Request for Comments: 3978 Harvard University
BCP: 78 March 2005
Obsoletes: 3667
Updates: 2026
Category: Best Current Practice
IETF Rights in Contributions
Status of this Memo
This document specifies an Internet Best Current Practices for the
Internet Community, and requests discussion and suggestions for
improvements. Distribution of this memo is unlimited.
Copyright Notice
Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2005).
Abstract
The IETF policies about rights in Contributions to the IETF are
designed to ensure that such Contributions can be made available to
the IETF and Internet communities while permitting the authors to
retain as many rights as possible. This memo details the IETF
policies on rights in Contributions to the IETF. It also describes
the objectives that the policies are designed to meet. This memo
updates RFC 2026, and, with RFC 3979, replaces Section 10 of RFC
2026.
Table of Contents
1. Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2. Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3. Rights in IETF Contributions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3.1. General Policy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3.2. Confidentiality Obligations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3.3. Granting of Rights and Permissions. . . . . . . . . . . 6
3.4. Representations and Warranties. . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
3.5. No Duty to Publish. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
3.6. Trademarks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
4. Rights in RFC Editor Contributions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
4.1. Requirements from Section 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
4.2. Granting of Rights and Permissions. . . . . . . . . . . 8
5. Notices Required in IETF Documents. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
5.1. IPR Disclosure Acknowledgement. . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
5.2. Derivative Works Limitation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
5.3. Publication Limitation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
5.4. Copyright Notice. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
5.5. Disclaimer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
5.6. Exceptions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
6. Notices and Rights Required in RFC Editor Contributions . . . 13
7. Exposition of why these procedures are the way they are . . . 13
7.1. Rights Granted in IETF Contributions. . . . . . . . . . 13
7.2. Rights to use Contributed Material. . . . . . . . . . . 14
7.3. Right to Produce Derivative Works . . . . . . . . . . . 14
7.4. Rights to use Trademarks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
7.5. Who Does This Apply To? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
8. Contributions Not Subject to Copyright. . . . . . . . . . . . 16
9. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
10. References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
10.1. Normative References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
10.2. Informative References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
11. Acknowledgements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Editor’s Address. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Full Copyright Statement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
1. Definitions
The following definitions are for terms used in the context of this
document. Other terms, including "IESG," "ISOC," "IAB," and "RFC
Editor," are defined in [RFC2028].
a. "IETF": In the context of this document, the IETF includes all
individuals who participate in meetings, working groups, mailing
lists, functions and other activities which are organized or
initiated by ISOC, the IESG or the IAB under the general
designation of the Internet Engineering Task Force or IETF, but
solely to the extent of such participation.
b. "IETF Standards Process": the activities undertaken by the IETF in
any of the settings described in 1(c) below.
c. "IETF Contribution": any submission to the IETF intended by the
Contributor for publication as all or part of an Internet-Draft or
RFC (except for RFC Editor Contributions described below) and any
statement made within the context of an IETF activity. Such
statements include oral statements in IETF sessions, as well as
written and electronic communications made at any time or place,
which are addressed to:
o the IETF plenary session,
o any IETF working group or portion thereof,
o the IESG, or any member thereof on behalf of the IESG,
o the IAB or any member thereof on behalf of the IAB,
o any IETF mailing list, including the IETF list itself, any
working group or design team list, or any other list
functioning under IETF auspices,
o the RFC Editor or the Internet-Drafts function (except for RFC
Editor Contributions described below).
Statements made outside of an IETF session, mailing list or other
function, that are clearly not intended to be input to an IETF
activity, group or function, are not IETF Contributions in the
context of this document.
d. "Internet-Draft": temporary documents used in the IETF and RFC
Editor processes. Internet-Drafts are posted on the IETF web site
by the IETF Secretariat and have a nominal maximum lifetime in the
Secretariat’s public directory of 6 months, after which they are
removed. Note that Internet-Drafts are archived many places on
the Internet, and not all of these places remove expired
Internet-Drafts. Internet-Drafts that are under active
consideration by the IESG are not removed from the Secretariat’s
public directory until that consideration is complete. In
addition, the author of an Internet-Draft can request that the
lifetime in the Secretariat’s public directory be extended before
the expiration.
e. "RFC": the basic publication series for the IETF. RFCs are
published by the RFC Editor and once published are never modified.
