A Black’s Reference WorkBlack’s Encyclopedia
Search the record…
Black’s Dictionary ↗Sign in
Terms of the record

The Black’s Record License

The record is free to read and free to cite, because a reference no one can quote is no reference at all. The license protects one thing above the rest: attribution stays attached.

You may
Read, cite, and quote any record, in classrooms, papers, journalism, and books.
Use the citation generator on every record; cite the revision date.
Translate and excerpt with attribution intact.
You must
Attribute to Black’s Encyclopedia and name the record.
Keep contributor bylines attached wherever the text travels.
Cite the revision date; the record is living and versioned.
You may not
Strip attribution or bylines from any part of a record.
Misrepresent the record, its status, or its standing accounts.
Republish at commercial scale without a partnership with the archive.
Contributor terms

Your byline stays with your record through every revision. Your sources remain the property of their authors. You grant the archive a perpetual license to keep, revise, and republish the record under this license, with your name on it. Nothing here transfers ownership of your knowledge; it files the title where it belongs.

Working language for the prototype; final terms to be settled with counsel before launch.