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TAPR-OHL-1.0 13KB

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  1. The TAPR Open Hardware License Version 1.0 (May 25, 2007) Copyright 2007 TAPR
  2. - http://www.tapr.org/OHL
  3. PREAMBLE
  4. Open Hardware is a thing - a physical artifact, either electrical or mechanical
  5. - whose design information is available to, and usable by, the public in a
  6. way that allows anyone to make, modify, distribute, and use that thing. In
  7. this preface, design information is called "documentation" and things created
  8. from it are called "products."
  9. The TAPR Open Hardware License ("OHL") agreement provides a legal framework
  10. for Open Hardware projects. It may be used for any kind of product, be it
  11. a hammer or a computer motherboard, and is TAPR's contribution to the community;
  12. anyone may use the OHL for their Open Hardware project.
  13. Like the GNU General Public License, the OHL is designed to guarantee your
  14. freedom to share and to create. It forbids anyone who receives rights under
  15. the OHL to deny any other licensee those same rights to copy, modify, and
  16. distribute documentation, and to make, use and distribute products based on
  17. that documentation.
  18. Unlike the GPL, the OHL is not primarily a copyright license. While copyright
  19. protects documentation from unauthorized copying, modification, and distribution,
  20. it has little to do with your right to make, distribute, or use a product
  21. based on that documentation. For better or worse, patents play a significant
  22. role in those activities. Although it does not prohibit anyone from patenting
  23. inventions embodied in an Open Hardware design, and of course cannot prevent
  24. a third party from enforcing their patent rights, those who benefit from an
  25. OHL design may not bring lawsuits claiming that design infringes their patents
  26. or other intellectual property.
  27. The OHL addresses unique issues involved in the creation of tangible, physical
  28. things, but does not cover software, firmware, or code loaded into programmable
  29. devices. A copyright-oriented license such as the GPL better suits these creations.
  30. How can you use the OHL, or a design based upon it? While the terms and conditions
  31. below take precedence over this preamble, here is a summary:
  32. * You may modify the documentation and make products based upon it.
  33. * You may use products for any legal purpose without limitation.
  34. * You may distribute unmodified documentation, but you must include the complete
  35. package as you received it.
  36. * You may distribute products you make to third parties, if you either include
  37. the documentation on which the product is based, or make it available without
  38. charge for at least three years to anyone who requests it.
  39. * You may distribute modified documentation or products based on it, if you:
  40. * License your modifications under the OHL.
  41. * Include those modifications, following the requirements stated below.
  42. * Attempt to send the modified documentation by email to any of the developers
  43. who have provided their email address. This is a good faith obligation - if
  44. the email fails, you need do nothing more and may go on with your distribution.
  45. * If you create a design that you want to license under the OHL, you should:
  46. * Include this document in a file named LICENSE (with the appropriate extension)
  47. that is included in the documentation package.
  48. * If the file format allows, include a notice like "Licensed under the TAPR
  49. Open Hardware License (www.tapr.org/OHL)" in each documentation file. While
  50. not required, you should also include this notice on printed circuit board
  51. artwork and the product itself; if space is limited the notice can be shortened
  52. or abbreviated.
  53. * Include a copyright notice in each file and on printed circuit board artwork.
  54. * If you wish to be notified of modifications that others may make, include
  55. your email address in a file named "CONTRIB.TXT" or something similar.
  56. * Any time the OHL requires you to make documentation available to others,
  57. you must include all the materials you received from the upstream licensors.
  58. In addition, if you have modified the documentation:
  59. * You must identify the modifications in a text file (preferably named "CHANGES.TXT")
  60. that you include with the documentation. That file must also include a statement
  61. like "These modifications are licensed under the TAPR Open Hardware License."
  62. * You must include any new files you created, including any manufacturing
  63. files (such as Gerber files) you create in the course of making products.
  64. * You must include both "before" and "after" versions of all files you modified.
  65. * You may include files in proprietary formats, but you must also include
  66. open format versions (such as Gerber, ASCII, Postscript, or PDF) if your tools
  67. can create them.
