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2026

Common Development and Distribution License 1.0

Also known as CDDL-1.0.

Commercial use
allowed
Share alike
required
Attribution
required (keep the copyright and license notices)
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Write this as a license text (needs an account) DALICC reads the model above and writes what it permits, requires and prohibits in plain English. Without an account, the Text download above writes the model out from the vocabulary.

Canonical URI https://dalicc.net/licenselibrary/CommonDevelopmentAndDistributionLicense10

Permissions

  • Change license from the text Replacing the license of the work, or of an adaptation, with another license, or changing its terms.
  • Charge distribution fee from the text Charging a fee for the act of providing a copy of the work to someone else.
  • Commercial use from the text Using the work to generate income, directly or indirectly, for example by selling it or by using it in advertising.
  • Derivative works from the text Distributing an adaptation of the work and making it available to the public.
  • Derive from the text Creating a new work from the work, such as a translation, adaptation or arrangement of it or of a part of it.

    Duties

    • Attribution from the text Giving credit to the copyright holders or authors of the work, in the form the licensor asks for.
    • Modification notice from the text Marking a changed work as changed, saying how it differs from the original and keeping earlier notices of change.
    • Notice from the text Notice: keeping the license and copyright notices with every copy.
    • Share alike from the text Adaptations have to be licensed under the same license or one the license names as compatible.
    • Source code from the text Providing access to the source code of the work with every copy distributed.
  • Display from the text Showing the work to the public without making a copy the viewer keeps.
  • Distribute from the text Providing copies of the work to the public or to anyone else.

    Duties

    • Attribution from the text Giving credit to the copyright holders or authors of the work, in the form the licensor asks for.
    • Notice from the text Notice: keeping the license and copyright notices with every copy.
    • Share alike from the text Adaptations have to be licensed under the same license or one the license names as compatible.
    • Source code from the text Providing access to the source code of the work with every copy distributed.
  • Modified works from the text Distributing a modified version of the work that does not amount to a new, derivative work.
  • Modify from the text Altering the work, for example by updating it, without creating a new work; an alteration that creates a new work is Derive.

    Duties

    • Attribution from the text Giving credit to the copyright holders or authors of the work, in the form the licensor asks for.
    • Modification notice from the text Marking a changed work as changed, saying how it differs from the original and keeping earlier notices of change.
    • Notice from the text Notice: keeping the license and copyright notices with every copy.
    • Share alike from the text Adaptations have to be licensed under the same license or one the license names as compatible.
    • Source code from the text Providing access to the source code of the work with every copy distributed.
  • Patent grant from the text Granting a license under the patent claims that a contributor holds and that the contribution necessarily infringes.
  • Present from the text Performing the work in public, including by broadcast or other communication to the public.
  • Reproduce from the text Making copies of the work in any form.
  • Sublicense from the text Granting a third party rights in the work under a license of the licensee's own, rather than passing on the original license.

Prohibitions

  • Promote from the text Not permitted: Promote. Using the name or trademarks of the licensor or of contributors to endorse or promote a product.

License-wide duties

This license states no duties that apply to the work as a whole.

What applies by default

The statements above are the library's reading of this license: each is marked with the sentence it rests on, or as a library convention where the text is not explicit. The statements below are the ones the DALICC reasoner supplies for acts the license says nothing about, from the default rules of the dependency graph it reasons with. Each one names the legal source it rests on. None of it is in the record.

No default rule of that graph reaches this license: it speaks about every act the rules are about.

Further terms

These are the things the license says about itself beyond the acts it permits, forbids and requires: when it ends, how long there is to put a breach right, which law governs it, and so on. A term that comes from the DALICC vocabulary links to its definition.

Patent license ends if you sue
Yes. Not a ban on suing: a patent claim over the work ends the patent license, or the whole license, as the text provides.

Clauses

Warranty disclaimer

COVERED SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED UNDER THIS LICENSE ON AN “AS IS” BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, WARRANTIES THAT THE COVERED SOFTWARE IS FREE OF DEFECTS, MERCHANTABLE, FIT FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR NON-INFRINGING. THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE COVERED SOFTWARE IS WITH YOU. SHOULD ANY COVERED SOFTWARE PROVE DEFECTIVE IN ANY RESPECT, YOU (NOT THE INITIAL DEVELOPER OR ANY OTHER CONTRIBUTOR) ASSUME THE COST OF ANY NECESSARY SERVICING, REPAIR OR CORRECTION. THIS DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY CONSTITUTES AN ESSENTIAL PART OF THIS LICENSE. NO USE OF ANY COVERED SOFTWARE IS AUTHORIZED HEREUNDER EXCEPT UNDER THIS DISCLAIMER.

