OPEN TRIBUTARY IS A WHITEPAPER PROPOSALHelp shape it
opentributary

Your code.
Their products.
You should get paid.

You publish the code that makes other products possible. Open Tributary proposes royalties that return to you when those products earn.

Join the conversation Explore the proposal

Community feedback welcome. The terms are still taking shape.

Follow the current

Code goes out.
Value comes back.

THE PROPOSED FLOWFIG. 01
Products connected to your projectSeven illustrative products, A through G, follow the incoming current toward your project. Products built with your code connect to your project. Switch between royalties returning to you and code flowing outward. This illustrates a proposed model.
Product A
Product B
Product C
Product D
Product E
Product F
Product G
Your project
Illustrative flow · Proposed model
02 / WHERE VALUE RETURNS

Back to the people
who make it possible.

When products built on your work earn, a share would flow back to you—and the maintainers behind the foundations.

Read the draft principles
THE STANDARDOpen Royalty License

The proposed terms for commercial reuse.

THE PROTOCOLOpen Tributary

The proposed route back to creators.

THE STATUSOpen for discussion

Rates, allocation, and enforcement are unresolved.

03 / TWO SIDES OF THE SAME CURRENT

Built by creators.
Made workable together.

FOR CREATORS & MAINTAINERS

A stake in what
your work makes
possible.

Help define royalties that could support the projects you publish and the work of keeping them useful.

  • Attribution follows the code.
  • Distribution should be automatic.
Weigh in as a creator
FOR BUILDERS

A model you can
actually build with.

Clear terms. Understandable costs. A reason to support the original instead of avoiding it. Help us make adoption practical.

USE
Personal use stays free.
TRIGGER
Earnings trigger an obligation.
BASIS
Contributions relate to revenue.
Weigh in as a builder
04 / THE PART WE NEED TO GET RIGHT

A fair idea has to
survive hard questions.

This is a whitepaper proposal. We’re sharing the assumptions, the flaws, and the places it could break. Challenge them with us.

01What if someone rebuilds your code from scratch?02Should an AI rewrite still credit the original?03Does a button earn as much as an entire system?04How do we know whose work created the value?05How would royalties actually get collected?
Read all the flaws and limitations
LET’S BUILD THIS TOGETHER

A better deal
starts with you.

Publish code others build on? Help shape what royalties could mean for your project.

Join the conversation Challenge the proposal