Copyright © 2026 Owen J Grumbles
This document establishes the licensing principles applicable to the source code, written materials, and original artwork associated with this website. The distinctions set forth herein are intentional and reflect the author's position that software freedom, intellectual exchange, and individual creative identity are complementary rather than mutually exclusive interests.
For the avoidance of doubt, making a work publicly accessible shall not, by itself, be construed as granting every conceivable permission concerning that work.
Governing License: GNU General Public License, Version 3.0
The source code used to construct, operate, and maintain this website is licensed under the GNU General Public License, Version 3.0 (hereinafter, the "GPL-3.0").
The author intends this code to be available for use, examination, modification, and redistribution in accordance with the terms of that license. The code is not reserved exclusively for the author, nor is its utility contingent upon the continued existence, operation, or approval of this website.
Any person may exercise the permissions granted by the GPL-3.0, subject to its applicable conditions and obligations.
Where the GPL-3.0 requires compliance with its terms in connection with the distribution of covered works, such compliance is mandatory. Applicable requirements may include providing corresponding source code, preserving notices, and licensing derivative works under the terms prescribed by the license.
The purpose of this arrangement is not merely to permit access to source code, but to protect the continued availability of the freedoms granted to users.
The author considers the ability to inspect, understand, and improve software to be of substantial value. Accordingly, the source code is offered under a license designed to preserve those freedoms beyond the immediate scope of this project.
The author makes no claim that the underlying programming techniques, general methods, or ideas employed in the website are exclusively his property merely by virtue of their implementation herein.
The code is offered for practical use, study, and improvement. The author would prefer that it be put to productive use rather than admired indefinitely in a repository, although either activity remains a matter for the reader's discretion.
The complete terms of the GPL-3.0 are incorporated by reference through the license text provided in the repository. In the event of any inconsistency between this summary and the official license, the official license shall govern.
Governing License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Unless otherwise indicated, the author's original philosophical, historical, and technical writings published through this website are made available under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.
These writings may include, without limitation, essays, articles, commentary, explanations, historical analysis, technical documentation, and other original literary material.
The author intends these works to be available for discussion, criticism, quotation, dissemination, and adaptation in accordance with the applicable license.
Subject to the terms of CC BY 4.0, members of the public may share and adapt the covered material for any purpose, including commercial purposes.
Appropriate attribution shall be provided, a link to the license shall be included, and changes shall be indicated where applicable. Attribution shall not imply endorsement by the author unless such endorsement has been expressly granted.
Where reasonably practicable, attribution should identify Owen J Grumbles as the author and provide a link to the original publication.
The author expressly welcomes disagreement, provided that the work is represented fairly. Agreement is not a condition of permission; intellectual honesty, however, remains advisable.
The publication of an argument does not require its reader to adopt it. Nor does the act of writing about a fact, concept, philosophical position, or technical principle establish exclusive ownership of that underlying idea.
Copyright protects qualifying original expression, subject to applicable law, and does not generally confer exclusive ownership over abstract ideas, facts, or methods as such.
The author seeks to facilitate the circulation of ideas rather than establish an unnecessary permission barrier around ordinary intellectual discussion.
Accordingly, readers are encouraged to engage with the writings critically, identify errors where found, develop competing arguments, and cite the original source where appropriate.
The objective is the dissemination of ideas, not the compulsory formation of a fan club.
This article and its associated permissions do not extend CC BY 4.0 rights to artwork, logos, or other materials expressly excluded from that license. The applicable terms for such materials are established separately herein and in the relevant repository notices.
Governing Notice: ARTWORK-LICENSE
Unless otherwise indicated, the author's original screaming skeleton logo, original graphics, and other designated visual assets are reserved for the author's use.
These materials constitute a distinct component of the project's visual identity. Their public display is intended to permit observation and appreciation, not to confer a general license for reproduction or reuse.
No general permission is granted to reproduce, republish, redistribute, modify, adapt, or incorporate these materials into another work or identity without the author's prior written permission, except where permitted by applicable law.
Access to an image through a public website does not, in itself, constitute authorization to reuse that image.
Likewise, the fact that a repository contains open-source code does not automatically place every image, logo, illustration, or other creative asset within the scope of the software license.