(See [RFC2026] Section 2.1)
f. "RFC Editor Contribution": An Internet-Draft intended by the
Contributor to be submitted to the RFC Editor for publication as
an Informational or Experimental RFC but not intended to be part
of the IETF Standards Process.
g. "IETF Internet-Drafts": Internet-Drafts other than RFC Editor
Contributions. Note that under Section 3.3(a) the grant of rights
in regards to IETF Internet-Drafts as specified in this document
is perpetual and irrevocable and thus survives the Secretariat’s
removal of an Internet-Draft from the public directory, except as
limited by Section 3.3(a)(C). (See [RFC2026] Sections 2.2 and 8)
h. "IETF Documents": RFCs and Internet-Drafts except for Internet-
Drafts that are RFC Editor Contributions and the RFCs that are
published from them.
i. "RFC Editor Documents": RFCs and Internet-Drafts that are RFC
Editor Contributions and the RFCs that may be published from them.
j. "Contribution": IETF Contributions and RFC Editor Contributions.
k. "Contributor": an individual submitting a Contribution.
l. "Reasonably and personally known": means something an individual
knows personally or, because of the job the individual holds,
would reasonably be expected to know. This wording is used to
indicate that an organization cannot purposely keep an individual
in the dark about patents or patent applications just to avoid the
disclosure requirement. But this requirement should not be
interpreted as requiring the IETF Contributor or participant (or
his or her represented organization, if any) to perform a patent
search to find applicable IPR.
2. Introduction
Under the laws of most countries and current international treaties
(for example the "Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and
Artistic Work" [Berne]), authors obtain numerous rights in the works
they produce automatically upon producing them. These rights include
copyrights, moral rights and other rights. In many cases, if the
author produces a work within the scope of his or her employment,
most of those rights are usually assigned to the employer, either by
operation of law or, in many cases, under contract. (The Berne
Convention names some rights as "inalienable", which means that the
author retains them in all cases.)
This document details the rights that the IETF requires in IETF
Contributions and rights the IETF, as publisher of Internet-Drafts,
requires in all such Drafts including RFC Editor Contributions. The
RFC Editor may also define additional rights required for RFC Editor
Contributions.
In order for works to be used within the IETF Standards Process or to
be published as Internet-Drafts, certain limited rights in all
Contributions must be granted to the IETF and Internet Society
(ISOC). In addition, Contributors must make representations to IETF
and ISOC regarding their ability to grant these rights. These
necessary rights and representations have until now been laid out in
Section 10 of [RFC2026]. In the years since [RFC2026] was published
there have been a number of times when the exact intent of Section 10
has been the subject of vigorous debate within the IETF community.
The aim of this document is to clarify various ambiguities in Section
10 of [RFC2026] that led to these debates and to amplify the policy
in order to clarify what the IETF is currently doing.
Section 1 gives definitions used in describing these policies.
Sections 3, 4, 5, and 6 of this document address the rights in
Contributions previously covered by Section 10 of [RFC2026] and the
"Note Well" explanatory text presented at many IETF activities.
Sections 7 and 8 then explain the rationale for these provisions,
including some of the clarifications that have become understood
since the adoption of [RFC2026]. The rules and procedures set out in
this document are not intended to substantially modify or alter the
IETF’s current policy toward Contributions.
A companion document [RFC3979] deals with rights in technologies
developed or specified as part of the IETF Standards Process. This
document is not intended to address those issues.
The rights addressed in this document fall into the following
categories:
o rights to make use of contributed material
o copyrights in IETF documents
o rights to produce derivative works
o rights to use trademarks
This document is not intended as legal advice. Readers are advised
to consult their own legal advisors if they would like a legal
interpretation of their rights or the rights of the IETF in any
Contributions they make.
