Version 1.0
Copyright (c) Yarn Spinner Pty. Ltd. All rights reserved.
This summary is provided for convenience only and has no legal effect. The binding terms are set out below. In the event of any conflict between this summary and the operative terms, the operative terms prevail.
Yarn Spinner is free to use for most people and most projects.
- Making a game or app? Free. Ship it. Sell it. We're cheering for you.
- Learning, teaching, or making tutorials? Absolutely free. Go for it.
- Using a contractor or porting house? That's fine. They just need to follow the same rules you do.
- Working under a console NDA or platform agreement? No worries. Those agreements can add restrictions on top of this Licence, but they can't override what this Licence prohibits.
- Want to redistribute Yarn Spinner on its own? You can't redistribute the unmodified source. But you can publish a fork with genuine modifications. It must be free, under this same licence, and made to scratch your own itch rather than to set up a rival product.
- Want to make your own dialogue tool using our code? Sorry, no — unless it's an internal tool for your own studio or university, that you're not distributing, or a public fork that meets the conditions above.
- Want to feed our code to an AI training system? Also no. You can use AI tools to help you build your game, but you must do your best to make sure those tools do not send our source code back for training purposes.
- Need different terms? Commercial licences are available, and we can offer other terms upon request.
- You should credit us alongside your other tools (engine, middleware, etc.)
We would love to hear about what you are making! This is not a condition of the Licence, but if you would like to share your project with us or have any questions about this license or our software, please reach out to us at https://yarnspinner.dev or on social media.
If your project has the budget to do so, please consider purchasing a commercial licence. It is not required under this Licence, but it helps us keep developing and supporting Yarn Spinner for everyone.
That's it. Now go make something amazing.
"Software" means the specific Yarn Spinner software, including all source code, object code, documentation, and associated files made available under this Licence.
"Licence" means the Yarn Spinner Public Licence as set out in this document.
"Licensor" means Yarn Spinner Pty. Ltd., a company registered in Tasmania, Australia.
"You" (or "Your") means the individual or Legal Entity exercising permissions granted by this Licence.
"Legal Entity" means the union of the acting entity and all other entities that control, are controlled by, or are under common control with that entity. For the purposes of this definition, "control" means (i) the power, direct or indirect, to cause the direction or management of such entity, whether by contract or otherwise, or (ii) ownership of fifty per cent (50%) or more of the outstanding shares, or (iii) beneficial ownership of such entity.
"Contractor" means any third party, including any contractor, freelancer, or porting service provider, engaged by You to perform work on Your Licensed Product on Your behalf.
"Competing Product" means a software tool, plugin, asset pack, library, framework, or service whose primary purpose is enabling third parties to create one or more of the following:
(a) branching dialogue or conversation systems; (b) non-linear or interactive narrative systems; (c) narrative scripting tools or editors; (d) dialogue tree or conversation editors; (e) interactive fiction, visual novel, or text adventure authoring tools; (f) a compiler, runtime, or interpreter for the Yarn language or any substantially similar language.
The following are not Competing Products:
- a game, application, or other end-user product that includes dialogue or narrative features;
- an internal tool developed and used exclusively within a single Legal Entity and not distributed, sold, licensed, or otherwise made available to third parties; or
- a modified version of the Software that is distributed in compliance with Sections 3.4(c) and 6 of this Licence (a "Public Fork").
"Licensed Product" means any game, application, or other end-user product that incorporates the Software as an embedded component, together with substantial original content, and whose primary purpose is not the redistribution or resale of the Software itself.
Subject to the terms and conditions of this Licence, the Licensor hereby grants You a worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive, non-transferable licence to use, copy, modify, and distribute the Software, subject to the conditions and limitations set out below.
The rights granted in Section 2 are subject to and conditional upon compliance with all of the following conditions. Failure to comply with any condition automatically terminates the rights granted under this Licence, as set out in Section 9.
(a) You must retain the copyright notice set out at the top of this Licence and include a copy of this Licence in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
(b) You must credit Yarn Spinner in a location visible to end users of Your Licensed Product. Acceptable locations include, but are not limited to:
- a launch or splash screen;
- a credits sequence;
- an "about" or "acknowledgements" page; or
- a store listing or product description.
