Public use, clear attribution, protected official identity.

Current status

SORF is using a license overview while the legal model matures.

SORF is currently an early public draft. The project has not yet adopted a final formal legal license for all future uses, and its support structure may evolve over time.

The current license overview explains the intended use boundaries for SORF materials, including public use, attribution, official release integrity, commercial use, project identity, and contributor expectations.

Use of SORF materials

The framework is intended to be useful and reusable.

Unless otherwise stated, SORF encourages people and organizations to read, study, use, reference, and adapt the framework for responsible documentation and organizational planning.

SORF is especially intended to help small organizations improve records, continuity, responsibility clarity, vendor awareness, access references, incident timeline notes, and review routines.

Official releases

Only official SORF channels publish official SORF releases.

Official SORF materials are published through official SORF project channels, including the official SORF GitHub repository, GitHub Releases, the official SORF website, and future approved distribution channels.

Modified copies, forks, translations, summaries, or derivative works must clearly identify themselves as unofficial unless they have been expressly approved as official SORF releases.

Attribution

Credit SORF clearly when referencing or adapting it.

When referencing, adapting, translating, or redistributing SORF materials, attribution should identify the framework and, when practical, the version used.

If you modify, translate, summarize, or adapt SORF materials, make clear that your version is not an official SORF release unless the SORF project has expressly approved that status.

Project identity

The SORF name and official identity are protected separately.

The SORF name, Small Organizations Records Framework name, official project identity, logos, visual marks, domains, and official presentation are separate from permission to use or reference the framework materials.

You may reference SORF truthfully, but you may not present modified materials, derivative projects, translations, tools, services, or commercial offerings as official SORF unless that status has been separately approved in writing.

Commercial use

Commercial redistribution requires care and permission.

SORF is intended to be publicly available for educational, organizational planning, and non-commercial use.

Commercial redistribution, resale, or incorporation into commercial products or paid services requires prior written permission from the SORF project unless expressly permitted by a separate future license or agreement.

No endorsement

Use of SORF does not imply endorsement.

Using, adapting, translating, redistributing, reviewing, or contributing to SORF does not imply endorsement, certification, approval, partnership, sponsorship, or formal recognition.

Any formal endorsement, certification, approval, partnership, sponsorship, or recognition must be separately agreed in writing.

Professional-advice boundary

The license does not change the purpose of the materials.

SORF materials are general educational and organizational planning resources. They are not legal, tax, financial, accounting, insurance, cybersecurity, regulatory, compliance, employment, governance, or incident-response advice.

Adapting or redistributing SORF materials does not turn them into professional advice, certification, audit evidence, compliance proof, security assurance, or operational guarantee.

Template use

Templates may be adapted, but sensitive information must be protected.

SORF templates are designed to help organizations document practical information. They should not be used to store passwords, API keys, MFA recovery codes, private keys, seed phrases, payment card data, confidential customer records, or other sensitive values in unsafe places.

Organizations are responsible for deciding how and where they use, store, protect, review, and share completed templates.

Website code

The website repository may have separate boundaries.

This website is maintained separately from the official SORF framework repository. Website source code, build configuration, design implementation, scripts, and deployment infrastructure may have different licensing or use boundaries than SORF framework materials.

Official SORF framework materials, release packages, templates, and governance files should be obtained from the official SORF repository.