3. Rights in IETF Contributions
The following are the rights the IETF requires in all IETF
Contributions:
3.1. General Policy
In all matters of copyright and document procedures, the intent is to
benefit the Internet community and the public at large, while
respecting the legitimate rights of others.
3.2. Confidentiality Obligations
No information or document that is subject to any requirement of
confidentiality or any restriction on its dissemination may be
submitted as a Contribution or otherwise considered in any part of
the IETF Standards Process, and there must be no assumption of any
confidentiality obligation with respect to any Contribution. Each
Contributor agrees that any statement in a Contribution, whether
generated automatically or otherwise, that states or implies that the
Contribution is confidential or subject to any privilege, can be
disregarded for all purposes, and will be of no force or effect.
3.3. Granting of Rights and Permissions
By submission of a Contribution, each person actually submitting the
Contribution, and each named co-Contributor, is deemed to agree to
the following terms and conditions, and to grant the following
rights, 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.
a. To the extent that a Contribution or any portion thereof is
protected by copyright and other rights of authorship, the
Contributor, and each named co-Contributor, and the organization
he or she represents or is sponsored by (if any) grant a
perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive, royalty-free, world-wide
right and license to the ISOC and the IETF under all intellectual
property 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], to prepare derivative
works (other than translations) that are based on or
incorporate all or part of the Contribution, or comment upon
it, within the IETF Standards Process. The license to such
derivative works not granting the ISOC and the IETF any more
rights than the license to the original Contribution,
(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
paragraph. When reproducing Contributions, the IETF will
preserve trademark and service mark identifiers used by the
Contributor of the Contribution, including (TM) and (R) where
appropriate, and
(E) to extract, copy, publish, display, distribute, modify and
incorporate into other works, for any purpose (and not limited
to use within the IETF Standards Process) any executable code
or code fragments that are included in any IETF Document (such
as MIB and PIB modules), subject to the requirements of
Section 5 (it also being understood that the licenses granted
under this paragraph (E) shall not be deemed to grant any
right under any patent, patent application or other similar
intellectual property right disclosed by the Contributor under
[RFC3979]).
b. The Contributor grants the IETF and ISOC permission to reference
the name(s) and address(es) of the Contributor(s) and of the
organization(s) s/he represents or is sponsored by (if any).
3.4. Representations and Warranties
With respect to each Contribution, each Contributor represents that
to the best of his or her knowledge and ability:
a. The Contribution properly acknowledges all major Contributors. A
major Contributor is any person who has materially or
substantially contributed to the IETF Contribution.
b. No information in the Contribution is confidential and the IETF,
ISOC, and its affiliated organizations may freely disclose any
information in the Contribution.
c. There are no limits to the Contributor’s ability to make the
grants, acknowledgments and agreements herein that are reasonably
and personally known to the Contributor.
d. The Contributor has not intentionally included in the Contribution
any material which is defamatory or untrue or which is illegal
under the laws of the jurisdiction in which the Contributor has
his or her principal place of business or residence.
e. All trademarks, trade names, service marks and other proprietary
names used in the Contribution that are reasonably and personally
known to the Contributor are clearly designated as such where
reasonable.
3.5. No Duty to Publish
The Contributor, and each named co-Contributor, acknowledges that the
IETF has no duty to publish or otherwise use or disseminate any
Contribution. The IETF reserves the right to withdraw or cease using
any Contribution that does not comply with the requirements of
Section 3.4 and Section 3.3 or 4.2.
3.6. Trademarks
Contributors, and each named co-Contributor, who claim trademark
rights in terms used in their IETF Contributions are requested to
state specifically what conditions apply to implementers of the
technology relative to the use of such trademarks. Such statements
should be submitted in the same way as is done for other intellectual
property claims. (See [RFC3979] Section 6.)