  68. TERMS AND CONDITIONS
  69. 1. Introduction
  70. 1.1 This Agreement governs how you may use, copy, modify, and distribute Documentation,
  71. and how you may make, have made, and distribute Products based on that Documentation.
  72. As used in this Agreement, to "distribute" Documentation means to directly
  73. or indirectly make copies available to a third party, and to "distribute"
  74. Products means to directly or indirectly give, loan, sell or otherwise transfer
  75. them to a third party.
  76. 1.2 "Documentation" includes:
  77. (a) schematic diagrams;
  78. (b) circuit or circuit board layouts, including Gerber and other data files
  79. used for manufacture;
  80. (c) mechanical drawings, including CAD, CAM, and other data files used for
  81. manufacture;
  82. (d) flow charts and descriptive text; and
  83. (e) other explanatory material.
  84. Documentation may be in any tangible or intangible form of expression, including
  85. but not limited to computer files in open or proprietary formats and representations
  86. on paper, film, or other media.
  87. 1.3 "Products" include:
  88. (a) circuit boards, mechanical assemblies, and other physical parts and components;
  89. (b) assembled or partially assembled units (including components and subassemblies);
  90. and
  91. (c) parts and components combined into kits intended for assembly by others;
  92. which are based in whole or in part on the Documentation.
  93. 1.4 This Agreement applies to any Documentation which contains a notice stating
  94. it is subject to the TAPR Open Hardware License, and to all Products based
  95. in whole or in part on that Documentation. If Documentation is distributed
  96. in an archive (such as a "zip" file) which includes this document, all files
  97. in that archive are subject to this Agreement unless they are specifically
  98. excluded. Each person who contributes content to the Documentation is referred
  99. to in this Agreement as a "Licensor."
  100. 1.5 By (a) using, copying, modifying, or distributing the Documentation, or
  101. (b) making or having Products made or distributing them, you accept this Agreement,
  102. agree to comply with its terms, and become a "Licensee." Any activity inconsistent
  103. with this Agreement will automatically terminate your rights under it (including
  104. the immunities from suit granted in Section 2), but the rights of others who
  105. have received Documentation, or have obtained Products, directly or indirectly
  106. from you will not be affected so long as they fully comply with it themselves.
  107. 1.6 This Agreement does not apply to software, firmware, or code loaded into
  108. programmable devices which may be used in conjunction with Documentation or
  109. Products. Such software is subject to the license terms established by its
  110. copyright holder(s).
  111. 2. Patents
  112. 2.1 Each Licensor grants you, every other Licensee, and every possessor or
  113. user of Products a perpetual, worldwide, and royalty-free immunity from suit
  114. under any patent, patent application, or other intellectual property right
  115. which he or she controls, to the extent necessary to make, have made, possess,
  116. use, and distribute Products. This immunity does not extend to infringement
  117. arising from modifications subsequently made by others.
  118. 2.2 If you make or have Products made, or distribute Documentation that you
  119. have modified, you grant every Licensor, every other Licensee, and every possessor
  120. or user of Products a perpetual, worldwide, and royalty-free immunity from
  121. suit under any patent, patent application, or other intellectual property
  122. right which you control, to the extent necessary to make, have made, possess,
  123. use, and distribute Products. This immunity does not extend to infringement
  124. arising from modifications subsequently made by others.
  125. 2.3 To avoid doubt, providing Documentation to a third party for the sole
  126. purpose of having that party make Products on your behalf is not considered
  127. "distribution,"\" and a third party's act of making Products solely on your
  128. behalf does not cause that party to grant the immunity described in the preceding
  129. paragraph.
  130. 2.4 These grants of immunity are a material part of this Agreement, and form
  131. a portion of the consideration given by each party to the other. If any court
  132. judgment or legal agreement prevents you from granting the immunity required
  133. by this Section, your rights under this Agreement will terminate and you may
  134. no longer use, copy, modify or distribute the Documentation, or make, have
  135. made, or distribute Products.
