Update: Change language in Open Standard License to 1.1 or later.

I did a review pass and attempted to improve the language and wording.

Instead of using "combined works", use "modified works".
That seems to make more sense as "combined works" makes less sense for a standard / specification.

Break down the details a bit more.

I will likely need to do further review later on before I officially release this license update.

diff --git a/licenses/open-standard-license-1.1-or-later b/licenses/open-standard-license-1.1-or-later
index ec56c5cb65e259454b55988041a7efd160afb0cd..ce15c56460f30c762d9a0b1cc26f133da3e077fe 100644 (file)
--- a/licenses/open-standard-license-1.1-or-later
+++ b/licenses/open-standard-license-1.1-or-later
@@ -11,12 +11,15 @@ Terminology:
   - LCG: Lossy Computer Generation (any linguistic variation of "Generation", such as "Generated")***.
   - LLM: Large Language Model***.
   - Licensee: Any individual, organization, entity, or other thing that uses, applies, to whom this license is granted, to which this license is granted, or that otherwise uses or stores the information and data covered by this license.
+  - Modified Works: A modification of the Works, in part or whole.
+  - Original Works: The original, unmodified Works.
   - Protocol: In the context of computers and software, this is a Standard focused on communication between at least two parties (often referring to Internet communication) and is at the most basic level an agreement of rules between two (or more) parties.
   - Provider: A party who provides a Service of any kind (or equivalent functionality) that utilizes a Protocol or provides a Service that Implements or follows a Standard or Specification to another party.
   - Service: Any action or labor performed by one party for another party (such as one person helping another person).
   - SLM: Small Language Model***.
   - Specification: A specific interpretation or clarification of a Standard, such as the documentation that describes how to use or follow a Standard.
   - Standard: A set of rules and guidelines.
+  - Works: Anything that is under this license.
 
 * The API term is commonly mis-represented as Services or Protocols (such as "Web API" which in actuality should be called "Web Service" or "Web Protocol").
   An API instructs a party, usually a programmer, on how to use a dependency when programming some software that utilizes said dependency.
@@ -40,7 +43,7 @@ Terminology:
 01) Principles of this license:
   01) The Standard or Specification is and must be freely and publicly available to use and implement irrespective of any license, patent, or other restriction of any kind for any reason of some Implementation or Provider.
   02) All patents associated are and must be royalty-free for unrestricted use and must not impose any restrictions on any third party's Implementation of this Standard in any way for any reason beyond those described in this license.
-  03) There are not and there must not be any agreements or requirements for the execution of this license grant, including but not limited to: NDA, grant, click-through, or any form of paperwork (including but not limited to all non-paper forms of paperwork, such as digital forms).
+  03) There are not and there must not be any agreements or requirements for the execution of this license grant, including but not limited to: NDA, grant, click-through, or any form of paperwork (including but not limited to all non-paper forms of paperwork, such as digital forms) except as provided within this license.
   04) There are not and must not be any restrictions on the form of an Implementation of a Standard or Specification.
   05) Implementations of a Standard or Specification may be under any license so long as that license:
     a) Does not restrict, alter, or invalidate this license in any manner.
@@ -56,23 +59,44 @@ Terminology:
   12) When at any point in time under any government any parts of this license is restricted, altered, removed, invalidated or otherwise made illegal, unlawful, or unenforceable is reversed, restored, or otherwise made legal, lawful, and enforceable again, then these parts are immediately in affect again.
   13) If at any point in time some party, such as but not limited to a government, makes any change to this license (like those described in [01.11]) and the licensee for any reason at any time is no longer subject to a given jurisdiction, then those parts of the original license are immediately in effect as if they were never altered or restricted in the first place. For example, if a licensee leaves the jurisdiction of some government that otherwise restricted some part of this license then that otherwise restricted part is immediately in affect again now that the licensee is out of the given jurisdiction.
   14) Prohibits waiving of any rights, protections, provisions, or anything else for this license.
-  15) Acceptance of this license requires acceptance that using data from this and storing in LCG is considered a combined works for the purposes of this license for anything within the scope of this license.
+  15) This license requires acceptance that using data from this and storing in LCG is considered a Combined Works for the purposes of this license for anything within the scope of this license.
   16) The licensee must be capable of accepting the license.
   17) The licensee must be capable of being legally bound by these terms.
+  18) May modify your copies, or any portion thereof, given the conditions described in the details on Modified Works below.
 
 02) Details on LCG usage:
   The current society has recently re-interpreted common terminology, such as how the term AI now being interpreted differently.
-  This has become a problem where licenses are being perceived as not a combined work.
-  There has also become a problem where entities attempt to force waiving of rights (be it automatic, inferred, or otherwise).
+  This has become a problem where licenses are being incorrectly perceived as a separate Works.
+  There always has been an expectation that copying this in a lossy format, such as an LCG, would constitute as a Modified Works.
 
   This confusion is addressed by being explicitly clear in this regards.
-  In order to accept this license, the licensee is required to accept that anything covered by this license is considered a combined works with gathered aned combined with anything.
-  This means that the use of anything under this license with or by LCG, be it LLM, SLM, or anything else, must be considered a combined works.
 
-  Note that this does not require acceptance of "considered as combined works" to be applied to anything outside the scope of anything under this license.
+  In order to accept this license,
+    a. The use of any Works, in part or whole, with or by LCG, be it LLM, SLM, or anything else, must be considered a Modified Works rather than a new or separate Works.
+
+    b. Appropriate credits must be provided for any and all Modified Works.
+
+    c. The entire Works, or any part, must be licensed at no charge to all third parties under the terms of this license.
+
+  Note that this does not require acceptance of "Modified Works", regarding LCG, to be applied to any Works not under this license.
 
 03) Details on denying the waiving of any rights:
+  Another recent problem is where entities attempt to force waiving of rights (be it automatic, inferred, or otherwise) when there never has been any such expectation of this even being allowed by this license.
   This license would realistically fail to be an open-source license if any part of it can be waived.
-  Therefore, no parts of this license may be waived by anyone, including the owner of anything under this license.
-  The owner must explicitly change the license rather than waive anything.
-  Changing the license version or the license version date is an acceptable means of communicating this.
+  Therefore, no parts of this license may be waived by anyone, including the copyright holder, of anything under this license.
+  The copyright holder must explicitly, and intentionally, change the license rather than waive anything.
+
+04) Details on the Modified Works:
+  a. The Modified Works must be a Standard, a Specification, or an Implementation.
+
+  b. The Modified Works must preserve ownership and copyrights of the Original Works.
+
+  c. The Modified Works must not remove any protections of this license.
+
+  d. The Modified Works must be marked as changed from the Original Works.
+
+  e. Cannot make claims over the Original Works.
+
+  f. May not change any copyrights and ownership of Original Works.
+
+  g. Making a modification does not transfer ownership of Original Works.