RSL License Servers

RSL license files can be paired with RSL License Servers that implement the RSL Open Licensing Protocol (OLP). OLP replaces proprietary licensing solutions with an open standard that provides publishers and client applications with content management, licensing, and protection capabilities, including:

• License management: Enable clients to license and pay for digital content assets, including billing and reporting for AI training and search applications.

• License verification: Validates a client's acquisition of a free or paid license to authenticate web crawlers.

• Content protection: Manages cryptographic keys to enable publishers and clients to encrypt and decrypt files for secure sharing of proprietary digital assets.

Example Code

Below is an example RSL license that is managed by the license server https://api.rslcollective.org. The license specifies that any client that wants to index the website must first obtain a free license from the specified license server.

<rsl xmlns="https://rslstandard.org/rsl">
  <content url="/" server="https://api.rslcollective.org">
    <license>
      <permits type="usage">search</permits>
    </license>
  </content>
</rsl>

Note

If the <content> element points to a file that ends with an .enc extension, the content is encrypted and the client must obtain a license key from the server to decrypt the file. (See also Encrypting Content).

List of License Servers

Name	Description	URL
RSL Collective	Nonprofit server operated by leading web publishers	https://api.rslcollective.org