Official:Distribution Policy

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Home icon grey.png   ▶ XBMC Foundation ▶ Trademarks ▶ Distribution Policy


Referenced Pages and Further Reading

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Introduction

There are four main ways that 3rd parties may wish to distribute a product based on our reference Kodi codebase:

  • by redistribution of reference binaries (including their installation packages).
  • by distributing altered binaries (with or without an installer).
  • as part of a packaged distribution (within a dedicated operating system framework).
  • by forking and rebranding the software (either stand-alone or as part of a packaged distribution).

For any other routes or requirements (or if there are any questions or clarifications required), please contact the XBMC Foundation board via our [email protected] email address.


Redistributing Reference Binaries

Reference binaries are defined as those which are provided by Team Kodi and are freely available for download from our official website and download mirrors. This also covers both the Kodi application itself plus its installation package.

This is allowed, including usage of our related trademarks, wordmarks and logos, without requiring further permission from the XBMC Foundation, subject to the following comments and caveats:

  • You may not add to, remove or change any part of the downloaded package, including the installation process.
  • If you are distributing a compiled version of our master branch, it should be packaged in accordance with the packaging guidelines below.
  • No fee or other remuneration may be charged for the distribution.
  • The distribution may not be tied to the purchase of any other product, subscription or service.
  • By default the latest stable release version should be offered. Other versions may be offered in parallel as long as it is explicitly clear which version a given download link will supply.
  • The collection and storage of any personal information relating to the distribution is not allowed.
  • Any relevant local laws and restrictions will apply.

Our preferred method of such distribution is via links back to the official download area of our main website and the packages available therein.


Distributing Altered Binaries

These are defined as versions of Kodi which has been compiled from a modified fork of the Kodi source code, but is still using our trademarks, wordmarks and/or logos.

Such proposals can be split into two general categories - work to achieve a stable Kodi distribution on a new and previously unsupported device, platform or operating system and work to add or modify the functionality of Kodi on an already existing device, platform or operating system.

New Platform Support

Adding support for new platforms is one of the long-term goals of the XBMC Foundation, and is an endeavour we aim to support as much as possible.

The guidelines below apply:

  • Please contact the XBMC Foundation about your work, as our developers can perhaps give guidance and assistance with it.
  • Once work is complete to a suitably stable point, submission of a PR to our master repo is very desirable.
  • If the work is of a suitable quality (or can be made so through mentoring and assistance) it may be merged into our master code branch.
  • This commonly may also be accompanied by an invitation for the author(s) to join Team Kodi as full members.
  • Any feature of Kodi which is added, altered, non-functional or removed compared to the existing master branch should be documented in the PR.
  • It is preferred that functionality is kept as uniform across the different supported platform as possible. It is accepted that this is not always possible (or desirable) though and will be reviewed on a case by case basis as part of the PR process.
  • If the distribution is ongoing work, unstable or for testing purposes, please ensure this is clear to end users accessing it.
  • The compiled application should be packaged in accordance with the packaging guidelines below.
  • It must also be clear where support can be obtained, and where bugs, issues or feedback may be reported to the author(s).
  • No fee or other remuneration may be charged for the distribution.
  • The distribution may not be tied to the purchase of any other product, subscription or service.
  • The collection and storage of any personal information relating to the distribution is not allowed.
  • Any relevant local laws and restrictions will apply.


Distribution for Existing Platforms

The release of modified versions of our products for existing platforms is generally undesirable as it can lead to confusion between it and the original reference version. The preferred option is to submit the modification to our official repo via a PR for consideration to include into our master branch.

The guidelines below apply:


Packaged Distributions

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Rebranded Distributions

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Packaging Guidelines