I have seen posts on this topic before, I believe; yet my small brain remains confused.

I know a couple of folks who have very tiny businesses they run on a shoestring - one a musician; the other a nurse-midwife. I could see them investing in the commercial version at some point, but it is a big-time stretch for them at this point.

I would rather use EE Core for them instead of, say, Textpattern or MODx but I still can’t figure out what is permitted or not.

My download of EE core for experimentation seems to give access to member management and mailing lists but I thought those were off-limits in core? The modules aren’t listed as installed but I can add member groups, send email to groups, etc.

I have only fooled with it, so I suppose there may be limits there I haven’t touched, but if so, why weren’t they masked off altogether? These users will find it confusing to see features that appear to be available, yet aren’t or that are available but are not supposed to be used ...

I must be missing something utterly basic. I am prepared to blush in embarrassment.

I would rather use EE Core for them instead of, say, Textpattern or MODx but I still can’t figure out what is permitted or not.

Well, you describe them as “businesses”. Businesses require a commercial license. It’s not really relevant whether they are yet profitable businesses, a lot aren’t when they start (or ever).
Of course, this is an unofficial answer but I’ve seen the question so many times I’m confident in it’s accuracy.
;-)

Businesses are not allowed to use Core. Core is only allowed for non-profit and personal projects. It doesn’t matter if the business is profitable or not, if the website is for business purposes or used to support a business, than a commercial license is needed.

Web developers and businesses can use Core to evaluate ExpressionEngine but if they plan to use EE for a live project, then they need to purchase a license first.

Core allows you to manually register members, have member groups, etc… but there is no front-end registration or member ship abilities. So everything you see is usable to some extent, but not full featured.

I said I would feel embarrassed. I should have known that or found that.

Again, a question asked many times, I know but when it’s personally relevant ... and I want to honor the license, of course. This goes to Personal or Commercial:

The musician is a professional (not a hobby) though he does not currently sell any of his music from his site. He surely would list gigs and such. I’m guessing it still counts as commercial? If it can sneak by as personal, would that change is he sold anything directly?

The nurse-midwife has a part-time practice. She does not advertise though she does charge most of her clients. I suspect that fees will be listed on the site though perhaps not, and they do not have to be. Again, I’m guessing this counts as commercial?

In other words, I’m supposing that self-definition as a professional or business counts for at least as much as what is being sold on the site directly? Or is there a legitimate gray area here that would not compromise EE’s rights and obligations (one can hope) to become a Gigantic Profitable Software Goliath.

russlipton - 15 September 2006 09:40 AM

The musician is a professional (not a hobby) though he does not currently sell any of his music from his site. He surely would list gigs and such. I’m guessing it still counts as commercial? If it can sneak by as personal, would that change is he sold anything directly?

Commercial. It supports his profession/business. It doesn’t matter if he’s selling anything off the site or not.

The nurse-midwife has a part-time practice. She does not advertise though she does charge most of her clients. I suspect that fees will be listed on the site though perhaps not, and they do not have to be. Again, I’m guessing this counts as commercial?

Commercial. Again, the site is being used to generate revenue or support something that is.

The license is pretty clear and most sites do not have any gray areas involved. The license reads:

“Users of the Commercial License may use the Software on a website engaging a commercial, or for-profit activities. Websites engaging in direct, or indirect commercial activities must purchase a Commercial License. One license grants the right to perform one installation of the Software”

The purpose of both mentioned sites is to help generate revenue for a for-profit activity. There is no gray area here.