  136. 3. Modifications
  137. You may modify the Documentation, and those modifications will become part
  138. of the Documentation. They are subject to this Agreement, as are Products
  139. based in whole or in part on them. If you distribute the modified Documentation,
  140. or Products based in whole or in part upon it, you must email the modified
  141. Documentation in a form compliant with Section 4 to each Licensor who has
  142. provided an email address with the Documentation. Attempting to send the email
  143. completes your obligations under this Section and you need take no further
  144. action if any address fails.
  145. 4. Distributing Documentation
  146. 4.1 You may distribute unmodified copies of the Documentation in its entirety
  147. in any medium, provided that you retain all copyright and other notices (including
  148. references to this Agreement) included by each Licensor, and include an unaltered
  149. copy of this Agreement.
  150. 4.2 You may distribute modified copies of the Documentation if you comply
  151. with all the requirements of the preceding paragraph and:
  152. (a) include a prominent notice in an ASCII or other open format file identifying
  153. those elements of the Documentation that you changed, and stating that the
  154. modifications are licensed under the terms of this Agreement;
  155. (b) include all new documentation files that you create, as well as both the
  156. original and modified versions of each file you change (files may be in your
  157. development tool's native file format, but if reasonably possible, you must
  158. also include open format, such as Gerber, ASCII, Postscript, or PDF, versions);
  159. (c) do not change the terms of this Agreement with respect to subsequent licensees;
  160. and
  161. (d) if you make or have Products made, include in the Documentation all elements
  162. reasonably required to permit others to make Products, including Gerber, CAD/CAM
  163. and other files used for manufacture.
  164. 5. Making Products
  165. 5.1 You may use the Documentation to make or have Products made, provided
  166. that each Product retains any notices included by the Licensor (including,
  167. but not limited to, copyright notices on circuit boards).
  168. 5.2 You may distribute Products you make or have made, provided that you include
  169. with each unit a copy of the Documentation in a form consistent with Section
  170. 4. Alternatively, you may include either (i) an offer valid for at least three
  171. years to provide that Documentation, at no charge other than the reasonable
  172. cost of media and postage, to any person who requests it; or (ii) a URL where
  173. that Documentation may be downloaded, available for at least three years after
  174. you last distribute the Product.
  175. 6. NEW LICENSE VERSIONS
  176. TAPR may publish updated versions of the OHL which retain the same general
  177. provisions as the present version, but differ in detail to address new problems
  178. or concerns, and carry a distinguishing version number. If the Documentation
  179. specifies a version number which applies to it and "any later version", you
  180. may choose either that version or any later version published by TAPR. If
  181. the Documentation does not specify a version number, you may choose any version
  182. ever published by TAPR. TAPR owns the copyright to the OHL, but grants permission
  183. to any person to copy, distribute, and use it in unmodified form.
  184. 7. WARRANTY AND LIABILITY LIMITATIONS
  185. 7.1 THE DOCUMENTATION IS PROVIDED ON AN"AS-IS" BASIS WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY
  186. KIND, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW. ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR
  187. IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS
  188. FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND TITLE, ARE HEREBY EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMED.
  189. 7.2 IN NO EVENT UNLESS REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE LAW WILL ANY LICENSOR BE LIABLE
  190. TO YOU OR ANY THIRD PARTY FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL,
  191. PUNITIVE, OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE OF, OR INABILITY TO
  192. USE, THE DOCUMENTATION OR PRODUCTS, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO CLAIMS OF
  193. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY INFRINGEMENT OR LOSS OF DATA, EVEN IF THAT PARTY HAS
  194. BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
  195. 7.3 You agree that the foregoing limitations are reasonable due to the non-financial
  196. nature of the transaction represented by this Agreement, and acknowledge that
  197. were it not for these limitations, the Licensor(s) would not be willing to
  198. make the Documentation available to you.
  199. 7.4 You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold each Licensor harmless from any
  200. claim brought by a third party alleging any defect in the design, manufacture,
  201. or operation of any Product which you make, have made, or distribute pursuant
  202. to this Agreement.
  203. ####