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SPDX · all-rights-reserved Proprietary

All Rights Reserved

The default when no licence is granted. Copyright holder retains all rights. Nothing may be done without explicit permission.

Nickname: ARR Steward: Copyleft: Not applicable

“All Rights Reserved” is the default state under modern copyright law for any original work — software, writing, images. No one other than the copyright holder may copy, modify, distribute, or create derivative works without explicit permission.

Paradoxically, publishing code on GitHub without a licence makes it “all rights reserved” by default. Viewers can read it, but cannot legally use it. If your goal is for others to use your work, pick an open-source or Creative Commons licence instead.

If your goal is to keep the work private or commercial-only, add a visible copyright notice — and consider writing a proper EULA if you distribute binaries.

How to apply

Add a visible copyright notice to the work:

Copyright (c) 2026 Author Name. All rights reserved.

Pair with a NOTICE file if distributing. For software distributed to end users, a proper EULA is usually required.

Permissions

  • Private use
    The licensed material may be used and modified in private.

Conditions

  • License and copyright notice
    Include a copy of the license and copyright notice with the material.

Limitations

  • no-derivatives
  • non-commercial-only
  • Commercial use restricted
    Commercial use is restricted or requires a separate commercial agreement.
  • Liability
    This license includes a limitation of liability.
  • Warranty
    This license explicitly states that it does NOT provide any warranty.

Similar licenses

Upgrade path

If you find this license too limited, these are common next steps:

Notable users

  • Any unlicensed codebase
Notice

Informational only

Nothing on yourlicense.ca is legal advice. Confirm with a lawyer before you license anything that matters.

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