Limitation of liability

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES AND UNDER NO LEGAL THEORY, WHETHER TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), CONTRACT, OR OTHERWISE, SHALL YOU, THE INITIAL DEVELOPER, ANY OTHER CONTRIBUTOR, OR ANY DISTRIBUTOR OF COVERED SOFTWARE, OR ANY SUPPLIER OF ANY OF SUCH PARTIES, BE LIABLE TO ANY PERSON FOR ANY INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OF ANY CHARACTER INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, DAMAGES FOR LOST PROFITS, LOSS OF GOODWILL, WORK STOPPAGE, COMPUTER FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION, OR ANY AND ALL OTHER COMMERCIAL DAMAGES OR LOSSES, EVEN IF SUCH PARTY SHALL HAVE BEEN INFORMED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. THIS LIMITATION OF LIABILITY SHALL NOT APPLY TO LIABILITY FOR DEATH OR PERSONAL INJURY RESULTING FROM SUCH PARTY’S NEGLIGENCE TO THE EXTENT APPLICABLE LAW PROHIBITS SUCH LIMITATION. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO THIS EXCLUSION AND LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

Info

Target asset types
Software
Region / jurisdiction
Worldwide
Validity
Perpetual
Source
http://opensource.org/licenses/CDDL-1.0
Legal code
http://opensource.org/licenses/CDDL-1.0
This description is published under
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
Attribution name
SUN Microsystems
SPDX identifier
CDDL-1.0 on the SPDX license list
DALICC identifier
CommonDevelopmentAndDistributionLicense10

This record is published under CC BY 4.0. Credit it as: DALICC License Library, DALICC - Verein zur Förderung der Rechtssicherheit in der Datenbewirtschaftung, https://dalicc.net, CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The license it describes belongs to its publisher.

Use this license

Everything below is generated from this record. Replace the example address with the address of your own work.

JSON sidecar 

{
  "license-uri": "https://dalicc.net/licenselibrary/CommonDevelopmentAndDistributionLicense10",
  "license-title": "Common Development and Distribution License 1.0",
  "spdx-id": "CDDL-1.0",
  "attribution": "Copyright (c) [year] [copyright holder]",
  "asset": null,
  "generated-by": "DALICC"
}

RDF, Turtle 

@prefix cc: <http://creativecommons.org/ns#> .

<https://example.org/my-work>
    cc:license <https://dalicc.net/licenselibrary/CommonDevelopmentAndDistributionLicense10> .

RDF, JSON-LD 

{
  "@context": {
    "cc": "http://creativecommons.org/ns#"
  },
  "@id": "https://example.org/my-work",
  "cc:license": {
    "@id": "https://dalicc.net/licenselibrary/CommonDevelopmentAndDistributionLicense10"
  }
}

HTML attribution 

<p>This work is licensed under <a href="https://dalicc.net/licenselibrary/CommonDevelopmentAndDistributionLicense10" rel="license">Common Development and Distribution License 1.0</a>.</p>

This license asks for attribution, so the credit line is part of it.

Badge DALICC badge for Common Development and Distribution License 1.0

Markdown 

[![License: Common Development and Distribution License 1.0](https://dalicc.net/license-library/CommonDevelopmentAndDistributionLicense10/badge.svg)](https://dalicc.net/license-library/CommonDevelopmentAndDistributionLicense10)

HTML 

<a href="https://dalicc.net/license-library/CommonDevelopmentAndDistributionLicense10"><img src="https://dalicc.net/license-library/CommonDevelopmentAndDistributionLicense10/badge.svg" alt="License: Common Development and Distribution License 1.0"></a>

Review

Status
Reviewed against the license text
Last checked
2026-09-15
Reviewer
Giray Havur
Verdict
corrected during the review
Record changed since this review
yes (version 2, 2026-09-24)
Findings
7 recorded, 3 applied to the record, 3 proposed

The record models the Common Development and Distribution License as a permissive license with source-code and notice duties and a permission to distribute executables under a different license. The file-level reciprocity of sections 3.1 and 3.2 is not modelled, which is the one substantive gap. The SPDX id and both liability clauses were missing and were added.

