Internet Info 1997 December/Internet_Info_CD-ROM_Walnut_Creek_December_1997.iso/isoc/pub/isoc_news/1-2/n-1-2-060.01a.Z/n-1-2-060.01a

Text File | 1994-03-26 | 3KB | 55 lines

060.01  Rights in Internet Technology Documentation
by Patrice A. Lyons, Esquire
<[e-mail]>

In the course of Internet technology development, where there is
a robust and cooperative spirit among the researchers, there has
been little, if any, abuse of copyrights or other rights in works
generated in this process.  Establishing policies and procedures
for the treatment of intellectual property aspects of these
documents that are clear and widely accepted will assist in
continuing the productive efforts that have been carried out by the
Internet community over the last twenty years.  The need for this
treatment is greater now that the activity has taken on a much more
global character.

In the present practice, a document may be submitted, typically in
electronic form, for dissemination as an internet Draft or as a
Request for Comments (RFC).  As a practical matter, it may not be
reasonable or time effective for the Internet Draft or RFC editors
to determine on a case-by-case basis whether and how much of a
particular document is protected by copyright or other rights;
or, if a work is known to be protected, who is the owner of these
rights.  The need to go behind the information on the face of each
document to determine its legal status may make the process more
complicated than it needs to be.

To simplify matters, it would be advisable to establish policies
which make it clear that, in submitting a document for publication
as an Internet Draft or RFC, any author or other owner of copyright
therein shall be deemed to have granted the publisher, at a minimum,
an implied, non-exclusive right and license to reproduce, distribute,
and transmit the work to the public, and to authorize others to do so.
This implied grant of a non-exclusive license under copyright would
be followed up with a confirmation of the license, perhaps by e-mail.

In the case of standards track documents, it may also be advisable
to obtain written assurances from all contributors to cover possible
patents and patent applications or other intellectual property rights,
to the effect that licenses will be available on reasonable, non-
discriminatory terms to practice the standard to which these rights
may attach.  These assurances should be sought at the time the document
is first entered onto the standards track at the Proposed Standard
level.  There would also be a need for a written and signed confirmation
of the non-exclusive license under copyright that would also permit
the making of derivative works as part of the standards development
process.

Without clear understandings among the parties prior to the
adoption of an Internet standard, it is always possible for an
individual claiming copyright or other rights in a specification
to block or delay the dissemination or practice of the standard.
It is important to defend against such potential abuses to prevent
any erosion of the tradition of openness and accessibility fostered
over the years among the Internet community.