From: http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-ietf-ipr-rules-update-05.txt Title: RFC 3978 Update Reference: IETF Working Group, Internet-Draft 'draft-ietf-ipr-rules-update-05.txt' Date: June 2006 See also: http://xml.coverpages.org/patents.html#ietf Summary: This document modifies RFC 3978 "IETF Rights in Contributions" as follows: (1) recognizing that the IETF Trust is now the proper custodian of all IETF-related intellectual property rights, (2) giving IETF Trust the right to permit extraction of material from RFCs, and (3) giving IETF Trust the right to permit others to create derivative works outside the IETF Standards Process. ======================================================================== Network Working Group S. Bradner Internet-Draft Harvard University Editor June 2006 RFC 3978 Update Status of this Memo By submitting this Internet-Draft, each author represents that any applicable patent or other IPR claims of which he or she is aware have been or will be disclosed, and any of which he or she becomes aware will be disclosed, in accordance with Section 6 of BCP 79. Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), its areas, and its working groups. Note that other groups may also distribute working documents as Internet- Drafts. Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any time. It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference material or to cite them other than as "work in progress." The list of current Internet-Drafts can be accessed at http://www.ietf.org/ietf/1id-abstracts.txt The list of Internet-Draft Shadow Directories can be accessed at http://www.ietf.org/shadow.html This Internet-Draft will expire on August 25, 2006. Abstract This document modifies RFC 3978 "IETF Rights in Contributions" as follows: (1) recognizing that the IETF Trust is now the proper custodian of all IETF-related intellectual property rights, (2) giving IETF Trust the right to permit extraction of material from RFCs, and (3) giving IETF Trust the right to permit others to create derivative works outside the IETF Standards Process. This document does not constrain how the IETF Trust exercises those rights. Copyright Notice Bradner [Page 1] Internet-Draft RFC 3978 Update June 2006 Copyright (C) The Internet Society. (2006) 1. Introduction 1.1 IETF Trust Currently the IETF requires that authors of Contributions to the IETF grant to the IETF (meaning the full set of participants in the IETF Standards Process) a limited set of non-exclusive rights and permissions as part of the process of submitting such Contribution. These rights and permissions are detailed in "IETF Rights in Contributions" (RFC 3978 - BCP 78) [RFC3978]. The IETF Trust was recently formed to act as the administrative custodian of all copyrights and other intellectual property rights relating to the IETF Standards Process that had previously been held by ISOC and CNRI (See [reference to IETF Trust Agreement]). This document modifies RFC 3978 in order to implement this structure. Most importantly, it alters the license-grant path as follows: whereas previously authors of Contributions to the IETF would grant a license both to ISOC and to all IETF participants, it is now proposed that such authors grant a license to the IETF Trust (in Section 3.3). This document concerns itself only with "inbound" rights - those rights to be granted to the IETF Trust by relevant Contributors. A separate document will deal with "outbound" rights - those rights granted by the IETF Trust to others. This introductory section is to provide context for the reader. Sections 2 and 3 of this document are intended to be normative. 1.2. Extractions from RFCs Many people have expressed a desire to extract material from IETF RFCs for use in documentation, textbooks, on-line help systems, and for similar uses. In addition, some IETF RFCs contain MIBs and other types of program code that could be compiled. 1.3 Right to reprint RFCs Since the start of the RFC series, third parties have been free to reproduce RFCs as-is or as translations. The permission to do so was not specifically noted in early RFCs (other than a note to say that the distribution of the RFC was unlimited). The copyright notice introduced with RFC 1602 specifically granted these permissions. But an unintended byproduct of the attempt in BCP 78 to simplify the copyright statement in published RFCs was the lack of any specific statement of these permissions in the RFC copyright notice or in BCP 78. A new Section 3.3(F) should be added to RFC 3978 to clarify that Bradner [Page 2] Internet-Draft RFC 3978 Update June 2006 the Contributor permits the IETF Trust to grant this right to third parties. 1.4 Derivative Works Currently the IETF obtains from Contributors the right to prepare derivative works of their Contributions within the IETF Standards Process. This is done in RFC 3978 Section 3.3 (a) (C). That paragraph should be modified to grant the IETF Trust the ability to authorize the preparation of derivative works without limiting such development to the IETF Standards Process. Such a paragraph would not, by itself, grant any additional permissions outside of the IETF, but would empower the IETF Trust to authorize the development of derivative works outside of the IETF Standards Process. One example of where the IETF Trust might grant such a right is the case where another standards development organization (SDO) wants to update or extend an IETF technology (which would normally be done by the SDO sending their requirements to the IETF) but the IETF no longer has a working group focused on the particular technology and the IETF does not have the interest to create a new working group. 