7 findings

  • minor Rubric 1 spdx:licenseId applied

    Added CDDL-1.0; the title matches the SPDX name exactly.

  • minor Rubric 6 dalicc:WarrantyDisclaimer applied

    Sections 6 and 7 were not recorded. Added both, quoted from the text.

  • major Rubric 5 odrl:duty proposed

    Section 3.1 states: "Any Covered Software that You distribute or otherwise make available in Executable form must also be made available in Source Code form and that Source Code form must be distributed only under the terms of this License", and section 3.2 adds that "The Modifications that You create ... are governed by the terms of this License". That is file-level reciprocity and it is not in the model. The Mozilla Public License 2.0 record, whose text is the direct descendant of this one, carries a license-wide cc:ShareAlike duty and prohibits dalicc:ChangeLicense; this record permits dalicc:ChangeLicense instead. Changing it inverts a permission, so it is left open for the association's decision.

  • minor Rubric 4 odrl:prohibition proposed

    The record has no prohibition at all (one of the six such records named in the family conventions checked before the review). Section 3.4 forbids offering terms that alter the license for Source Code form, which is dalicc:addStatement.

  • gap Rubric 8 vocabulary none

    Sections 2.1(b) and 2.2(b) grant patent licenses and section 6.2 terminates them on patent action. Proposed: dalicc:patentGrant, dalicc:patentRetaliationTermination.

  • minor Rubric 1 dct:publisher proposed

    dct:publisher is the placeholder "N.N." while cc:attributionName says "SUN Microsystems".

  • major Rubric 10 record applied

    Standard-license addition of 2026-09-15, decision 9: the record was corrected against its new siblings and versioned. The review's finding on family consistency and consolidation decision 4: the share-alike duty hung off odrl:distribute and odrl:modify but not off odrl:derive, the record made no patent statement although section 2.1(b) grants one, relicensing was prohibited although section 3.6 lets an Executable go out 'under the terms of a license of Your choice', and dct:publisher was the placeholder 'N.N.'.

Report an issue The review record as JSON The review checks the model against the license text. It is not legal advice.

History

This license model has 2 versions. Version 2 is the one served today; every earlier version keeps its own address, so a conclusion drawn from one of them can still be checked against it.

  1. Version 2 current2026-09-24 Giray Havur

    The content review of 2026-09-15 added 2 clause texts, 1 identification detail and 1 prohibition, removed 1 permission, changed 2 permissions and recorded the review state. Later changes brought it in line with its family and its text in the verification of 2026-09-15 and named the license the record itself is published under.

    View JSON-LD Turtle RDF/XML

    19 changes

    • added dalicc:LiabilityLimitation "UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES AND UNDER NO LEGAL THEORY, WHETHER TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), CONTRACT, OR OTHERWISE, SHALL YOU, THE INITIAL DEVELOPER, ANY OTHER CONTRIBUTOR, OR ANY DISTRIBUTOR OF COVERED SOFTWARE, OR ANY SUPPLIER OF ANY OF SUCH PARTIES, BE LIABLE TO ANY PERSON FOR ANY INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OF ANY CHARACTER INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, DAMAGES FOR LOST PROFITS, LOSS OF GOODWILL, WORK STOPPAGE, COMPUTER FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION, OR ANY AND ALL OTHER COMMERCIAL DAMAGES OR LOSSES, EVEN IF SUCH PARTY SHALL HAVE BEEN INFORMED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. THIS LIMITATION OF LIABILITY SHALL NOT APPLY TO LIABILITY FOR DEATH OR PERSONAL INJURY RESULTING FROM SUCH PARTY’S NEGLIGENCE TO THE EXTENT APPLICABLE LAW PROHIBITS SUCH LIMITATION. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO THIS EXCLUSION AND LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU."

      Review finding Sections 6 and 7 were not recorded. Added both, quoted from the text.