The applicable permissions shall be determined by the relevant license and ownership of the material, not merely by the location at which it happens to be displayed.
The author reserves these rights because the designated artwork represents a personal creative identity developed for this project.
This reservation is not intended to discourage the creation of original art, nor to prevent others from developing comparable interests, aesthetics, or themes. It is intended to distinguish independent creative expression from the unauthorized appropriation of a particular work.
Others are encouraged to develop their own symbols, styles, and visual identities. The existence of an original work should serve as evidence that original work can be created, rather than as an invitation to reproduce it without permission.
The author considers individuality to be more meaningfully expressed through independent creation than through the uncredited duplication of another person's work.
For the avoidance of doubt, this statement does not purport to grant the author ownership over a general artistic style, theme, or idea.
The author intends the repository and its development history to remain publicly accessible, subject to the availability and operation of the hosting platform.
The repository may contain source code, articles, documentation, and other materials whose revisions are recorded through version control.
Visitors may inspect available commits, compare revisions, and examine changes to tracked files in order to understand how the project has developed.
The author considers an accessible development history to be useful for evaluating the evolution of the project and the decisions made in its maintenance.
Where changes to website code, articles, or licensing notices are recorded in the public repository, such records may assist readers in determining what changed and when.
This arrangement is intended to facilitate scrutiny rather than to establish a claim of infallibility. Published materials may be revised, arguments may be reconsidered, and errors may be corrected. The existence of an earlier version is not, by itself, proof that the earlier version was superior.
Readers are invited to examine the available record and draw their own conclusions.
The author acknowledges that Git history is not an immutable public archive. Repository history may be rewritten, files may be removed, and access or visibility may change. Copies and forks may preserve material independently, but their continued availability cannot be guaranteed.
Accordingly, this article expresses an intention toward public transparency; it does not warrant that every historical version will remain permanently accessible or that every possible alteration will be detectable.
The distinction between an aspiration to transparency and a technically guaranteed impossibility of concealment is acknowledged expressly.
In the United States, copyright protection generally arises automatically when an original work of authorship is fixed in a tangible medium of expression, subject to the requirements and limitations of applicable law.
No purchase of an official certificate is ordinarily required for copyright protection to arise. Registration is a separate process that may provide additional legal benefits and is generally required before an infringement action concerning a U.S. work may be instituted in federal court.
The author does not represent that every work associated with this project has been formally registered.
The applicable terms are summarized as follows:
| Material | Applicable terms |
|---|---|
| Website source code | GNU GPL-3.0 |
| Original philosophical, historical, and technical writings | CC BY 4.0, unless otherwise indicated |
| Designated original artwork and visual identity | All rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated |
| Third-party material | Its applicable license, permissions, and legal restrictions |
These terms apply only to materials the author owns or is authorized to license. The author does not claim authority to relicense third-party material without the necessary rights.
Nothing in this document purports to eliminate applicable statutory exceptions or limitations to copyright, including those that may permit certain quotations, criticism, commentary, educational uses, or other uses under the circumstances prescribed by law.
Nor does this document establish exclusive ownership of facts, abstract ideas, general philosophies, or technical concepts merely because they are discussed or expressed through the website.
The following documents and resources govern the relevant materials:
- Software: GNU General Public License, Version 3.0.
- Writings: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International.
- Artwork: Artwork License Notice.
The linked documents should be consulted for their operative terms. This README is an explanatory statement of the author's intentions and is not intended to replace, amend, or override the text of the applicable licenses.
This project distinguishes three forms of freedom:
- The freedom to use, study, modify, and share software under an appropriate open-source license.
- The freedom to quote, distribute, and adapt published ideas with attribution.
- The freedom of a creator to reserve rights in original artwork and personal visual identity.
These principles are intended to coexist without confusion.
The author seeks to make the website's code useful to others, its writings available for intellectual exchange, and its artwork recognizably his own.
Freedom to use the code. Freedom to share the ideas. Freedom to create an identity of one's own.
No further philosophical conclusion is required, although readers remain free to formulate one.
Copyright © 2026 Owen J Grumbles, for original materials not otherwise licensed.
This document describes the author's intended licensing arrangements. It is not legal advice, and its summaries do not supersede the official terms of the referenced licenses.