name, the ISC license with the requirement to keep the notice removed. Its grant is the ISC sentence: permission to use, copy, modify and distribute the software for any purpose, with or without fee, plus a warranty disclaimer. There is no notice requirement, so nothing has to travel with your copies. It is OSI-approved, and Microsoft publishes tslib under it. This guide files it with the public domain family because the effect is the same, but the text is a license and not a waiver of copyright.

Details

For your product this is the cheapest license in the catalog. Nothing changes between a hosted service, a shipped binary and a library you pass to other developers, and there is no file you have to include. The difference from CC0 and the Unlicense is the one your lawyer will notice. Those two waive copyright and add a fallback; 0BSD never relies on a waiver at all, so it works the same way in countries where abandoning copyright is not possible. That makes it the easier of the two shapes to defend.

Pros

  • Nothing to attach besides recording that the component is in the inventory.
  • No copyleft and no notice condition, so binaries do not need an extra licenses file for this component alone.

Cons

  • Some buyers still want the dedication text on file. "No conditions" is not the same as "no record."
  • Jurisdiction and moral-rights questions still exist around true public-domain dedications. Counsel should look at high-stakes use.

What it allows and requires

Choose a category to see the full grant in one scannable list. Permissions show what the license allows, limits show what it withholds, and obligations show the conditions your release process must satisfy.

Permissions

  • Commercial use

    You may use the work commercially. These texts are written to drop almost every restriction.

  • Modify

    You may change the work and keep or publish those changes under your own terms.

  • Distribute

    You may give copies away, including inside a closed product, without a copyleft duty.

What 0BSD requires when you ship

0BSD asks nothing of you: no notice, no attribution, no source duty. It still belongs on the attestation page so a buyer sees the whole inventory rather than only the interesting rows. The steps below are how to keep that record honest.

  1. You meet the terms by using the code. 0BSD states no condition, so there is neither a notice nor a credit to ship.

  2. You stay consistent in every scenario when you treat SaaS, binaries, mobile apps and redistributed libraries alike. None of them changes the answer.

  3. You keep the record complete when you store the 0BSD text on the component, because that is what your published page and every export file carry.

  4. You describe it correctly to a reviewer when you call it a license with no conditions rather than a public domain dedication.

  5. You handle patents separately when the component matters, because 0BSD grants permission under copyright and says nothing about patents.

The duties named in 0BSD

0BSD names no duties. The empty list is the point. Keep the identifier on the record anyway so the inventory is complete.

Include copyright

0BSD is a BSD text with the conditions stripped. There is no required notice, which is why policies still want the SPDX id on the record.

Things to be aware of

  • Teams file 0BSD with CC0 and the Unlicense and call all three a waiver. Only 0BSD is a plain license, which is often why it was picked.
  • Teams add a copyright notice for it to their notice file anyway. That does no harm, but it blurs which components actually carry a notice duty.
  • Teams see no conditions and record the component as unknown. 0BSD is a real, OSI-approved license, so record it under its SPDX identifier.

What the BSD Zero Clause License (0BSD) does not do

Search results often flatten BSD Zero Clause License (0BSD) into a slogan. These are the usual misreads. 0BSD is a grant with conditions, not a permission to skip the paperwork below.

  • 0BSD does not create a notice or attribution duty. Teams still list it so buyers see the whole inventory.
  • It is not a warranty or a patent grant. Public-domain style texts waive conditions; they do not promise the code is free of defects.

How 0BSD differs from nearby licenses

These licenses are often confused with 0BSD, but their release duties differ. Each row summarizes what the license requires when you ship. Open the linked page for the full checklist.

0BSD
BSD with every condition removed: no notice, no credit. It is a permission grant, not a waiver, and that is why counsel like it.
MIT
MIT lets you ship the code inside a closed, paid product. The one condition is that the copyright line and license text travel with every copy.
ISC
The default license of a large slice of npm. Short and permissive: it asks only that the copyright and permission notice stay in the copies.
Unlicense
A public domain dedication written for software, with a fallback license. OSI-approved, and it asks nothing of you.

Common questions about BSD Zero Clause License (0BSD)

Answers to common questions about what BSD Zero Clause License (0BSD) requires, when its duties apply, and what evidence belongs with a release.

What is the BSD Zero Clause License (0BSD)?

The BSD Zero Clause License is, despite its name, the ISC license with the requirement to keep the notice removed. Its grant is the ISC sentence: permission to use, copy, modify and distribute the software for any purpose, with or without fee, plus a warranty disclaimer. There is no notice requirement, so nothing has to travel with your copies. It is OSI-approved, and Microsoft publishes tslib under it. This guide files it with the public domain family because the effect is the same, but the text is a license and not a waiver of copyright.

What does 0BSD require when you ship a product?

You meet the terms by using the code. 0BSD states no condition, so there is neither a notice nor a credit to ship. You stay consistent in every scenario when you treat SaaS, binaries, mobile apps and redistributed libraries alike. None of them changes the answer. You keep the record complete when you store the 0BSD text on the component, because that is what your published page and every export file carry. You describe it correctly to a reviewer when you call it a license with no conditions rather than a public domain dedication. You handle patents separately when the component matters, because 0BSD grants permission under copyright and says nothing about patents.

Should 0BSD still appear on an attestation page?

Yes. BSD Zero Clause License (0BSD) asks nothing, and buyers still want the whole inventory rather than only the interesting rows.

How is 0BSD different from MIT License?

0BSD asks this: BSD with every condition removed: no notice, no credit. It is a permission grant, not a waiver, and that is why counsel like it. MIT License asks this: MIT lets you ship the code inside a closed, paid product. The one condition is that the copyright line and license text travel with every copy. Open the MIT License page for what that license requires when you ship. Do not treat the SPDX ids as interchangeable because the short names look similar.

Where do I record 0BSD for a buyer?

SourceTrust fetches the published artifact, pulls out the license file, and compares it with the reference text for 0BSD. The license is short and stable, so most of these land as confirmed and the text is stored on the component without anyone touching it. No checklist item appears, because none of the six external obligations matches this license. The catalog row calls 0BSD permissive while this guide files it with the public domain family. Nothing in the product behaves differently either way.

Where do I record 0BSD for a buyer?

SourceTrust fetches the published artifact, pulls out the license file, and compares it with the reference text for 0BSD. The license is short and stable, so most of these land as confirmed and the text is stored on the component without anyone touching it.

No checklist item appears, because none of the six external obligations matches this license. The catalog row calls 0BSD permissive while this guide files it with the public domain family.

Nothing in the product behaves differently either way. Read /docs/auto-fetch-license for how the fetch decides.

See also

The hub is the pillar for this cluster. Sibling licenses are the other spokes. Product FAQ links explain how SourceTrust records the duty, not the license text itself.

Practical guidance for procurement review, not legal advice. Confirm high-stakes use with counsel.

Ship the proof.

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