    • added dalicc:WarrantyDisclaimer "COVERED SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED UNDER THIS LICENSE ON AN “AS IS” BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, WARRANTIES THAT THE COVERED SOFTWARE IS FREE OF DEFECTS, MERCHANTABLE, FIT FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR NON-INFRINGING. THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE COVERED SOFTWARE IS WITH YOU. SHOULD ANY COVERED SOFTWARE PROVE DEFECTIVE IN ANY RESPECT, YOU (NOT THE INITIAL DEVELOPER OR ANY OTHER CONTRIBUTOR) ASSUME THE COST OF ANY NECESSARY SERVICING, REPAIR OR CORRECTION. THIS DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY CONSTITUTES AN ESSENTIAL PART OF THIS LICENSE. NO USE OF ANY COVERED SOFTWARE IS AUTHORIZED HEREUNDER EXCEPT UNDER THIS DISCLAIMER."

      Review finding Sections 6 and 7 were not recorded. Added both, quoted from the text.

    • added dalicc:reviewStatus dalicc:Reviewed

      Review state Every record records how far it has come in the editorial workflow and when it was last checked against the legal text.

    • added dalicc:reviewedOn "2026-09-15"^^xsd:date

      Review state Every record records how far it has come in the editorial workflow and when it was last checked against the legal text.

    • removed permission dalicc:ChangeLicense with duties [dalicc:compliantLicense]

      Review decision Review decision 10: sections 3.1 and 3.2 are file-level reciprocity, so the share-alike duty hangs on the acts that trigger it and relicensing is prohibited, aligning the record with the Mozilla Public License 2.0.

    • changed permission odrl:distribute with duties [cc:Notice, cc:ShareAlike, cc:SourceCode]

      was permission odrl:distribute with duties [cc:Notice, cc:SourceCode]

      Review decision Review decision 10: sections 3.1 and 3.2 are file-level reciprocity, so the share-alike duty hangs on the acts that trigger it and relicensing is prohibited, aligning the record with the Mozilla Public License 2.0.

    • changed permission odrl:modify with duties [cc:Attribution, cc:Notice, cc:ShareAlike, cc:SourceCode, dalicc:modificationNotice]

      was permission odrl:modify with duties [cc:Attribution, cc:Notice, cc:SourceCode, dalicc:modificationNotice]

      Review decision Review decision 10: sections 3.1 and 3.2 are file-level reciprocity, so the share-alike duty hangs on the acts that trigger it and relicensing is prohibited, aligning the record with the Mozilla Public License 2.0.

    • added prohibition dalicc:ChangeLicense

      Review decision Review decision 10: sections 3.1 and 3.2 are file-level reciprocity, so the share-alike duty hangs on the acts that trigger it and relicensing is prohibited, aligning the record with the Mozilla Public License 2.0.

    • added spdx:licenseId "CDDL-1.0"

      Review finding Added CDDL-1.0; the title matches the SPDX name exactly.

    • removed dct:publisher "N.N."

      Manual edit The review's finding on family consistency and consolidation decision 4: the share-alike duty hung off odrl:distribute and odrl:modify but not off odrl:derive, the record made no patent statement although section 2.1(b) grants one, relicensing was prohibited although section 3.6 lets an Executable go out 'under the terms of a license of Your choice', and dct:publisher was the placeholder 'N.N.'.

    • added permission dalicc:ChangeLicense

      Manual edit The review's finding on family consistency and consolidation decision 4: the share-alike duty hung off odrl:distribute and odrl:modify but not off odrl:derive, the record made no patent statement although section 2.1(b) grants one, relicensing was prohibited although section 3.6 lets an Executable go out 'under the terms of a license of Your choice', and dct:publisher was the placeholder 'N.N.'.

    • added permission dalicc:patentGrant

      Manual edit The review's finding on family consistency and consolidation decision 4: the share-alike duty hung off odrl:distribute and odrl:modify but not off odrl:derive, the record made no patent statement although section 2.1(b) grants one, relicensing was prohibited although section 3.6 lets an Executable go out 'under the terms of a license of Your choice', and dct:publisher was the placeholder 'N.N.'.

    • changed permission odrl:derive with duties [cc:Attribution, cc:Notice, cc:ShareAlike, cc:SourceCode, dalicc:modificationNotice]

      was permission odrl:derive with duties [cc:Attribution, cc:Notice, cc:SourceCode, dalicc:modificationNotice]

      Manual edit The review's finding on family consistency and consolidation decision 4: the share-alike duty hung off odrl:distribute and odrl:modify but not off odrl:derive, the record made no patent statement although section 2.1(b) grants one, relicensing was prohibited although section 3.6 lets an Executable go out 'under the terms of a license of Your choice', and dct:publisher was the placeholder 'N.N.'.