4. Rights in RFC Editor Contributions
The following are the rights the IETF, as the publisher of Internet-
Drafts, requires in all RFC Editor Contributions:
4.1. Requirements from Section 3
All RFC Editor Contributions must meet the requirements of Sections
3.1, 3.2, 3.4, 3.5 and 3.6.
4.2. Granting of Rights and Permissions
By submission of an RFC Editor Contribution, each person actually
submitting the RFC Editor Contribution, and each named co-
Contributor, is deemed to agree to the following terms and
conditions, and to grant the following rights, on his or her own
behalf and on behalf of the organization the Contributor represents
or is sponsored by (if any) when submitting the RFC Editor
Contribution.
a. To the extent that an RFC Editor Contribution or any portion
thereof is protected by copyright and other rights of authorship,
the Contributor, and each named co-Contributor, and the
organization he or she represents or is sponsored by (if any)
grant a perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive, royalty-free,
world-wide right and license to the ISOC and the IETF under all
intellectual property rights in the RFC Editor Contribution for at
least the life of the Internet-Draft:
(A) to copy, publish, display, and distribute the RFC Editor
Contribution as an Internet-Draft,
(B) to prepare or allow the preparation of translations of the RFC
into languages other than English.
(C) unless explicitly disallowed in the notices contained in an
RFC Editor Contribution (as per Section 5.2 below), to prepare
derivative works (other than translations) that are based on
or incorporate all or part of the RFC Editor Contribution, or
comment upon it. The license to such derivative works not
granting the ISOC and the IETF any more rights than the
license to the original RFC Editor Contribution, and
(D) to reproduce any trademarks, service marks or trade names
which are included in the RFC Editor Contribution solely in
connection with the reproduction, distribution or publication
of the RFC Editor Contribution and derivative works thereof as
permitted by this paragraph. When reproducing RFC Editor
Contributions, the IETF will preserve trademark and service
mark identifiers used by the Contributor of the RFC Editor
Contribution, including (TM) and (R) where appropriate.
b. The Contributor grants the IETF and ISOC permission to reference
the name(s) and address(es) of the Contributor(s) and of the
organization(s) s/he represents or is sponsored by (if any).
5. Notices Required in IETF Documents
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 IETF and its participants from
liabilities connected with these documents. The copyright notice
also alerts readers that the document is an IETF Document, and that
ISOC claims copyright rights to certain aspects of the document, such
as its layout, the RFC numbering convention and the prefatory
language of the document. This legend is not intended to imply that
ISOC has obtained ownership of the IETF Contribution itself, which is
retained by the author(s) or remains in the public domain, as
applicable.
Each IETF Document must include the required notices described in
this Section 5. The required notices are the following:
a. The IPR Disclosure Acknowledgement described in Section 5.1
(required in all Internet-Drafts).
b. The Derivative Works Limitation described in Section 5.2 (for
specific IETF Documents only).
c. The Publication Limitation described in Section 5.3 (for specific
types of Internet-Drafts only).
d. The Copyright Notice described in Section 5.4 (for all IETF
Documents).
e. The Disclaimer described in Section 5.5 (for all IETF Documents).
5.1. IPR Disclosure Acknowledgement (required in all Internet-Drafts
only)
"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."
5.2. Derivative Works Limitation
If the Contributor desires to eliminate the IETF’s right to make
modifications and derivative works of an IETF Contribution (other
than translations), one of the two of the following notices may be
included in the Status of Memo section of an Internet-Draft and
included in a published RFC:
a. "This document may not be modified, and derivative works of it may
not be created, except to publish it as an RFC and to translate it
into languages other than English."
b. "This document may not be modified, and derivative works of it may
not be created."
In the cases of MIB or PIB modules and in other cases where the
Contribution includes material that is meant to be extracted in order
to be used, the following should be appended to statement 5.2 (a) or
5.2 (b):
"other than to extract section XX as-is for separate use."
Notice 5.2(a) is used if the Contributor intends for the IETF
Contribution to be published as an RFC. Notice 5.2(b) is used along
with the Publication Limitation in Section 5.3 when the Contributor