# CATHOLIC PUBLISHER ## NONPROFIT END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT ### Version 1.0 **Applies initially to Catholic Publisher 0.9.0 Public Beta** **Copyright © 2026 Jason Simas. All Rights Reserved.** Catholic Publisher is proprietary software created and published by **Jason Simas, California, USA** (“Publisher”). ## Plain-Language Summary Catholic Publisher is provided **free of charge for qualifying nonprofit organizations**, including churches, parishes, dioceses, religious organizations, charities, and nonprofit schools. In simple terms: - **Catholic Publisher itself is closed-source proprietary software.** - It is **licensed, not sold**. - Qualifying nonprofits may install and use it free of charge. - You may use it to create, print, publish, and even charge for your own publications. - You may **not sell, sublicense, or redistribute Catholic Publisher itself** without written permission. - Your publication content belongs to you, not to Jason Simas. - The `.cpub` file format is intentionally **open for interoperability**. Anyone may independently create software, scripts, plugins, services, or AI tools that read, create, or modify `.cpub` files, including commercial tools. - Independent `.cpub` tools may not copy Catholic Publisher code or extract its embedded third-party components. - Catholic Publisher 0.9.0 is **beta software**. Keep backups and proof important publications before printing. - The Software is provided **“as is”**, without warranties, to the maximum extent permitted by law. The complete terms below control if this summary and the full Agreement differ. --- ## 1. Acceptance and License By installing or using Catholic Publisher, you accept this Agreement personally or on behalf of the organization for which you are authorized to act. Catholic Publisher, including its executable code, interface, documentation, updates, and related materials (“Software”), is **licensed, not sold**. Publisher retains all ownership and intellectual-property rights in the Software except for the limited rights expressly granted here. No source-code rights are granted. --- ## 2. Who May Use the Software The Software may be used only by a **Qualifying Nonprofit Organization**. A Qualifying Nonprofit Organization is an organization operated primarily for religious, charitable, educational, humanitarian, scientific, or similar nonprofit purposes and not for distribution of profits to private owners or shareholders. Examples include: - churches and parishes; - dioceses and other religious jurisdictions; - religious institutes and ministries; - nonprofit schools; - charities and foundations; and - comparable nonprofit organizations worldwide. A genuine religious organization is not disqualified merely because its country does not use a formal nonprofit or tax-exempt registration system. For-profit organizations and individuals acting solely for personal or commercial purposes require separate written permission from Publisher. --- ## 3. Permitted Use A Qualifying Nonprofit Organization receives a limited, worldwide, royalty-free, nonexclusive, nontransferable, and non-sublicensable license to: - install and use Catholic Publisher; - use it to create, edit, print, export, and publish publications; - allow its clergy, employees, officers, volunteers, and similar workers to use it on its behalf; and - make reasonable internal backup copies. A commercial technician or contractor may temporarily access the Software solely to install, maintain, troubleshoot, or support it for a licensed nonprofit organization. This gives the contractor no independent right to use or distribute Catholic Publisher. --- ## 4. Your Publications Belong to You Publisher claims no ownership of the user's original: - text; - photographs; - artwork; - advertisements; - translations; - layouts; - data; or - other publication content. A licensed nonprofit may distribute, sell, print, publish, or otherwise use publications it creates with Catholic Publisher as part of its legitimate activities. It may receive donations, advertising revenue, tuition, registration fees, fundraising proceeds, reimbursements, or similar revenue connected with those publications. These rights apply to **publications created with Catholic Publisher**, not to Catholic Publisher itself. Users remain responsible for obtaining permission for third-party fonts, images, trademarks, text, or other materials included in their publications. --- ## 5. No Sale or Redistribution of Catholic Publisher Without Publisher's prior written permission, you may not: - sell, resell, rent, lease, or sublicense Catholic Publisher; - redistribute its installer or copies to another organization; - place the Software on a public download site; - bundle it with another software product; - charge for access to Catholic Publisher itself; - provide Catholic Publisher as a hosted or software-as-a-service product; - require payment, purchase, subscription, or donation as a condition of obtaining it; or - otherwise commercially distribute the Software itself. Each eligible organization should obtain its own copy from a source authorized by Publisher. --- ## 6. Other Restrictions Except where applicable law expressly permits otherwise, you may not: - reverse