The credit must be placed alongside acknowledgements for other tools and middleware used in the project (such as game engines, sound engines, and similar), where such acknowledgements exist.
(a) You may not use the Software, in whole or in part, to create, develop, distribute, or offer a Competing Product, as defined in Section 1.
(b) For the avoidance of doubt, the following uses are expressly permitted and do not breach this condition, provided they do not constitute or form part of a Competing Product:
- using Yarn Spinner in a game, application, or other end-user product;
- shipping a game or application that incorporates Yarn Spinner;
- creating tutorials, courses, videos, blog posts, documentation, or other educational content about Yarn Spinner;
- building internal tools for Your own team's use, including internal dialogue or narrative tools, provided such tools are not distributed, sold, licensed, or otherwise made available to third parties, except as explicitly permitted in Section 4;
- contributing to Yarn Spinner itself;
- creating and distributing tools, plugins, or assets that extend or integrate with Yarn Spinner, provided that: (i) Your tool requires end users to independently obtain their own licence to Yarn Spinner (whether under this Licence or a commercial licence from the Licensor); (ii) Your tool does not embed, bundle, redistribute, or automatically download the Software for end users; and (iii) Your tool's primary purpose is to extend or support Yarn Spinner, not to replace it.
(a) The rights granted in Section 2 do not include, and You are expressly prohibited from, using the Software, its documentation, or any associated materials to:
- train, fine-tune, or otherwise improve any artificial intelligence system, machine learning model, or large language model;
- include the Software or its documentation in any dataset assembled for the purpose of training AI systems; or
- scrape, extract, or reproduce the Software or its documentation for use in AI code-generation tools or services.
(b) For the avoidance of doubt, the following uses are expressly permitted and do not breach this condition:
- using AI-powered tools to assist You in developing games or applications that use Yarn Spinner;
- using AI-powered tools to assist You in writing Yarn scripts; and
- using AI-powered tools to help You learn how Yarn Spinner works.
(c) Where You use AI-powered tools as permitted under Section 3.3(b), You must take reasonable steps to ensure that such tools do not transmit the Software's source code, documentation, or any substantial portion thereof to any remote server, service, or third party for the purpose of training, fine-tuning, or improving any AI system, machine learning model, or large language model. Reasonable steps include, where available, disabling telemetry, opting out of training data collection, or selecting tool configurations that do not transmit source code for training purposes. For the avoidance of doubt, this condition does not apply to the transmission of Your own original Yarn scripts or Your own original code that calls the Software's public API.
(a) In a Licensed Product. You may distribute the Software in compiled or object-code form as an embedded component of a Licensed Product, including for commercial purposes.
(b) To Your team. You may share the Software (including modified versions) in source-code form with members of Your own Legal Entity or with Contractors working on Your Licensed Product, provided each such person is bound by terms no less restrictive than this Licence.
(c) Public forks. You may publish or otherwise make publicly available a modified version of the Software in source-code form, provided that all of the following conditions are met:
(i) the modified version is distributed solely under this Licence, with no additional or different terms;
(ii) the modified version is made available free of charge and is not sold, sublicensed, or offered as a paid product or service, whether directly or indirectly (including, without limitation, through subscription fees, support contracts bundled with access, or paywalled repositories);
(iii) the modifications were made primarily to address Your own requirements in connection with Your own use of the Software (such as bug fixes, performance improvements, platform adaptations, engine compatibility updates, or localisation support) and the modified version is not actively marketed, branded, or promoted as an alternative to or replacement for the Software; and
(iv) the modified version complies with Section 6.
(d) No standalone distribution. You may not distribute, sell, sublicense, lease, lend, or otherwise make available the unmodified Software as a standalone product, whether in source-code or compiled form. The unmodified Software may only be distributed as an embedded component of a Licensed Product under Section 3.4(a) or shared with Your team under Section 3.4(b).
(e) No other distribution. Except as expressly set out in this Section 3.4, You may not distribute the Software in any form.
(a) You may have a Contractor work on Your Licensed Product on Your behalf, provided that:
(i) the Contractor agrees in writing to be bound by terms no less restrictive than this Licence with respect to the Software;
(ii) the Contractor's use of the Software is solely in connection with work performed for You on Your Licensed Product; and
(iii) You remain responsible for the Contractor's compliance with this Licence.
