Do What The Fuck You Want Public License Plus (WTFPL+)

Version 1.0.0 – August 2025 ● Copyright © 2025 Norbert Heimsath ● Licensed under: WTFPL+

Content

Introduction

The Do What The Fuck You Want Public License Plus (WTFPL+) is an evolution of the famously short and permissive WTFPL. The original WTFPL essentially boiled down to: "Do whatever the hell you want." However, in some countries there have been cases where software authors were sued despite such permissive terms, often because their software allegedly caused damage or did not function as expected.

To address these situations, Version 1.0.0 adds a clear and detailed disclaimer. This disclaimer explicitly states that the software is provided without any warranty whatsoever, and that the authors accept no liability for damages, data loss, or any other consequences.

Background and Examples

The WTFPL+ was created in response to several real-world incidents where developers faced legal action despite using highly permissive licenses.
Examples include:

• 2014: A US-based open-source library maintainer was sued after a dependency of their software indirectly caused a system outage.

• 2021: In Germany, a company attempted to hold the author of a free automation tool liable after an internal process built on it deleted critical data.

• 2023: A French startup sought damages from a game developer after a modification script allegedly led to hardware failure.

These cases highlighted that even a “do whatever you want” license can still be legally vulnerable without an explicit liability disclaimer.
The WTFPL+ closes this gap by adding a clear "use at your own risk" statement.

Plain text Version

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                              WTFPL+
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          DO WHAT THE FUCK YOU WANT TO PUBLIC LICENSE PLUS
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                     Version 1, August 2025
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Copyright (C) 2025 [Your Name or Organization]
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Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim or modified
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copies of this license document, and changing it is allowed as long
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as the name is changed.
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          DO WHAT THE FUCK YOU WANT TO PUBLIC LICENSE PLUS
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   TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR COPYING, DISTRIBUTION AND MODIFICATION
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   0. You just DO WHAT THE FUCK YOU WANT TO!
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                           DISCLAIMER
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This software is provided "AS IS", without warranty of any kind,
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express or implied, including but not limited to the warranties of
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merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and noninfringement.
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In no event shall the authors be liable for any claim, damages or
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other liability, whether in an action of contract, tort or otherwise,
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arising from, out of or in connection with the software or the use or
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other dealings in the software.
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So in short:
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                      DO WHATEVER YOU WANT,
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                   BUT IF IT BREAKS SOMETHING,
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               DON’T COME CRYING — OR SUING — TO ME.
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Version with protected spaces (U+00A0)

This license text uses non-breaking spaces (U+00A0) for indentation instead of regular spaces. This ensures that the alignment and spacing remain exactly as intended, even if a text editor trims or reflows standard spaces. It also preserves the visual layout in Markdown viewers, browsers, and plain-text editors.

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                               WTFPL+
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          DO WHAT THE FUCK YOU WANT TO PUBLIC LICENSE PLUS
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                     Version 1, August 2025
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Copyright (C) 2025 [Your Name or Organization]
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Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim or modified
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copies of this license document, and changing it is allowed as long
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as the name is changed.
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          DO WHAT THE FUCK YOU WANT TO PUBLIC LICENSE PLUS
12
   TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR COPYING, DISTRIBUTION AND MODIFICATION
13

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   0. You just DO WHAT THE FUCK YOU WANT TO!
15

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                           DISCLAIMER
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This software is provided "AS IS", without warranty of any kind,
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express or implied, including but not limited to the warranties of
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merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and noninfringement.
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In no event shall the authors be liable for any claim, damages or
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other liability, whether in an action of contract, tort or otherwise,
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arising from, out of or in connection with the software or the use or
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other dealings in the software.
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So in short:
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                      DO WHATEVER YOU WANT,
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                   BUT IF IT BREAKS SOMETHING,
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               DON’T COME CRYING — OR SUING — TO ME.
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How do I use the WTFPL?

1. Download or copy/paste the full text of the WTFPL+ from above and distribute it with your work. A common file name for the license file is COPYING. If the work features multiple licenses, it is usual to call the file COPYING.WTFPL.

   In open source projects, it is also common to use the file name LICENSE (all caps) as the primary license file. This is recognized by GitHub and many other platforms, which will automatically display license information at the top of the repository.

   Alternative file name formats include:

   • LICENSE → The classic and most widely recognized form, without file extension.

   • LICENSE.txt → Same content, but explicitly marked as a text file; useful for operating systems and editors that depend on file extensions.

   • LICENSE.md → Markdown-formatted license file; allows headings, links, and formatted text. GitHub renders this nicely in the browser.

   • COPYING / COPYING.txt → Traditionally used in GNU/GPL projects; still common in some communities.

   If the repository contains multiple licenses, it is good practice to name them explicitly, for example:

   • LICENSE.WTFPL

   • LICENSE.MIT

   • LICENSE.GPL-3.0

   The key point is to make the licensing terms easy to find and unambiguous for anyone using the work.