engineer, decompile, or disassemble Catholic Publisher; - attempt to derive its source code; - circumvent technical or licensing protections; - remove or falsify copyright, license, or ownership notices; - extract embedded third-party components for independent use; - use embedded components as standalone libraries, SDKs, or development tools; or - falsely represent yourself as the author or publisher of Catholic Publisher. These restrictions concern **Catholic Publisher itself** and do not prohibit legitimate `.cpub` interoperability described below. --- ## 7. The `.cpub` Format Is Open for Interoperability Catholic Publisher uses the `.cpub` publication format. Publisher expressly permits and encourages independent interoperability with `.cpub`. **Any person or organization may independently develop software that reads, creates, edits, converts, validates, repairs, or otherwise works with `.cpub` files.** This includes: - desktop or web applications; - scripts; - plugins; - command-line utilities; - migration tools; - automation systems; - artificial-intelligence systems; and - other independently developed software. These independent tools may be: - free or commercial; - open source or closed source; - nonprofit or for-profit; - locally installed or hosted. For example, an AI system may open a parish bulletin stored as `.cpub`, update dates, announcements, schedules, advertisements, images, or other content, and save the updated `.cpub` file. Catholic Publisher does not require `.cpub` files to be edited exclusively through Catholic Publisher. ### Independent Implementation Developers may inspect `.cpub` files, study published format documentation, compare file structures, test compatibility, and analyze the file format as reasonably necessary to create interoperable software. They may not use this permission to copy: - Catholic Publisher source code; - Catholic Publisher executable code; - embedded proprietary libraries; - Syncfusion assemblies; - license keys; - credentials; or - other protected third-party components. An independently developed program may truthfully say that it: - supports `.cpub`; - opens `.cpub`; - creates `.cpub`; or - is compatible with Catholic Publisher `.cpub` files. It must not falsely imply that it is created, certified, sponsored, or endorsed by Jason Simas or Catholic Publisher. Developers claiming `.cpub` compatibility should make a reasonable effort to preserve the format correctly and should clearly identify intentionally incompatible extensions or variants. --- ## 8. Beta Status, Compatibility, and File Changes Catholic Publisher 0.9.0 is **Public Beta software** and may contain: - defects; - incomplete features; - unexpected behavior; - interface changes; - compatibility problems; - printing problems; - file-format changes; or - import/export errors. Version 0.9.0 is designed for **Windows 11 x64**. Publisher does not guarantee compatibility with every: - Windows version or update; - computer; - printer or printer driver; - PDF application; - font; - graphics device; - security product; - network location; - OneDrive configuration; - cloud-storage service; or - third-party application. Nor is exact visual or printing consistency guaranteed across different computers, screens, printers, drivers, PDF viewers, fonts, or operating-system versions. PDF import or export may fail to preserve particular fonts, images, transparency, color information, form fields, annotations, hyperlinks, layers, or metadata. Publisher does not guarantee that: - every old `.cpub` file will work with every future release; - newer files will open in older releases; - damaged or externally modified files can be recovered; or - every current command, setting, behavior, or workflow will remain unchanged. The `.cpub` format may evolve. A newer version may migrate a file when it is opened, including normalizing data, replacing obsolete settings, or removing unsupported information. **Keep an independent backup before opening an important publication in a newer version.** --- ## 9. User Responsibility, Backups, and Printing Users are responsible for reviewing their publications before printing or distribution, including: - text and spelling; - translations; - names and dates; - schedules; - page order; - advertisements; - images; - links and QR codes; - margins; - colors and grayscale; - print settings; and - quantities. Users must maintain reasonable backups of important `.cpub` files, images, fonts, PDFs, and other source materials. Printing depends on equipment and software outside Publisher's control. Publisher does not guarantee: - color output; - grayscale conversion; - toner or ink charges; - margins; - duplexing; - page scaling; - paper source; - stapling or folding; - booklet finishing; or - commercial print-shop results. Proof important jobs before high-volume printing. --- ## 10. Third-Party Components Catholic Publisher contains third-party software, including certain **Syncfusion document-processing and PDF runtime assemblies**. Those components remain the property of their respective licensors and are governed by their own applicable licenses. No ownership of, or separate developer license to, those components is granted to the user. They may be used only as integrated parts