Get paid every time AI uses your content
Setting up is easy and fast, with full auditable control of all site configurations and licensing preferences at every stage. OpenRSL lets you call the shots in stopping misuse and turning your website’s AI-driven traffic into recurring usage revenue.
Integrate OpenRSL with your website, set your terms, and let crawlers pay for what they use.
The PDS PropertyRightsRSL™ plugin toolkit is a commercial implementation of OpenRSL that uses a hosted PDS-connected OLP server for licensing validation and Stripe for payment. Publishers can easily install these plugins on compatible sites and web platforms:
OpenRSL gates your content behind the licensing requirements you stipulate for each asset. Make money for every retrieval, training usage, citation, and user engagement event where an AI tool workflow needs access to your website content.
You publish terms
OpenRSL generates your rsl.xml and points robots.txt at it. Your prices and allowed uses, for all visitors to see.
A crawler discovers
An AI crawler reads robots.txt, finds your rsl.xml, and sees exactly what it may use and at what price.
License & pay
It accepts your terms; the OLP server issues a signed license ticket and holds payment for the intended use.
You get paid
Your content is served against the ticket. Connect a payment backend to capture the held funds, and every transaction is recorded in your audit log.
Three steps
The plugin generates your rsl.xml, points
robots.txt at it, and connects a payment backend.
From there, every license is recorded automatically.
1. Install
Drop in the OpenRSL library for your stack (PHP, Python, or TypeScript) and it scaffolds your license file at /rsl.xml.
2. Set terms
Choose which AI uses you allow (for example ai-index, ai-train, or all). Set a flat price and currency for each type of use.
3. Connect a payment backend
A pluggable payments layer backs each license with a hold. Stripe and PDS ship as reference adapters, and you can wire in any provider that implements the interface.
Your content stays where it is. Your URLs stay where they are. OpenRSL adds a license, a record, and a settlement path. That is all.
An auditable record for every use and license deal. A log you can hand to a lawyer or a regulator. A revenue line that did not exist last year.
You set the price
Use flexible OpenRSL tools to declare your terms in rsl.xml (public and machine-readable), then crawlers pay what you declared.
Set a separate price for each payment term class (crawl, training, use, purchase, subscription, and more), so training can cost more than a crawl.
Each price is a single <amount currency="USD"> value, settled to the currency’s minor unit. No metering.
Declare <payment type="free"/> to grant a use at no charge, with no settlement step.
Common questions
How does payout work?
The payment layer is pluggable. The open flow places a hold to back each license; capturing that hold into a payout runs through whichever provider you configure. Stripe ships as a reference adapter, or implement the provider interface for your own backend.
Do I need to change my existing site structure?
No. rsl.xml sits at a known path. Your URLs, CMS, and publishing workflow stay the same.
Is the standard open?
Yes. RSL is an open standard. OpenRSL is the open-source reference implementation. Anyone can implement it independently.