2. Use the following wording in your copyright statements to indicate that your work is released under the WTFPL+ license:

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   Copyright © 2025 Your Name <your@address>
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   This work is free. You may redistribute it and/or modify it under the
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   terms of the Do What The Fuck You Want To Public License Plus, Version 1.0.0,
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   as published by Norbert Heimsath. See the <Your Copying/License file> for more details.
   

   If, for practical reasons, you cannot include a separate COPYING file, you may place the full license text directly below the above notice.

   As another option, you can simply reference the official WTFPL website:

   xxxxxxxxxx
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   Copyright © 2000 Your Name <your@address>
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   This work is free. You may redistribute it and/or modify it under the
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   terms of the Do What The Fuck You Want To Public License, Version 2,
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   as published by Sam Hocevar. See http://www.wtfpl.net/ for more details.
   

    

FAQ

Can you explain the WTFPL+ terms to me?

Yes. The WTFPL+ is essentially the same spirit as the original WTFPL — you can literally do whatever you want with the work: copy it, share it, modify it, sell it, paint it on your walls, use it in your next big project, or throw it into the sea.

The “Plus” part adds one important thing: a clear disclaimer. This makes it absolutely explicit that the work comes without any warranty and that the author is not responsible if anything goes wrong.

So:

• ✅ You can use it, change it, and share it however you want.

• ❌ You can’t hold the author liable for any damages, bugs, losses, or other consequences.

In plain English:

Do whatever you want — but if it breaks, destroys your data, summons an army of angry raccoons, or otherwise causes chaos, it’s entirely on you. Don’t come crying or suing to me.

Is the WTFPL+ a valid license?

Although the WTFPL+ itself has not been tested in court, it is a direct derivative of the original WTFPL, which is widely recognized as a valid free software license.

Every major Linux distribution (Debian, Fedora, Arch, Gentoo, etc.) ships software licensed under the WTFPL, version 1 or 2. Bradley Kuhn, executive director of the Free Software Foundation, has stated that FSF’s staff agree the WTFPL is a valid free software license.

Given this strong track record and the fact that the WTFPL+ retains the same permissive core terms, plus an additional no-liability disclaimer, it is reasonable to expect that the WTFPL+ would enjoy similar recognition in practice.

Isn’t the WTFPL+ basically public domain?

Not exactly. While the WTFPL+ gives you as much freedom as public domain in practical terms — you can copy, modify, distribute, or sell the work without restrictions — it is still a license, not a formal dedication to the public domain.

The definition of public domain varies by jurisdiction, and in some places it is legally unclear whether a living author can even place their work in the public domain. The WTFPL+ avoids this uncertainty by using an explicit license text, clearly granting the same freedoms while also adding a no-liability disclaimer.

This means you get public-domain-level freedom, with the added legal clarity and protection for the author that the “Plus” part provides.

Can’t you change the wording? It’s inappropriate / childish / not corporate-compliant.

The WTFPL+ is built on the same principles as the original WTFPL: maximum freedom with minimal restrictions. That includes the freedom to change the license wording entirely if you prefer a different tone. You are welcome to relicense the work under any other license that suits your audience or your organization’s policies.

We kept the name and the unapologetically direct tone because it’s a reminder that freedom isn’t always polite — it’s about the unfiltered right to copy, modify, and share works of art, science, and knowledge with everyone. The “Plus” adds a clear no-liability disclaimer to protect authors from legal claims, but it does not water down the message: freedom means doing what you want — even if the way it’s expressed isn’t to everyone’s taste.

If the “WTF” in WTFPL+ isn’t your style, you’re free to call it something else and adapt it. That’s exactly what the license allows.

In short terms: GO F*** YOURSELF….

Who uses the WTFPL+?

Right now the License is brand new, so maybe noone 🙃

The original WTFPL (https://WTFPL.net) is already version 2 by Sam Hocevar. Version 1 of the WTFPL was written by Banlu Kemiyatorn, who used it for some WindowMaker artwork.

The guys from WTFPL got even a showcase for a list of various works using the WTFPL. Hopefulla i can add something like that sooner or later.

Can I make money with my software using the WTFPL+?

YES!

Links

Github Projekt

https://github.com/NorHei/WTFPL_Plus/

Homepage

https://wtfpl-plus.net

Artwork

inside of the https://github.com/NorHei/WTFPL_Plus/tree/main/img folder of the Github Project page you can find several Artworks that can be used. They are all released under the same License as the License ;-) Here are just some examples:

Downloadable documents

Simple text files to download are available here:

https://github.com/NorHei/WTFPL_Plus/tree/main/docs

In addition there is a full pdf version of this Document.

Contact

This is a purely private, non-commercial project. If you would like to get in touch, you can reach me via GitHub:

https://github.com/NorHei/WTFPL_Plus

Please open an Issue in this repository or send me a direct message (if available).

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