GNU Free Documentation License v1.2 or later

Also known as GFDL 1.2 or later, GFDL-1.2+, GFDL-1.2-or-later, GNU FDL 1.2 or later.

Commercial use: allowed
Share alike: required
Attribution: required (keep the copyright and license notices)

Compare with… Add to the compatibility check Download JSON-LD Turtle RDF/XML Text

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/GFDL-1.2-or-later

Permissions

Charge distribution fee from the text
Commercial use from the text
Derivative works from the text
Derive from the text
Duties
- Attribution from the text
- Modification notice from the text
- Notice from the text
- Rename from the text
- Source code from the text
Display from the text
Distribute from the text
Duties
- Attribution from the text
- Notice from the text
- Source code from the text
Modified works from the text
Modify from the text
Duties
- Attribution from the text
- Modification notice from the text
- Notice from the text
- Rename from the text
- Source code from the text
Present from the text
Reproduce from the text

Prohibitions

Apply technical protection measures from the text
Change license from the text
Promote from the text
Sublicense from the text

License-wide duties

Share alike from the text

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.

Or later version option: Yes
Sublicense survival: Yes
Terminates on breach: Yes

Clauses

Warranty disclaimer

The Document may include Warranty Disclaimers next to the notice which states that this License applies to the Document. These Warranty Disclaimers are considered to be included by reference in this License, but only as regards disclaiming warranties: any other implication that these Warranty Disclaimers may have is void and has no effect on the meaning of this License.

Additional clauses

If you publish printed copies (or copies in media that commonly have printed covers) of the Document, numbering more than 100, and the Document's license notice requires Cover Texts, you must enclose the copies in covers that carry, clearly and legibly, all these Cover Texts: Front-Cover Texts on the front cover, and Back-Cover Texts on the back cover. Both covers must also clearly and legibly identify you as the publisher of these copies. The front cover must present the full title with all words of the title equally prominent and visible. You may add other material on the covers in addition. Copying with changes limited to the covers, as long as they preserve the title of the Document and satisfy these conditions, can be treated as verbatim copying in other respects. If the required texts for either cover are too voluminous to fit legibly, you should put the first ones listed (as many as fit reasonably) on the actual cover, and continue the rest onto adjacent pages.

Info

Target asset types: Creative work (i.e. text, picture, sound, movie), Software
Region / jurisdiction: Worldwide
Validity: Perpetual
Source: https://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/fdl-1.2.html
Legal code: https://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/fdl-1.2.html
This description is published under: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
Publisher: Free Software Foundation
SPDX identifier: GFDL-1.2-or-later on the SPDX license list
DALICC identifier: GFDL-1.2-or-later

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/GFDL-1.2-or-later",
  "license-title": "GNU Free Documentation License v1.2 or later",
  "spdx-id": "GFDL-1.2-or-later",
  "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/GFDL-1.2-or-later> .

RDF, JSON-LD

{
  "@context": {
    "cc": "http://creativecommons.org/ns#"
  },
  "@id": "https://example.org/my-work",
  "cc:license": {
    "@id": "https://dalicc.net/licenselibrary/GFDL-1.2-or-later"
  }
}

HTML attribution

<p>This work is licensed under <a href="https://dalicc.net/licenselibrary/GFDL-1.2-or-later" rel="license">GNU Free Documentation License v1.2 or later</a>.</p>

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

Badge

Markdown

[![License: GNU Free Documentation License v1.2 or later](https://dalicc.net/license-library/GFDL-1.2-or-later/badge.svg)](https://dalicc.net/license-library/GFDL-1.2-or-later)

HTML

<a href="https://dalicc.net/license-library/GFDL-1.2-or-later"><img src="https://dalicc.net/license-library/GFDL-1.2-or-later/badge.svg" alt="License: GNU Free Documentation License v1.2 or later"></a>

Review

Written from the license text by: Giray Havur
Written on: 2026-09-22
Second review: not yet done
Record changed since this review: yes (version 2, 2026-09-24)
Findings: 12 recorded, 10 applied to the record, 0 proposed

The record models the or-later reading of version 1.2 of the GNU Free Documentation License. The legal text is the same document as GFDL-1.2-only, so the record copies that record statement for statement and changes the identifier, the SPDX identifier, the title, the alternative names and dalicc:orLaterVersionOption, which is true here. dalicc:variantKind "version-option" and dalicc:variantOf point back at GFDL-1.2-only. Read the review of GFDL-1.2-only for what every statement is based on.

12 findings

info Rubric 1 spdx:licenseId applied

File name, identifier, SPDX identifier and the local name of the IRI are the same string, GFDL-1.2-or-later. SPDX gives the or-later reading an identifier of its own, which is why it is a record of its own.
info Rubric 2 odrl:target applied

The odrl:target of GFDL-1.2-only is copied unchanged: one odrl:AssetCollection of dct:type dalicc:CreativeWork and dcmitype:Software.
major Rubric 3 dalicc:orLaterVersionOption applied

Section 10 states: "If the Document specifies that a particular numbered version of this License "or any later version" applies to it, you have the option of following the terms and conditions either of that specified version or of any later version that has been published (not as a draft) by the Free Software Foundation." That sentence is the whole difference between this record and GFDL-1.2-only. The clause is quoted in dalicc:additionalClauses because the base record quotes it there.
info Rubric 3 odrl:permission applied

Every permission of GFDL-1.2-only is copied with the same duties in the same places: dalicc:chargeDistributionFee, odrl:reproduce, odrl:distribute, odrl:display, odrl:present, odrl:modify, dalicc:ModifiedWorks, odrl:derive, cc:DerivativeWorks and cc:CommercialUse.
info Rubric 4 odrl:prohibition applied

