RETURN LICENSE v0.2 (DRAFT)
Proposed SPDX-Identifier: Return-1.0-draft (SPDX registration pending)

A market mechanism for non-scarce goods.
Use is free. Return is priced. The market is the mechanism.

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§ 1 — DEFINITIONS

"Work" means the software, hardware design, dataset, document, or other
material distributed under this License.

"Licensor" means the copyright holder(s) of the Work.

"Licensee" means any natural or legal person exercising rights under this
License.

"Productive Use" means any application of the Work that contributes to the
generation of commercial revenue, whether direct or proportional, as defined
by the Return Protocol formula referenced in § 3.

"Return Protocol" means the deterministic pricing function published at
return-license.org/protocol/v0.2, computing the AnnualObligation from
AttributableRevenue, BaseRate, ReturnDiscount, and HistoryMultiplier.

"Register" means the public, tamper-evident record of declarations and
attestations operated under the Return Protocol.

"Executor" means the legal person operating the Register and receiving
contributions, bound by its charter to apply the Return Protocol without
modification.

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§ 2 — GRANT OF RIGHTS

Subject to compliance with this License, the Licensor hereby grants the
Licensee a worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive, perpetual license to:

  (a) use, study, run, and modify the Work for any purpose;
  (b) reproduce and distribute the Work and its modifications;
  (c) make the Work available through network services;

without the requirement of any prior authorization, fee, or notice to the
Licensor.

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§ 3 — RETURN OBLIGATION

The Licensee's annual obligation, if any, is computed by the Return Protocol
formula as published at return-license.org/protocol/v0.2.

The formula is incorporated into this License by reference and forms a
substantive term. The current published formula is:

    AnnualObligation = max(0,
        AttributableRevenue
      × BaseRate(AttributableRevenue)
      × ReturnDiscount(ExpectedContribution, InKindValue)
      × HistoryMultiplier(Karma)
    )

Below the floor specified in the formula, no obligation arises. Above the
floor, the obligation may be satisfied by:

  (a) financial payment to the Executor;
  (b) signed in-kind contributions valued at the published price table; or
  (c) any combination of (a) and (b) that meets the computed amount.

The Licensee files an annual Declaration in the Register specifying their
revenue, contributions, and computed obligation. The Declaration is public.

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§ 4 — COPYLEFT

Distribution of the Work or any derivative work requires that:

  (a) the recipient receive the same rights granted by this License;
  (b) network use of a derivative is treated as distribution;
  (c) no additional restrictions, technological measures, or contract terms
      may impair the recipient's exercise of these rights;
  (d) compatible successor versions of this License may be substituted by
      mutual agreement of the parties involved.

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§ 5 — TERMINATION AND CURE

Failure to comply with this License automatically terminates the rights
granted in § 2. A 90-day cure period applies to first breaches within a
rolling 36-month window. Continued use after termination constitutes
copyright infringement.

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§ 6 — STANDING AND ENFORCEMENT

Any contributor to the Work, the Executor, and any Licensee whose interests
are affected by another Licensee's non-compliance has standing to enforce
this License.

Damages for non-compliance are computed by the Return Protocol formula:

    Damages = unpaid_obligation × (1 + years_elapsed × 0.1) + reasonable_costs

No additional punitive damages are claimed beyond this formula.

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§ 7 — DISCLAIMER

THE WORK IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL
THE LICENSOR BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES, OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER
IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT, OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF, OR IN
CONNECTION WITH THE WORK OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE WORK.

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§ 8 — SEVERABILITY AND FORK PROVISION

If any provision of this License or the Return Protocol is held unenforceable
in a jurisdiction, that provision is severed and this License continues to
operate as the AGPL-3.0-or-later for that jurisdiction.

The Return Protocol formula referenced in § 3 cannot be amended within this
License version. Modifications to the formula constitute a fork: a new
license version under a distinct identifier (e.g., Return-1.1) and a new
Executor. Existing Licensees continue under the version they adopted.

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§ 9 — GOVERNING LAW

This License is governed by the law of the jurisdiction in which enforcement
is sought, with the Vienna Convention on the International Sale of Goods
(CISG) explicitly excluded.

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VERSION  Return-1.0-draft (v0.2 specification)
DATE     2026
AUTHOR   Thomas Schüller, independent researcher, Vienna
CONTACT  forschung@tschueller.com
ORCID    0009-0003-9799-6747
WEBSITE  return-license.org

This License text is distributed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
The Return Protocol formula is published at return-license.org/protocol/v0.2.