of Catholic Publisher and may not be extracted, redistributed, sublicensed, exposed, or used as standalone libraries, SDKs, or component-development tools. Nothing in this Agreement: - expands rights granted by Syncfusion or another licensor; - grants the user a Syncfusion developer license; - overrides a third-party license; or - cures any separate third-party licensing issue. The `.cpub` interoperability permissions in Section 7 do not grant rights in Syncfusion or any other embedded third-party component. --- ## 11. Updates and Internet Access Catholic Publisher may connect to the Internet to check for software updates, including release information available through GitHub Releases. Updates are not guaranteed. An update may add, remove, repair, or change: - features; - commands; - workflows; - file handling; - printing behavior; or - the `.cpub` format. For Catholic Publisher 0.9.0, available updates should require user action or confirmation before installation. Third-party Internet services may receive ordinary technical information associated with a network request under their own terms and privacy practices. This Agreement does not make unverified promises about telemetry or network behavior. Any additional network behavior discovered in a particular release should be disclosed accurately. --- ## 12. No Warranty **TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, CATHOLIC PUBLISHER IS PROVIDED “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE,” WITH ALL FAULTS AND WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND.** Publisher disclaims, to the maximum extent permitted by law, warranties of: - merchantability; - fitness for a particular purpose; - accuracy; - compatibility; - reliability; - non-infringement; - uninterrupted operation; and - error-free operation. Publisher does not guarantee that defects will be corrected, files will always be recoverable, or the Software will remain available. --- ## 13. Limitation of Liability To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, **Jason Simas shall not be liable for indirect, incidental, special, punitive, exemplary, or consequential damages arising from Catholic Publisher.** This includes, without limitation: - lost or corrupted publications; - lost work or data; - unrecoverable files; - publication mistakes; - missed deadlines; - reprinting costs; - wasted paper; - ink or toner charges; - printer meter charges; - commercial printing expenses; - loss of revenue; - loss of donations; or - interruption of operations. Where liability cannot legally be excluded but may be limited, Publisher's total liability shall not exceed the amount actually paid directly to Publisher by the claimant for Catholic Publisher, except where applicable law requires otherwise. Catholic Publisher is ordinarily provided free of charge. Nothing in this Agreement excludes liability that applicable law does not permit to be excluded. --- ## 14. Termination and Discontinuation This license terminates if the user: - no longer qualifies under Section 2; or - materially violates this Agreement. After termination, the user must stop using Catholic Publisher and remove unauthorized copies. Termination does not transfer ownership of the user's publication content to Publisher. Publisher may discontinue Catholic Publisher, a version of it, or any feature at any time and does not promise permanent: - availability; - support; - updates; - file recovery; or - continued development. Users remain responsible for their locally stored `.cpub` files and other content. For important completed publications, users should retain exported copies in standard formats such as PDF when appropriate. --- ## 15. Governing Law and General Terms To the extent permitted by applicable law, this Agreement is governed by the laws of the **State of California, United States of America**, without regard to conflict-of-law principles. Nothing in this Agreement removes consumer or statutory rights that applicable law does not permit to be waived. To the extent legally permitted, disputes concerning this Agreement may be brought in a court of competent jurisdiction in California. Publisher may seek appropriate intellectual-property protection or injunctive relief in another jurisdiction when reasonably necessary. This Agreement is intended to apply worldwide. If any provision is unenforceable in a particular jurisdiction, it shall be limited to the minimum extent necessary while the remainder remains effective. Failure to enforce a term once does not waive it. The user may not transfer this license without Publisher's written permission. Publisher may grant different rights to others under separate written agreements. This Agreement does not alter agreements between Publisher and third-party software licensors. --- ## 16. Contact Questions about licensing or permission for uses outside this Agreement may be directed to: **Jason Simas** California, United States of America **Email:** jason@ourfatherslove.net --- ## Required Notice **Catholic Publisher** **Copyright © 2026 Jason Simas. All Rights Reserved.** **Licensed, not sold. Free for qualifying nonprofit organizations subject to this Agreement.** ### End of Catholic Publisher Nonprofit End User License Agreement — Version 1.0