1.5 No Retroactive Effect The addition of these rights to those granted by Contributors under RFC 3978 starts with the publication of this memo as a RFC. This memo does not retroactively obtain these rights from Contributions that predate the publication of this memo as a RFC. Accordingly, the legends and other text accompanying this memo still reflect the provisions of RFC 3978, even though those provisions will be amended once this memo is published as an RFC. However, nothing prevents the Contributors of such Contributions voluntarily granting these rights retroactively. 2. General Statements 2.1 In order to clarify that Contributors are bound by all provisions of RFC 3978 upon submission of a Contribution to the IETF, the following paragraph is moved from Section 3.3 to the end of Section 3.1, with clarifying adjustments: "By submission of a Contribution, each person actually submitting the Contribution, and each named co-Contributor, is deemed to agree to the terms and conditions set forth in this document, on his or her own behalf and on behalf of the organization the Contributor represents or is sponsored by (if any), when submitting the Contribution." Bradner [Page 3] Internet-Draft RFC 3978 Update June 2006 2.2 Because it is necessary in this document to refer to individual IETF participants, the following sentence is added at the end of the definition of "IETF" in Section 1(a) of RFC 3978: "An "IETF Participant" shall mean any such individual participant." 3. Rights Granted By Contributors to IETF Trust - New Section 3.3 The following text describes the rights that are granted by each Contributor to the IETF Trust and replaces Section 3.3 of RFC 3978 in full: "3.3. Rights Granted by Contributors to IETF Trust To the extent that a Contribution or any portion thereof is protected by copyright or other rights of authorship, the Contributor, and each named co-Contributor, and the organization he or she represents or is sponsored by (if any) grants a perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive, royalty-free, world-wide right and license to the IETF Trust under all such copyrights and other rights in the Contribution: (A) to copy, publish, display, and distribute the Contribution as part of the IETF Standards Process or in an Internet-Draft, (B) to prepare or allow the preparation of translations of the Contribution into languages other than English, (C) unless explicitly disallowed in the notices contained in a Contribution [as per Section 5.2 below], (1) to modify or prepare derivative works (in addition to translations) that are based on or incorporate all or part of the Contribution or comment upon it, within the IETF Standards Process, and (2) as determined by the IETF Trust, to grant third parties the right to modify or prepare derivative works of the Contribution outside of the IETF Standards Process, and to copy, publish, display and distribute such modifications or derivative works outside the IETF Standards Process, subject to a requirement to properly acknowledge the IETF (it being understood that neither consent of, nor notice to, the Contributor shall be required for any such grant), provided that in each case the license to such modification or derivative works does not grant any more rights than the Bradner [Page 4] Internet-Draft RFC 3978 Update June 2006 license to the original Contribution, and (D) to reproduce any trademarks, service marks or trade names which are included in the Contribution solely in connection with the reproduction, distribution or publication of the Contribution and derivative works thereof as permitted by this Section 3.3, provided that when reproducing Contributions, trademark and service mark identifiers used in the Contribution, including (TM) and (R) will be preserved, and (E) to extract, copy, publish, display, distribute and incorporate into other works, for any purpose (and not limited to use within the IETF Standards Process), all or any portion of the Contribution without modification (other than non-substantive modifications such as reformatting, translation into languages other than English or compilation of source code statements into executable code), and further provided that the notices required by Sections 5.4 or 5.6 below, as applicable, are included, and (F) to permit third parties to copy, publish, display and distribute the Contribution without modification, as part of a full, unmodified RFC and to permit third parties to translate the Contribution as part of a full, unmodified RFC into languages other than English, for any purpose, whether or not within the IETF Standards Process. (G) to permit the IETF Trust to sublicense these rights to the extent of the original grant of right and license, including its use in a working collection or collective work. The licenses granted in this Section 3.3 shall not be deemed to grant any right under any patent, patent application or other similar intellectual property right disclosed by the Contributor under BCP 79." 4. Legends and Notifications The legends and notifications required by RFC 3978 are hereby updated as set forth below to reflect the other provisions of this document. 