Licence

Last updated: 7 September 2026

Board Game Clubs is open source. This page summarises the licence in plain English. The full, legally binding text lives in the LICENSE file in the repository. If anything here conflicts with that file, the LICENSE file wins.

The short version

The site’s source code is licensed under the MIT License with the Commons Clause condition added. In plain terms:

You can use it, copy it, modify it, run your own version, and share your changes.
You can’t sell it as a product or service. Hosting it for a fee or charging others to use it on your behalf isn’t allowed.
You must keep the copyright and licence notice in any copies or derivatives.
There’s no warranty. The software is provided “as is”.
The club and event data is separate. It’s licensed under CC BY 4.0: anyone can reuse it as long as they credit BoardGameClubs.org.

What the MIT License gives you

The MIT License is one of the most permissive open-source licences in common use. Under it, anyone is free to:

Use the software, for any purpose.
Copy and distribute it.
Modify it and distribute modified versions.
Include it in larger works (including commercial ones, subject to the Commons Clause below).
Sublicense it.

The only condition: the copyright notice and the licence text must be included with any copies or substantial portions of the software.

What the Commons Clause restricts

The Commons Clause adds one restriction on top of MIT: you cannot Sell the software.

In the licence’s words, “Sell” means using the rights granted by the MIT License to provide the software to others for a fee or other consideration, including hosting it for paying customers, or selling consulting / support services whose value comes substantially from this software.

In practical terms:

Running your own free copy of the directory for your local community: fine.
Forking the code and submitting improvements: fine.
Embedding small pieces in a larger project: fine.
Spinning up a paid, hosted version of this directory and charging users or clubs to be listed: not allowed without permission.

The Commons Clause is a published, standard text maintained by Fossa. It’s intentionally narrow: it only restricts selling, not using or modifying.

Club and event data

The club and event listings (the files in _clubs/ and _events/, and the JSON feeds at /api/clubs.json and /api/events.json) are contributed by the community and licensed separately from the code, under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0).

That means you can copy, share, and adapt the listings for any purpose, including commercial ones, as long as you:

Give credit. Name BoardGameClubs.org as the source and link back to the site.
Link to the licence. Point to CC BY 4.0.
Say if you changed anything. Note any edits you made to the data.

A suggested attribution: “Club and event data from BoardGameClubs.org, licensed under CC BY 4.0.”

The Commons Clause above applies to the software only. It does not restrict use of the data.

By submitting or editing a listing, whether through a GitHub form, a pull request, or any other route, you agree that your contribution is published under CC BY 4.0.

Club and event logos in assets/images/ belong to their respective clubs and organisers and are not covered by either licence.

If you’re a club organiser and want to update or remove your listing, see the contribute page or open a GitHub issue.

Third-party software and assets

The site uses a number of third-party open-source libraries (Leaflet, Leaflet.MarkerCluster, Lucide icons, Jekyll, and others). Each is used under its own licence. See the package files in the repository for the full list.

No warranty

The software is provided “as is”, without warranty of any kind, express or implied. The authors and copyright holders are not liable for any claim or damages arising from the use of the software. See the LICENSE file for the full disclaimer.

Contact

If you have a question about the licence, or want to use the software in a way that the Commons Clause might restrict, please open an issue on GitHub.