UWaterloo Notes License

All notes on uwnotes.amolven.com are created by Amol Venkataraman and provided free of charge under this custom license. Occasionally, third-party materials under different licenses are included; these are always clearly attributed. Every document also contains a brief license overview. While this license is written in plain and simple terms, it is still legally binding.

  1. What you CAN do

    1. Educational use: Anybody may read, download, print, and use the notes for personal learning, study, or research, at no cost and without asking permission.
    2. Teaching use: Instructors, teachers, and tutors may use the notes for teaching purposes. This is permitted under the following conditions: (a) The notes must be shared in their original, unmodified form. (b) Students may not be charged a fee to access the notes, and the original source must be shared. Tutors may charge for their own time and services, but the notes themselves must be provided free of charge. (c) The author (Amol Venkataraman) must be attributed appropriately.
    3. Redistribution: Public redistribution and hosting of the notes online is permitted under the following conditions: (a) The notes must be shared in their original, unmodified form. (b) There may be no paywalls, login restrictions, mandatory account creations, advertising, or any dark patterns that aim to restrict the distribution of or access to the notes. (c) Users must be given the ability to download the original, unmodified PDF of the notes. (d) There must be a clear backlink to the original source at uwnotes.amolven.com.

  2. Modifications and Derivatives

    1. Personal modifications: You may freely remix, adapt, correct, reformat, or extend the notes for your own personal use.
    2. Sharing modifications: If you choose to distribute modified versions of the notes, you must adhere to the following conditions: (a) The modified versions must be distributed under this exact same license. (b) They must be explicitly noted as modified, and the nature of the modifications must be briefly stated. (c) You must provide attribution to the original author, including a backlink to uwnotes.amolven.com.
    3. Translations: Translations into different languages are permitted under the modifications clause. All translations must include a prominent notice stating that it is an unofficial translation, along with a backlink to the original source.
    4. Excerpts and citations: Using excerpts from the notes is permitted where it is allowed under fair use or other relevant copyright laws. Longer citations and excerpts are permitted as long as the resultant text provides free and open access to everyone.

  3. What you CAN NOT do

    1. Commercial use: You may not use the notes in any way to directly make money from their distribution. This includes but isn't limited to: (a) Charging for access, or placing the notes behind a paywall, subscription, or purchase. (b) Selling the notes, in original or modified form, in print or digitally. (c) Using excerpts of the notes beyond fair-use limits in a commercial, non-free publication. (d) Requiring payment or compensation for modified versions of the notes. To be explicitly clear: using the notes as a teaching material in a paid course is permitted, provided that all other distribution and attribution rules are followed, and no money is charged for the notes themselves.
    2. Physical distribution: Commercial printed or physical distribution of the notes is strictly prohibited. You may print the notes for your own personal use, or distribute physical copies to others for free (meaning absolutely no charge to the people receiving them). If distributed physically, all attribution and other requirements of this license must remain intact. You may not, under any circumstances, charge money when selling or distributing physical copies.
    3. AI training: The notes may NOT be used, in whole or in part, to train large language models (LLMs) or other AI or machine-learning models of any kind. This reservation of rights is express and applies to both commercial and non-commercial training.
    4. Falsely implying endorsement: Any modified version, unless explicitly approved by the original author, may not be presented in a way that suggests or implies that it is the original version, or that the original author has approved, reviewed, sponsored, or endorsed your version or your use of the notes.

  4. Additional Permissions for Universities

    1. University faculty - teaching use: Any professor, instructor, lecturer, or teaching staff member of a formally recognized university or higher education institution is granted an unlimited, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to use the notes for educational and teaching purposes, free of charge.
    2. Universities - distribution: Formally recognized universities and their affiliated institutions are granted a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to reproduce and redistribute the notes for any educational, instructional, or student-support purpose. This clause serves as an explicit clarification that institutional teaching use is permitted; however, all general restrictions on redistribution, modification, and AI training still apply in full.

  5. Scope and Disclaimers

    1. What this license covers: This license covers my own original expression: my writing, organization, explanations, diagrams, and worked examples. It does not cover third-party material that may appear in or underlie the notes, including lecture content, course slides, textbook excerpts, or assignment statements, which remain the property of their respective copyright holders. Any external material not under my license will be explicitly attributed as such.
    2. No warranty: The notes are provided as-is, with no warranty of any kind. They are student notes and they may contain mistakes. They are not a substitute for official course materials, and I accept no liability for any loss arising from their use (including, to be blunt about it, doing badly on an exam).
    3. Governing law: This license and any associated permissions are governed by the laws of the Province of Ontario and the federal laws of Canada applicable therein.