    • removed prohibition dalicc:ChangeLicense

      Manual edit The review's finding on family consistency and consolidation decision 4: the share-alike duty hung off odrl:distribute and odrl:modify but not off odrl:derive, the record made no patent statement although section 2.1(b) grants one, relicensing was prohibited although section 3.6 lets an Executable go out 'under the terms of a license of Your choice', and dct:publisher was the placeholder 'N.N.'.

    • added permission dalicc:sublicense

      Manual edit Weak-copyleft family alignment of 2026-09-15: the record said nothing about four clauses its text-modelled sibling CDDL-1.1 quotes from the same sentences. Section 2.1(a) grants the right to 'use, reproduce, modify, display, perform, sublicense and distribute the Original Software', which is the sublicensing permission, and grants it 'under intellectual property rights (other than patent or trademark)', which is the promotion prohibition; section 6.2 ends every right granted 'upon 60 days notice' after a patent infringement claim, which is the patent-retaliation prohibition; and section 3.3 requires the distributor to keep 'any notices of licensing or any descriptive text giving attribution to any Contributor', which is the attribution duty on distribution.

    • changed permission odrl:distribute with duties [cc:Attribution, cc:Notice, cc:ShareAlike, cc:SourceCode]

      was permission odrl:distribute with duties [cc:Notice, cc:ShareAlike, cc:SourceCode]

      Manual edit Weak-copyleft family alignment of 2026-09-15: the record said nothing about four clauses its text-modelled sibling CDDL-1.1 quotes from the same sentences. Section 2.1(a) grants the right to 'use, reproduce, modify, display, perform, sublicense and distribute the Original Software', which is the sublicensing permission, and grants it 'under intellectual property rights (other than patent or trademark)', which is the promotion prohibition; section 6.2 ends every right granted 'upon 60 days notice' after a patent infringement claim, which is the patent-retaliation prohibition; and section 3.3 requires the distributor to keep 'any notices of licensing or any descriptive text giving attribution to any Contributor', which is the attribution duty on distribution.

    • added prohibition dalicc:patentRetaliationTermination

      Manual edit Weak-copyleft family alignment of 2026-09-15: the record said nothing about four clauses its text-modelled sibling CDDL-1.1 quotes from the same sentences. Section 2.1(a) grants the right to 'use, reproduce, modify, display, perform, sublicense and distribute the Original Software', which is the sublicensing permission, and grants it 'under intellectual property rights (other than patent or trademark)', which is the promotion prohibition; section 6.2 ends every right granted 'upon 60 days notice' after a patent infringement claim, which is the patent-retaliation prohibition; and section 3.3 requires the distributor to keep 'any notices of licensing or any descriptive text giving attribution to any Contributor', which is the attribution duty on distribution.

    • added prohibition dalicc:promote

      Manual edit Weak-copyleft family alignment of 2026-09-15: the record said nothing about four clauses its text-modelled sibling CDDL-1.1 quotes from the same sentences. Section 2.1(a) grants the right to 'use, reproduce, modify, display, perform, sublicense and distribute the Original Software', which is the sublicensing permission, and grants it 'under intellectual property rights (other than patent or trademark)', which is the promotion prohibition; section 6.2 ends every right granted 'upon 60 days notice' after a patent infringement claim, which is the patent-retaliation prohibition; and section 3.3 requires the distributor to keep 'any notices of licensing or any descriptive text giving attribution to any Contributor', which is the attribution duty on distribution.

    • added dct:license <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/>

      Manual edit Every record is published under CC BY 4.0. cc:license names the record DALICC keeps of that licence; dct:license now names it by the address Creative Commons publishes it at, so that a consumer matching the canonical IRI finds it.

  2. Version 1

    The version this model had before the content review of 2026-09-15.

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Every change names the reason behind it: a finding of the content review, one of its library-wide decisions, the metadata that review wrote onto every record, or a hand edit. None of it is legal advice.

Nothing on this page is legal advice. What a license means is decided by its text; ask a legal advisor before you rely on it.