Licensing, ownership, and attribution

Selected license#

The original explanatory prose, mathematical exposition, and authored diagrams are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). Original executable examples, tests, build scripts, and website implementation are licensed under MIT. The repository's LICENSE and LICENSES/MIT.txt identify their respective scopes.

CC BY is a strong fit for the requested scientific purpose: others can study, share, translate, adapt, and build upon the paper while retaining the required attribution and license information. Commercial reuse is permitted. The author does not have to surrender copyright to grant those permissions. L01

Attribution#

The identified originator and author is Llewellyn van der Merwe; the publisher is Vast Development Method; the work is Vast Development Method Theory; the publication URL is https://theory.vdm.io.

Reuse of licensed material must comply with CC BY's requirements, including appropriate attribution, license information, and an indication of modifications. Attribution must not imply endorsement. The suggested citation and CITATION.cff make this easier without adding restrictions beyond the license. L01

What ownership means here#

The license covers copyrightable expression in the paper and its original diagrams. It does not create an exclusive right over a mathematical fact, an abstract idea, or an independently implemented method merely by naming it. Official copyright guidance distinguishes expression from ideas and methods; the precise legal treatment can vary by jurisdiction. L02

Scientific citation remains the appropriate scholarly practice when using or discussing the framework. Copyright cannot guarantee that every person who independently implements an algorithm will be legally required to cite a paper they did not copy. The publication does not promise that outcome.

Why not a no-derivatives or noncommercial restriction?#

A no-derivatives restriction would obstruct translations and adapted teaching materials. A noncommercial restriction would impede reuse in commercial research and engineering. Neither matches the stated goal of broad reimplementation and extension as well as attribution-based reuse.

A share-alike license could require adapted documentation to remain similarly licensed, but the user prioritized attribution and reuse rather than controlling every downstream documentation license. CC BY is the selected balance. This is a publication-policy choice, not a claim that one license is optimal for every author.

Code and upstream material#

The MIT reference model is an original, deliberately small implementation of the abstract contracts. It is not copied JCB source. JCB links and brief discussion do not relicense JCB; its source headers and GPL terms remain authoritative for reuse of that implementation.

Third-party browser libraries retain their own licenses and notices. The build records their versions and acquisition integrity. VDM logos are excluded from the prose/code licenses and are used to identify this official publication; no permission to impersonate the publisher is granted.

Irrevocability and review#

CC BY permissions are not a revocable permission slip for compliant users. Publication should therefore be deliberate. The controlling legal code, not this explanation, determines the license terms. Questions about patents, trademarks, national-law enforcement, or a specific commercial dispute require appropriate professional advice; this paper does not adjudicate them. L01