Content policy

OpenFormatDB exists so people can keep opening the files they own. To stay useful and legally sustainable, contributions must respect these rules.

Accepted

• Format descriptions written by contributors (structure, fields, signatures, from files you made or may use).
• Original code (parsers, grammars, converters) under an open license.
• Links to official specifications, standards, external projects, wikis and sample corpora.
• Facts about which tools read, write or convert a format.

Refused

• Copies of paywalled standards or of specifications whose licence forbids redistribution: link to them instead.
• Proprietary SDK or vendor source code, extracted keys, certificates or credentials.
• Tools or instructions whose purpose is to remove DRM or copy protection for copyright infringement.
• Sample files you are not allowed to share, files containing other people’s personal data, and malware.
• Ways to access files, devices or accounts you do not own.

Imported data

Imported snapshots keep their upstream licence (see LICENSE-DATA.md). Grammars and specs under a licence incompatible with CC BY-SA 4.0 (e.g. GPL-only pattern files) are linked, never copied into data/.

Legal basis

Reverse engineering for interoperability is protected in many jurisdictions (e.g. EU Directive 2009/24/EC art. 6, US DMCA §1201(f) and the triennial exemptions). File formats as such are not protected by copyright; specifications and code are. This is not legal advice; contributors are responsible for complying with their local law.

Takedowns

Report a problem by opening an issue labelled policy. Disputed content is hidden pending review.

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Rendered from POLICY.md. Changes go through a pull request like everything else.