Is this okay for a license?

[nabeel]

Am I missing anything?
I couldn't find any OS license that really "fit" what I wanted, so I just decided to write my own kinda thing. It's pretty basic.

Link: http://www.phpvms.net/docs/license

phpVMS is Copyright 2008 Nabeel Shahzad

• You may modify this program as you see fit, to suit your own purposes.
• If you have patches or improvements, I request that you post them, so they can be incorporated into the main source tree.
• You're not required to release to the public any changes you've made to the source.
• All source files must retain the copyright message, whether you have modified them or not.
• You must retain a visible link on your site, to www.phpvms.net. A “powered by phpVMS” link would be preferred.
• This software is free. Please do not charge anyone for it. However, charging for modifications/skins is ok.
• There is no warranty, explicit or implied, and I am not liable in no way, shape, or form for any damage that is incurred as a direct, or indirect result of using this program.

[Dan Grossman]

Basic grammatical errors have led to a loss of intended meaning in your terms. Rather than disclaim liability, you've expressly stated that you are liable. In addition, some of the warranties you're trying to disclaim can only be disclaimed by specific language you have not used. This document won't protect you, and the way you write is confusing for a legal document (why all the "please" and "request"?) -- have an attorney write it for you.

[chris_fuel]

Hmm, seems okay, but I feel there might be some issue with:

This software is free. Please do not charge anyone for it. However, charging for modifications/skins is ok.

You might want to specify exactly what format modifications / skins are and how you define them. Might be easy for someone to still charge for it and use a loophole here. Instead of "Please do not charge anyone for it." maybe "Please do not charge anyone for the original unmodified contents. You may charge for modifications and skins. Modifications must be in a patch format such as diff, and skins must be contained within a zip file. You cannot charge for a combination of modifications / skins and the original unmodified source code."

The copyright message clause, how are you going to enforce that? Same with "retain a visible link on your site". There's no real way for you to enforce that if someone uses it on a private intranet.

but, as always, I am not a lawyer and you should seek professional legal advice.

[nabeel]

Basic grammatical errors have led to a loss of intended meaning in your terms. Rather than disclaim liability, you've expressly stated that you are liable. In addition, some of the warranties you're trying to disclaim can only be disclaimed by specific language you have not used. This document won't protect you, and the way you write is confusing for a legal document (why all the "please" and "request"?) -- have an attorney write it for you.

Well I'm a poor college student just doing this as a hobby.
Can you point to where it's going wrong? Maybe I can fix it; like what errors actually make me liable (good to know for future as well)

I guess I didn't mean it as a license, but more of a "guideline", if that makes sense.

Or maybe point to a license which would fit what I'm trying to say?

Since the BSD license is public domain, I guess I'm trying to modify it to that a little bit.

Or if I link to/include:
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/

And then on my license page include the BSD no-warranty clause?

Sorry for the long message, just trying to understand this.

Thanks alot!

[nabeel]

Well I basically want credit, and don't want anyone to charge for it, and I don't want people to rip out portions of my code to use on their own. It's a pretty hefty piece of software, so I'm just afraid of people completely ripping off my code (it's happened before).

The "place a link" would be a courtesy in the end; I know there's no way to enforce it.

I think maybe the BSD license. There's just too much legalese for me to really say "this is what is allowed, this isn't". So maybe some pointers. Creative Commons has some good resources. Maybe LGPL. I dunno.

But with the GPL/LGPL, can I also as a "sidenote", not legalese, maybe saying post a link, etc.

[Technokinetics]

Well I'm a poor college student just doing this as a hobby. Can you point to where it's going wrong? Maybe I can fix it; like what errors actually make me liable (good to know for future as well)

"I am not liable in no way" means "I am liable in some way".

[Shyflower]

I wonder if you have checked Creative Commons? They may have a license that will work for you.