The four prohibitions of GFDL-1.2-only are copied: dalicc:ChangeLicense, dalicc:applyTechnicalProtectionMeasures, dalicc:promote and dalicc:sublicense.
info Rubric 5 odrl:duty applied

The license-wide cc:ShareAlike duty is copied, as are cc:Attribution, cc:Notice and cc:SourceCode on distribute, modify and derive and dalicc:modificationNotice and dalicc:rename on modify and derive.
info Rubric 6 dalicc:WarrantyDisclaimer applied

The Warranty Disclaimers paragraph of section 1 is copied verbatim from GFDL-1.2-only, and so are the ten quoted clauses. Version 1.2 gives no limitation of liability, so dalicc:LiabilityLimitation is absent here as well.
info Rubric 7 cc:jurisdiction applied

cc:jurisdiction dalicc:worldwide, dalicc:validityType dalicc:perpetual, dalicc:terminatesOnBreach true and dalicc:sublicenseSurvival true are copied from the base record. cc:legalcode and dct:source point at the same text as the base record, because the text is the same document.
gap Rubric 8 dalicc:variantOf applied

dalicc:variantOf is not defined in the vocabulary yet, so the validator reports it as an undefined DALICC term, and the value "version-option" is not in the list of variant kinds the vocabulary comment gives. Both are needed for a record that keeps the text of another record and changes what that text grants or requires.
gap Rubric 8 dalicc:additionalClauses none

The vocabulary gaps of the base record are inherited: the Invariant Sections, the Cover Texts, the Transparent copy, the History section and the preservation of Warranty Disclaimers have no term. Proposed terms dalicc:invariantSections, dalicc:coverTexts, dalicc:transparentCopy and dalicc:historySection, with the clauses quoted.
info Rubric 9 record none

The consistency check of app.services.composer with the axioms of dg_default returned an empty conflict list, the same result as for GFDL-1.2-only.
info Rubric 10 record applied

Against GFDL-1.2-only the record differs in the identifier, the SPDX identifier, the title, the four alternative names, dalicc:orLaterVersionOption, dalicc:variantKind and the new dalicc:variantOf relation, and in nothing else.

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.

Version 2 current2026-09-24 Giray Havur

The changes since version 1 recorded which sentence of the text each statement rests on, named the license the record itself is published under and removed the quotes that do not name the act they support.

View version 2 JSON-LD Turtle RDF/XML
12 changes
- changed duty cc:ShareAlike
  
  was duty cc:ShareAlike
  
  Manual edit The statement now quotes the sentence of the licence text it rests on: "You may copy and distribute a Modified Version of the Document under the conditions of sections 2 and 3 above, provided that you release the Modified Version under precisely this License, with the Modified Version filling the role of the Document, thus licensing distribution and modification of the Modified Version to whoever possesses a copy of it."
- changed permission cc:CommercialUse
  
  was permission cc:CommercialUse
  
  Manual edit The statement now quotes the sentence of the licence text it rests on: "However, you may accept compensation in exchange for copies."
- changed permission dalicc:ModifiedWorks
  
  was permission dalicc:ModifiedWorks
  
  Manual edit The statement now quotes the sentence of the licence text it rests on: "However, you may accept compensation in exchange for copies."
- changed permission dalicc:chargeDistributionFee
  
  was permission dalicc:chargeDistributionFee
  
  Manual edit The statement now quotes the sentence of the licence text it rests on: "However, you may accept compensation in exchange for copies."
- changed permission odrl:modify with duties [cc:Attribution, cc:Notice, cc:SourceCode, dalicc:modificationNotice, dalicc:rename]
  
  was permission odrl:modify with duties [cc:Attribution, cc:Notice, cc:SourceCode, dalicc:modificationNotice, dalicc:rename]
  
  Manual edit The statement now quotes the sentence of the licence text it rests on: "However, you may accept compensation in exchange for copies."
- changed permission odrl:reproduce
  
  was permission odrl:reproduce
  
  Manual edit The statement now quotes the sentence of the licence text it rests on: "However, you may accept compensation in exchange for copies."
- changed prohibition dalicc:ChangeLicense
  
  was prohibition dalicc:ChangeLicense
  
  Manual edit The statement now quotes the sentence of the licence text it rests on: "You may copy and distribute the Document in any medium, either commercially or noncommercially, provided that this License, the copyright notices, and the license notice saying this License applies to the Document are reproduced in all copies, and that you add no other conditions whatsoever to those of this License."
- changed prohibition dalicc:applyTechnicalProtectionMeasures
  
  was prohibition dalicc:applyTechnicalProtectionMeasures
  
  Manual edit The statement now quotes the sentence of the licence text it rests on: "You may not use technical measures to obstruct or control the reading or further copying of the copies you make or distribute."
- changed prohibition dalicc:promote
  
  was prohibition dalicc:promote
  
  Manual edit The statement now quotes the sentence of the licence text it rests on: "M. Delete any section Entitled "Endorsements"."
- changed prohibition dalicc:sublicense
  
  was prohibition dalicc:sublicense
  
  Manual edit The statement now quotes the sentence of the licence text it rests on: "You may not copy, modify, sublicense, or distribute the Document except as expressly provided for under this License."
- 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.
- changed prohibition dalicc:ChangeLicense
  
  was prohibition dalicc:ChangeLicense
  
  Manual edit Removed the quoted evidence of prohibition dalicc:ChangeLicense: the quoted sentence does not name the act. The statements stay, read from the text without a linked quote.
Version 1

Created from the license text on 2026-09-22 (GNU copyleft family (GPL, LGPL, AGPL, FDL)).

View version 1 JSON-LD Turtle RDF/XML

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.