Like Perimeter, with a wider limit. You may not compete with the software or with the products the publisher builds on it.
On this page
What it does
The PolyForm Shield License 1.0.0 permits any purpose except providing a product that competes with the software, or with any product the publisher or its affiliates provide using the software. You may use it commercially, change it, build new works from it and distribute copies with your changes. The competition clause is written broadly on purpose. Goods and services compete across different interfaces, platforms and programming languages, applications can compete with services, libraries with plug-ins, and a free product competes as well as a paid one.
Details
Shield adds two clauses that Perimeter has not. If your product does not compete today, and the publisher later brings it into competition with a new version or a new product, you may keep using the versions that were available before, but no later ones. And you may begin using the software to compete with something the publisher has stopped providing, unless the publisher shipped a Licensor Line of Business line naming that line of business. Both clauses reward writing down which version you took, and when.
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 software commercially, and sell a product you build with it.
Modify
You may make changes and new works for any permitted purpose.
Distribute
You may distribute copies, including copies carrying your own changes.
Patent use
The grant covers the patent claims the licensor can license that your use would infringe.
Limits
Compete with it
You may not provide a product that competes with the software, or with a product the publisher builds on it. Free products count.
Later versions
If the publisher brings your product into competition with a new version, earlier versions stay open to you and later ones do not.
Hold liable
The authors disclaim warranty. Recipients cannot hold them liable for damages arising from the software, except where law forbids that disclaimer.
Obligations
Include license
Anyone who gets any part of the software from you also gets these terms, or their address.
Include notice
Pass on every plain-text Required Notice line the publisher shipped with the software.
Fix within 32 days
After a first written notice you keep your licenses if you put things right within 32 days.
What PolyForm-Shield-1.0.0 requires when you ship
PolyForm-Shield-1.0.0 is readable source with use limits. The work is to match your use to the written grant, then keep the text on the record so procurement can read it. Do not treat a source-available identifier as OSI-style open source because the code is on GitHub.
You are not providing a product that competes with the software, or with a product the publisher or its affiliates offer using the software.
You have checked what else the publisher sells. The limit reaches their other products, which Perimeter does not.
You have written down which version you took and when, because a later version can arrive after your product became a competing one.
Anyone who gets any part of the software from you also gets the license terms, or the address where they can read them.
You pass on every plain-text Required Notice line the publisher shipped with the software, word for word.
The duties named in PolyForm-Shield-1.0.0
The written grant is the source of the limits. These rows are the usual conditions teams have to match against their actual use, then keep on the record.
Include license
Anyone who gets any part of the software from you also gets these terms, or their address.
Include notice
Pass on every plain-text Required Notice line the publisher shipped with the software.
Fix within 32 days
After a first written notice you keep your licenses if you put things right within 32 days.
Things to be aware of
- Teams compare their product to the package only. Shield also reaches the publisher's other products, so look at what else they sell.
- Teams treat a decision as settled. A new version from the publisher can bring your product into competition, and then later versions are closed to you.
- Teams assume a free tool cannot compete. The license says goods and services compete even when they are provided free of charge.
What the PolyForm Shield License 1.0.0 does not do
Search results often flatten PolyForm Shield License 1.0.0 into a slogan. These are the usual misreads. PolyForm-Shield-1.0.0 is a grant with conditions, not a permission to skip the paperwork below.
- PolyForm Shield is not an open source license. A ban on competing products is a limit on the field of use, which open source does not allow.
- It does not stop at the software itself. The products the publisher and its affiliates build on the software are inside the same limit.
How PolyForm-Shield-1.0.0 differs from nearby licenses
These licenses are often confused with PolyForm-Shield-1.0.0, but their release duties differ. Each row summarizes what the license requires when you ship. Open the linked page for the full checklist.
- PolyForm-Shield-1.0.0
- Like Perimeter, with a wider limit. You may not compete with the software or with the products the publisher builds on it.
- PolyForm-Perimeter-1.0.0
- Any purpose is allowed except giving others a product that competes with the software. Notices travel with every copy. Not open source.
- PolyForm-Noncommercial-1.0.0
- PolyForm Noncommercial allows non-commercial use only. Source is readable. This is not OSI open source. Paid products need a separate grant.
- source-available
- You can read the code. That is not the same as permission to use it any way you like. Source available is not open source.
Common questions about PolyForm Shield License 1.0.0
Answers to common questions about what PolyForm Shield License 1.0.0 requires, when its duties apply, and what evidence belongs with a release.
What is the PolyForm Shield License 1.0.0?
The PolyForm Shield License 1.0.0 permits any purpose except providing a product that competes with the software, or with any product the publisher or its affiliates provide using the software. You may use it commercially, change it, build new works from it and distribute copies with your changes. The competition clause is written broadly on purpose. Goods and services compete across different interfaces, platforms and programming languages, applications can compete with services, libraries with plug-ins, and a free product competes as well as a paid one.
What does PolyForm-Shield-1.0.0 require when you ship a product?
You are not providing a product that competes with the software, or with a product the publisher or its affiliates offer using the software. You have checked what else the publisher sells. The limit reaches their other products, which Perimeter does not. You have written down which version you took and when, because a later version can arrive after your product became a competing one. Anyone who gets any part of the software from you also gets the license terms, or the address where they can read them. You pass on every plain-text Required Notice line the publisher shipped with the software, word for word.
Is PolyForm-Shield-1.0.0 open source?
Not in the OSI sense. PolyForm-Shield-1.0.0 is source-available: you can read the code, but the grant restricts how you may use it. Read the actual text.
How is PolyForm-Shield-1.0.0 different from PolyForm Perimeter License 1.0.0?
PolyForm-Shield-1.0.0 asks this: Like Perimeter, with a wider limit. You may not compete with the software or with the products the publisher builds on it. PolyForm Perimeter License 1.0.0 asks this: Any purpose is allowed except giving others a product that competes with the software. Notices travel with every copy. Not open source. Open the PolyForm Perimeter License 1.0.0 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 PolyForm-Shield-1.0.0 for a buyer?
The catalog records PolyForm-Shield-1.0.0 as source available, and as a license a network deployment does not clear. A network distribution review item therefore appears on the checklist for SaaS and mixed projects, and publishing stays blocked until a person confirms it. The identifier is a templated one, so the fetch never lands it on confirmed, and the text found in the package is put in front of you. Whether your product competes is a question about your business, so no check can answer it for you.
Where do I record PolyForm-Shield-1.0.0 for a buyer?
The catalog records PolyForm-Shield-1.0.0 as source available, and as a license a network deployment does not clear. A network distribution review item therefore appears on the checklist for SaaS and mixed projects, and publishing stays blocked until a person confirms it.
The identifier is a templated one, so the fetch never lands it on confirmed, and the text found in the package is put in front of you. Whether your product competes is a question about your business, so no check can answer it for you.
Related licenses
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.