4.1 The first paragraph of Section 5 of RFC 3978 explains the requirement for applying certain notices and legends to IETF documents. There has been considerable confusion in the past regarding the meaning of the copyright notice on these documents. Accordingly, the first paragraph of Section 5 is hereby amended as follows to explain the purpose and meaning of this copyright notice Bradner [Page 5] Internet-Draft RFC 3978 Update June 2006 requirement, as well as to substitute "IETF Trust" for "ISOC": "The IETF requires that certain notices and disclaimers described in this Section 5 be reproduced verbatim in all IETF Documents (including copies, derivative works and translations of IETF Documents, but subject to the limited exceptions noted in Section 5.2). This requirement protects the IETF Trust, IETF and IETF Participants from liabilities connected with these documents. The copyright notice also alerts readers that the document is an IETF Document, and that the IETF Trust owns certain aspects of the document, such as its layout, the RFC numbering convention and the prefatory language of the document. This legend is not, however, intended to imply that IETF or the IETF Trust owns the text of any Contribution included in an IETF Document. Rather, ownership of such Contributions is retained by the author(s) or remains in the public domain, as applicable, subject only to the licenses granted to IETF and the IETF Trust under Section 3.3 above." 4.2 Update copyright statement and clarify text about additional copyright statements The creation of the IETF Trust to hold IETF-related IPR requires that the copyright statement in Section 5.4 be changed. Since it has been established practice to include a one-line copyright statement near the beginning of IETF Documents this should be mentioned. The text in Section 5.4 about multiple copyright statements has occasionally been misinterpreted so should be clarified. 4.2.1 Revised Section 5.4 5.4. Copyright Notices (required for all IETF Documents) (Normally placed at the end of the IETF Document.) "Portions Copyright (C) The IETF Trust (year). This document is subject to the rights, licenses and restrictions contained in BCP 78, and except as set forth therein, the authors retain all their rights." Only copyright notices for the IETF Trust are permitted in IETF Documents except in the case where such a document is the product of a joint development effort between the IETF and another standards development organization or the document is a republication of the work of another standards organization. Such exceptions must be approved on an individual basis by the IAB. Bradner [Page 6] Internet-Draft RFC 3978 Update June 2006 4.3 In Section 5.6 of RFC 3978, all occurrences of "Internet Society" or "ISOC" are replaced by "IETF Trust". to reduce confusion the note about multiple copyright notices 4.4 In Section 5.5 of RFC 3978, ", THE IETF TRUST" is inserted after "INTERNET SOCIETY". 5. Errata 5.1 The two sentences of Section 4.2(a)(C) are combined into a single sentence separated by a comma. 5.2 In Section 7.1, all occurrences of "Internet Society" or "ISOC" are replaced by "IETF Trust". 5.3 The section reference at the end of the first paragraph of Section 7.3 is changed from 3.3(E) to 3.3(C). 5.4. In Section 8, ", the IETF Trust" is inserted after "ISOC". 6. References 6.1. Normative References [RFC 3978] Bradner, S., Ed., "IETF Rights in Contributions", BCP 78, RFC 3978, March 2005. [BCP 101] Austein, R., and B. Wijnen, "Structure of the IETF Administrative Support Activity (IASA)," BCP 101, RFC 4071, April 2005. [IETF Trust Agreement?] 7. Acknowledgements Thanks to Jorge Contreras from Wilmer, Cutler, Pickering, Hale and Dorr LLP who provided a significant rewrite of my material. 8. Editor's Address Scott Bradner Harvard University 29 Oxford St. Cambridge MA, 02138 Phone: +1 617 495 3864 EMail: sob@harvard.edu Bradner [Page 7] Internet-Draft RFC 3978 Update June 2006 9. Full copyright statement Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2006). This document is subject to the rights, licenses and restrictions contained in BCP 78, and except as set forth therein, the authors retain all their rights. This document and the information contained herein are provided on an "AS IS" basis and THE CONTRIBUTOR, THE ORGANIZATION HE/SHE REPRESENTS OR IS SPONSORED BY (IF ANY), THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE INTERNET ENGINEERING TASK FORCE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF THE INFORMATION HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. Intellectual Property The IETF takes no position regarding the validity or scope of any Intellectual Property Rights or other rights that might be claimed to pertain to the implementation or use of the technology described in this document or the extent to which any license under such rights might or might not be available; nor does it represent that it has made any independent effort to identify any such rights. Information on the procedures with respect to rights in RFC documents can be found in BCP 78 and BCP 79. Copies of IPR disclosures made to the IETF Secretariat and any assurances of licenses to be made available, or the result of an attempt made to obtain a general license or permission for the use of such proprietary rights by implementers or users of this specification can be obtained from the IETF on-line IPR repository at http://www.ietf.org/ipr. The IETF invites any interested party to bring to its attention any copyrights, patents or patent applications, or other proprietary rights that may cover technology that may be required to implement this standard. Please address the information to the IETF at ietf-ipr@ietf.org. Acknowledgement Funding for the RFC Editor function is currently provided by the Internet Society. Bradner [Page 8]