.. _license:

.. redirect-from:: /users/license

*******
License
*******

Matplotlib only uses BSD compatible code, and its license is based on
the `PSF <https://docs.python.org/3/license.html>`_ license.  See the Open
Source Initiative `licenses page
<https://opensource.org/licenses>`_ for details on individual
licenses. Non-BSD compatible licenses (e.g., LGPL) are acceptable in
matplotlib toolkits.  For a discussion of the motivations behind the
licencing choice, see :ref:`license-discussion`.

Copyright policy
================

John Hunter began Matplotlib around 2003.  Since shortly before his
passing in 2012, Michael Droettboom has been the lead maintainer of
Matplotlib, but, as has always been the case, Matplotlib is the work
of many.

Prior to July of 2013, and the 1.3.0 release, the copyright of the
source code was held by John Hunter.  As of July 2013, and the 1.3.0
release, matplotlib has moved to a shared copyright model.

Matplotlib uses a shared copyright model. Each contributor maintains
copyright over their contributions to Matplotlib. But, it is important to
note that these contributions are typically only changes to the
repositories. Thus, the Matplotlib source code, in its entirety, is not
the copyright of any single person or institution.  Instead, it is the
collective copyright of the entire Matplotlib Development Team.  If
individual contributors want to maintain a record of what
changes/contributions they have specific copyright on, they should
indicate their copyright in the commit message of the change, when
they commit the change to one of the matplotlib repositories.

The Matplotlib Development Team is the set of all contributors to the
matplotlib project.  A full list can be obtained from the git version
control logs.

.. _license-agreement:

License agreement
=================

.. literalinclude:: ../../../LICENSE/LICENSE
   :language: none