SQLite is in the Public Domain

All of the deliverable code in SQLite has been dedicated to the public

domain by the authors. All code authors, and representatives of the

companies they work for, have signed affidavits dedicating their

contributions to the public domain and originals of those signed

affidavits are stored in a firesafe at the main offices of Hwaci. Anyone

is free to copy, modify, publish, use, compile, sell, or distribute the

original SQLite code, either in source code form or as a compiled

binary, for any purpose, commercial or non-commercial, and by any means.

The previous paragraph applies to the deliverable code in SQLite - those

parts of the SQLite library that you actually bundle and ship with a

larger application. Portions of the documentation and some code used as

part of the build process might fall under other licenses. The details

here are unclear. We do not worry about the licensing of the

documentation and build code so much because none of these things are

part of the core deliverable SQLite library.

All of the deliverable code in SQLite has been written from scratch. No

code has been taken from other projects or from the open internet. Every

line of code can be traced back to its original author, and all of those

authors have public domain dedications on file. So the SQLite code base

is clean and is uncontaminated with licensed code from other projects.

Obtaining An Explicit License To Use SQLite

Even though SQLite is in the public domain and does not require a

license, some users want to obtain a license anyway. Some reasons for

obtaining a license include:

    * You are using SQLite in a jurisdiction that does not recognize the

      public domain.

    * You are using SQLite in a jurisdiction that does not recognize the

      right of an author to dedicate their work to the public domain.

    * You want to hold a tangible legal document as evidence that you

      have the legal right to use and distribute SQLite.

    * Your legal department tells you that you have to purchase a

      license.

If you feel like you really have to purchase a license for SQLite,

Hwaci, the company that employs the architect and principal developers

of SQLite, will sell you one.  Contributed Code

In order to keep SQLite completely free and unencumbered by copyright,

all new contributors to the SQLite code base are asked to dedicate their

contributions to the public domain. If you want to send a patch or

enhancement for possible inclusion in the SQLite source tree, please

accompany the patch with the following statement:

The author or authors of this code dedicate any and all copyright

interest in this code to the public domain. We make this dedication for

the benefit of the public at large and to the detriment of our heirs and

successors. We intend this dedication to be an overt act of

relinquishment in perpetuity of all present and future rights to this

code under copyright law. 

We are not able to accept patches or changes to SQLite that are not

accompanied by a statement such as the above. In addition, if you make

changes or enhancements as an employee, then a simple statement such as

the above is insufficient. You must also send by surface mail a

copyright release signed by a company officer. A signed original of the

copyright release should be mailed to:

    Hwaci

    6200 Maple Cove Lane

    Charlotte, NC 28269

    USA 

A template copyright release is available in PDF or HTML. You can use

this release to make future changes.  This page last modified 2007/11/14

15:25:42 UTC