(b) For the avoidance of doubt, this Section permits console porting houses and similar service providers to access and modify the Software on Your behalf, subject to the conditions above.
(a) You may be subject to additional terms and conditions imposed by third parties in connection with Your use of the Software, including (without limitation) platform holder agreements, console manufacturer NDAs, distribution platform terms, or employer policies ("Additional Terms").
(b) Additional Terms may impose restrictions beyond those set out in this Licence. For example, a console platform holder's NDA may restrict public disclosure of modifications to the Software that incorporate the platform holder's confidential information. Such additional restrictions do not conflict with this Licence.
(c) Additional Terms may not grant rights or permissions that this Licence does not grant. Where Additional Terms purport to permit conduct that this Licence prohibits, this Licence prevails and such conduct remains prohibited.
(d) You are responsible for complying with both this Licence and any applicable Additional Terms. Where the two impose different obligations on the same conduct, You must satisfy both.
You may modify the Software for Your own use, share modified versions with Your team in accordance with Section 3.4(b), and publish modified versions in accordance with Section 3.4(c), provided that:
(a) You include the copyright notice and this Licence in the modified version;
(b) the modified version is not used to create a Competing Product; and
(c) the modified version is not presented in a way that suggests it is the official Yarn Spinner release or is endorsed by the Licensor.
You are not required to share Your modifications with the Licensor or with anyone else. This is not a copyleft licence.
Commercial licences with alternative terms are available from the Licensor. A commercial licence may, for example, modify or remove the attribution, non-competition, or AI training conditions set out above. The availability, terms, and pricing of commercial licences are at the Licensor's discretion. For details, visit https://yarnspinner.dev.
This Licence does not grant permission to use the trade names, trademarks, service marks, or product names of the Licensor, except as required for reasonable and customary use in describing the origin of the Software and fulfilling the attribution requirements of Section 3.1.
(a) This Licence, and all rights granted under it, terminate automatically and immediately if You fail to comply with any of Your obligations under this Licence.
(b) Upon termination, You must cease all use of the Software and destroy all copies in Your possession or control.
(c) Termination does not affect any rights or remedies available to the Licensor at law or in equity, including (without limitation) the right to seek injunctive relief or damages for breach.
(d) If You cure the breach within thirty (30) days of becoming aware of it, and the Licensor has not notified You of termination, the Licence is reinstated retroactively. If the Licensor has notified You of termination, reinstatement is at the Licensor's sole discretion.
THE SOFTWARE 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 NON-INFRINGEMENT. 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 SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
To the extent permitted by the Australian Consumer Law (Schedule 2 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth)), any implied warranties, guarantees, or conditions that cannot be excluded are limited to the maximum extent permitted by law.
To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, in no event shall the Licensor be liable to You for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or any loss of profits or revenue, whether incurred directly or indirectly, or any loss of data, use, goodwill, or other intangible losses, resulting from:
(a) Your use of or inability to use the Software; (b) any modification, suspension, or discontinuance of the Software; or (c) any other matter relating to the Software.
If any provision of this Licence is held to be invalid, illegal, or unenforceable, that provision shall be modified to the minimum extent necessary to make it valid, legal, and enforceable. If modification is not possible, the provision shall be severed from this Licence. The validity and enforceability of the remaining provisions shall not be affected.
This Licence constitutes the entire agreement between You and the Licensor with respect to the licensing of the Software, and supersedes all prior or contemporaneous understandings between You and the Licensor regarding such subject matter.
This Licence is governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Tasmania and the Commonwealth of Australia. Each party irrevocably submits to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Tasmania and the Federal Court of Australia, and courts of appeal from them, in respect of any proceedings arising out of or in connection with this Licence.
The Licensor may publish revised versions of this Licence from time to time. Each version will be given a distinguishing version number. Once the Software has been made available under a particular version of this Licence, You may continue to use it under the terms of that version. The Licensor may also specify that the Software is available under any later version of this Licence published by the Licensor.
Questions? Want to purchase a commercial licence? Visit https://yarnspinner.dev
We made Yarn Spinner because we love narrative games and want to help people tell their stories. Thank you for being part of this community.