# VCV Rack Licenses

All VCV Rack **source code** is copyright © 2019 Andrew Belt and licensed under the [GNU General Public License v3.0](LICENSE-GPLv3.txt) with the "VCV Rack Non-Commercial Plugin License Exception", allowed under section 7 of GPLv3, and a commercial licensing option.

>#### VCV Rack Non-Commercial Plugin License Exception
>
>A Plugin is defined as a software library intended to be linked and executed by this software.
>
>You are granted the permission to use this software's Application Programming Interface (API) in your Plugin in source and binary forms, as well as link to this software with the Plugin, regardless of the Plugin's license terms even if it would otherwise violate the terms of this software's GPLv3, provided that the Plugin is distributed free of charge.
>
>Derived works of this software may keep or omit this Exception.

This means that non-commercial plugins do not need to be licensed under the GPLv3 and can be released under any license of your choice (open-source or proprietary freeware). However, plugins that copy a significant portion of non-API source code from Rack must be licensed under GPLv3.

If you wish to release a proprietary commercial plugin, email contact@vcvrack.com for commercial licensing. A commercial license is included for plugins sold in the [VCV Plugin Manager](https://vcvrack.com/plugins.html).

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Licenses of **third-party libraries** are listed in [LICENSE-dist.txt](LICENSE-dist.txt).

The **Component Library graphics** in the `res/ComponentLibrary` directory are copyright © 2019 [Grayscale](http://grayscale.info/) and licensed under [CC BY-NC 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).
You may not freely sell plugins using Component Library graphics.
However, a free commercial license is available for plugins sold through the [VCV Plugin Manager](https://vcvrack.com/plugins.html).
Email contact@vcvrack.com for more information about licensing or the VCV Plugin Manager.

The **Core panel graphics** in the `res/Core` directory are copyright © 2019 [Grayscale](http://grayscale.info/) and licensed under [CC BY-NC-ND 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
You may not distribute modified adaptations of these graphics.

The **VCV logo and icon** are copyright © 2017 Andrew Belt and may not be used in derivative works.

The **"VCV" name** is trademarked and may not be used for unofficial products.
However, it is acceptable to use the phrase "for VCV Rack" for promotion of your Rack plugin.
For all other purposes, email contact@vcvrack.com.