Who owns Ampersand?

The philosophy of Ampersand is that anyone can use it for free, while recognizing the contribution of all the authors. For this purpose the Ampersand project is not owned by anyone, the repos do have owners, and authors retain their own legal copyright.

All Ampersand repositories are hosted on GitHub/AmpersandTarski. They are being managed by Stef Joosten, Han Joosten, and Michiel Stornebrink. Authorship of code and documentation is traceable in github.

• The Ampersand compiler and its documentation reside in the Ampersand repository.
• The prototype framework and its documentation reside in the Prototype repository.
• The tool RAP and its documentation reside in the RAP repository.

To ensure that users can feel free to use Ampersand without headaches and no string attached, we have taken the following measures:

• The repositories Ampersand, RAP, and Prototype are licenced with the GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE, Version 3 of 29 June 2007 (aka GPL).
• Stef Joosten owns the repository Ampersand and RAP, while the authorship of its contents lies with the authors as registered in GitHub.
• Michiel Stornebrink owns the repository Prototype, while the authorship of its contents lies with the authors as registered in GitHub.
• The copyright of the contents of repositories lies with the individual authors.
• The Ampersand compiler and the prototype framework are importing, directly or indirectly, only software that is freely usable, ensuring that users of products generated by Ampersand do not inadvertedly infringe any commercial rights.
• Contributors to the Ampersand project subscribe to this ownership philosophy.
• Contributors to the Ampersand project waive their financial rights on their contributions.
• Contributors to the Ampersand project receive no financial compensation from the Ampersand project for their efforts from the Ampersand project.
• Users of Ampersand are free to charge their own customers for their own efforts. There is nothing wrong with earning a living by using Ampersand.