Answers.Body: <p>It sounds like what you want is a free database which is not copyrighted and not licensed. The best one I know of that fits that bill is <a href="http://caissabase.co.uk/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Caissabase</a>. It is a free download with no license and this explicit statement of no copyright:</p>
  <blockquote>
  <p><strong>Legal/Copyright</strong>
  Where I live facts are not copyrightable, Chess moves played in a game are facts.</p>
  <p>You'll notice there are no comments on any of the games as comments are copyrightable.</p>
  </blockquote>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2020-12-04T00:01:33.493Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2020-12-04T00:01:33.493Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Brian Towers
Answers.Body: <p>I don´t think chess games are copyrightable, as they´re just a collection of facts, so games of chess are not considered by the courts to be anyone´s property.  I would say that you are free to comercially reproduce a game, as long it´s just that, the moves played in that game.</p>
  <p>To put in perspective, if you took a screenshot of the result of a videogame, for example Civilization, or if you recorded a song in Guitar Hero, then that would be the intellectual property of the creating videogame company.  Following that pattern, any PGN would be the legal property of whoever invented chess, but I believe the copyright may have expired by now.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2020-12-04T00:05:00.563Z
Answers.Text: I disagree. Some games are really creative. I expect they would be considered a joint work of both players. _Creating_ the PGN would not produce copyright, as you are only recording the moves of the game (I'm assuming there are no annotations), but the game itself _might_ be copyrightable. A game is a sequence of moves, just as a novel is a sequence of words. But they can be beautiful, ugly, non-sensical... and perhaphs copyrightable
Answers.UserDisplayName: Ángel
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2020-12-04T00:08:28.597Z
Answers.Text: They´re beautful indeed, but in the mind of the beholder. And for practical purposes, what is the game itself if not a sequence of reproducible events?
Answers.UserDisplayName: SharkCaller
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2020-12-03T23:47:12.820Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2020-12-03T23:47:12.820Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: SharkCaller
Body: <p>What chess databases allow commercial use without having to reveal source code as part of their license? I see a few chess databases online, even the huge databases on lichess. I wonder which of these can be used as part of a commercial project without having to worry about licenses and unfair usage.</p>
  
Tags: <software><database>
Title: What are some of the chess databases in the public domain that can be used for commercial purpose?
ThreadText: # What are some of the chess databases in the public domain that can be used for commercial purpose?
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2020-12-03)
  
  What chess databases allow commercial use without having to reveal source code as part of their license? I see a few chess databases online, even the huge databases on lichess. I wonder which of these can be used as part of a commercial project without having to worry about licenses and unfair usage.
  
  **Tags:** software, database
  
  
  ---
  
  ## 2 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_1 on 2020-12-04. Score: 3
  
  It sounds like what you want is a free database which is not copyrighted and not licensed. The best one I know of that fits that bill is [Caissabase](http://caissabase.co.uk/). It is a free download with no license and this explicit statement of no copyright:
  
  > **Legal/Copyright**
  > Where I live facts are not copyrightable, Chess moves played in a game are facts.
  >
  > You'll notice there are no comments on any of the games as comments are copyrightable.
  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_2 on 2020-12-03. Score: 3
  
  I don´t think chess games are copyrightable, as they´re just a collection of facts, so games of chess are not considered by the courts to be anyone´s property. I would say that you are free to comercially reproduce a game, as long it´s just that, the moves played in that game.
  
  To put in perspective, if you took a screenshot of the result of a videogame, for example Civilization, or if you recorded a song in Guitar Hero, then that would be the intellectual property of the creating videogame company. Following that pattern, any PGN would be the legal property of whoever invented chess, but I believe the copyright may have expired by now.
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_3**: I disagree. Some games are really creative. I expect they would be considered a joint work of both players. _Creating_ the PGN would not produce copyright, as you are only recording the moves of the game (I'm assuming there are no annotations), but the game itself _might_ be copyrightable. A game is a sequence of moves, just as a novel is a sequence of words. But they can be beautiful, ugly, non-sensical... and perhaphs copyrightable  
  > **username_2**: They´re beautful indeed, but in the mind of the beholder. And for practical purposes, what is the game itself if not a sequence of reproducible events?  
  
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