License similar to the MIT license but without the ability to sell?

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License similar to the MIT license but without the ability to sell?

I'm trying to decide how I want to license my Wordpress themes to the public. I know that the GPL is recommended to Wordpress theme creators, however I feel it might not be liberal enough for me because I want businesses to be able to use them if they want to. I really like the MIT license, the only thing that gets me is the freedom to sell part. I don't want someone taking my themes and selling them on some theme farm site, they should be free for everyone, however I don't want to require them to republish any changes under the MIT as well, I think that that freedom should remain intact.

Is there a license that sort of fits into the terms I specified here? I'm not a lawyer so I have trouble reading through the complicated language of licenses. To clarify, I don't care if the license is GPL compatible, but the GNU GPL license is not what I want. If there is not a similar license to the MIT but with the terms I have specified, should I just license under a modified MIT? If so, can anyone help me write it? Thanks very much!

Creative Commons is the most popular for non-GPL themes from what I've seen. With CC-nc-sa (non-commercial, share-alike) it keeps people from reselling them, but makes them redistributable.

EDIT: Also, you can dictate what "attribution" means. It might just mean leaving a comment inside the theme's PHP files.

Aaron Harun 2010-06-15 01:02:03

I looked at that, however the non-commercial part will stop businesses from using this, which is why I don't want to use the GPL. I don't care if they make money while using the theme, they just can't sell the theme.

Ben 2010-06-15 01:05:46

"I want businesses to be able to use them if they want to". Does that rule out a NC license?

Frank Farmer 2010-06-15 01:05:52

No, non-commercial means use them to make money from them. CC defines "commercial use" as "The licensor permits others to copy, distribute, display, and perform the work, including for commercial purposes."

Aaron Harun 2010-06-15 01:07:07

You can add a clause that it may be used but not distributed in archive form by commercial websites. You are allowed to waive any rights you choose. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/

Aaron Harun 2010-06-15 01:08:10

You could just take the MIT licence and add an overriding clause which prevents selling or sub-licencing the product for money.

Or you could take that licence to someone who knows about licensing and get them to do it. In other words, a lawyer type, not a tech type.

Any advice from non-lawyers will be worth exactly the amount of money they put towards their law degree at University :-)

paxdiablo 2010-06-15 01:04:02

Not entirely. We are worth the amount of money we put into asking someone who put a lot of money into uni. =)

Aaron Harun 2010-06-15 01:05:17

I guess this is just what I am going to do. It costs some money, but I think its worth it to keep someone else from getting ripped off and the piece of mind of knowing my themes will always remain free of charge.

Ben 2010-06-15 01:31:45

ansaurus

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License similar to the MIT license but without the ability to sell?

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