discuss: OCLC Office of Research Open Source License

Russell Nelson nelson at crynwr.com
Mon Sep 30 14:39:33 UTC 2002


[ Please discuss this license.  -russ ]

Open Source Initiative.					September 23, 2002




Dears Sirs,


We are submitting the OCLC Office of Research Public License 2.0 as a
candidate for OSI Certification. Feel free to post the license to the
license-discuss list. Let me know if I can assist in anyway. Thank
you.


					Thomas L. Terrall
					Software Engineer


License Approval Requirements

1.	The OCLC Research Public License 2.0 (ORPL) is available for review at (  
http://purl.oclc.org/oclc/research/ORPL/  )  
2.	The ORPL 1.0 version was prepared by individuals, who are no longer at OCLC. 
It appeared to be most closely related to Mozilla Public License 1.0 (MPL) in 
content. ORPL 2.0 is a reworking of ORPL 1.0 guided by the Open Source 
Definition and MPL. Our legal department assisted with the legal language and 
necessary legal clauses. We hoped to improve the license by clarifying certain 
issues and by simplifying and reorganizing the content. We also made certain 
adaptations to our situation. Here are some of the differences between ORPL and 
MPL.  
	i)	ORPL does not allow for the executable code to be 
	distributed with a different license. See MPL 3.6.
	ii)	ORPL does not contain the content,  Inability to Comply Due 
	to Statute or Regulation. See MPL 4.0.
	iii)	MPL allows licenser to grant additional rights to licensee. 
	We did not see this was applicable to our case.
	iv)	ORPL does not restrict in any way the commercial use of 
	software while MPL is unclear (to me) on this matter. 
	v)	ORPL does not require the modifications made by a 
	Contributor to be sent to the Original Contributor.
	vi)	ORPL gives the required steps if there is a third party claim 
	against a version of software.
	vii)	ORPL explicitly states: This License provides you no implied 
	rights or licenses to the intellectual property of any 
	Contributor.
	viii)	MPL gives a more detailed definition of Source Code, 
	including interface definition files, compressed files, make 
	files and so on. We did not include these details
	ix)	MPL specifies a time interval for source code to be available 
	for those licensees who request it. We did not include a time 
	limit for this.
	x)	ORPL does not cover the case that contributors will not offer 
	warranty, support or liability protection to the code 
	recipients.


3.	Certain licenses are very simple, such as BSD, ORPL would have to take 
precedence over BSD in a Combined Work.  A license such as MRL which 
requires Contributor updates to forwarded to the Original Contributor would take 
precedence over ORPL. I don't know of an entirely incompatible license.

         OCLC Office of Research Open Source License

Section 1. Your Rights

	Subject to these terms and conditions of this License, the
OCLC Office of Research (the "Original Contributor") and each
subsequent contributor (collectively with the Original Contributor,
the "Contributors") hereby grant you a non-exclusive, worldwide,
no-charge, transferable license to execute, prepare derivative
works of, and distribute (internally and externally), for
commercial and noncommercial purposes, the original code
contributed by Original Contributor and all Modifications
(collectively called the "Program").

Section 2. Definitions

A "Modification" to the Program is any addition to or deletion from
the contents of any file of the Program and any new file that
contains any part of the Program. If you make a Modification and
distribute the Program externally you are a "Contributor." The
distribution of the Program must be under the terms of this license
including those in Section 3 below.

A "Combined Work" results from combining and integrating all or
parts of the Program with other code. A Combined Work may be
thought of as having multiple parents or being result of multiple
lines of code development.

Section 3. Distribution Licensing Terms

A. General Requirements

Except as necessary to recognize third-party rights or third-party
restriction (see below), a distribution of the Program in any of
the forms listed below must not put any further restrictions on the
recipient's exercise of the rights granted herein.

As a Contributor, you represent that your Modification(s) are your
original creation(s) and, to the best of your knowledge, no third
party has any claim (including but not limited to intellectual
property claims) relating to your Modification(s). You represent
that each of your Modifications includes complete details of any
third-party right or other third-party restriction associated with
any part of your Modification (including a copy of any applicable
license agreement).

The Program must be distributed without charge beyond the costs of
physically transferring the files to the recipient.

This Warranty Disclaimer/Limitation of Liability must be
prominently displayed with every distribution of the Program in any
form:

YOU AGREE THAT THE PROGRAM IS PROVIDED AS-IS, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF
ANY KIND (EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED).  ACCORDINGLY, OCLC MAKES NO
WARRANTIES, REPRESENTATIONS OR GUARANTEES, EITHER EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, AND DISCLAIMS ALL SUCH WARRANTIES, REPRESENTATIONS OR
GUARANTEES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES
OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR ANY PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AS TO:
(A) THE FUNCTIONALITY OR NONINFRINGEMENT OF PROGRAM, ANY
MODIFICATION, A COMBINED WORK OR AN AGGREGATE WORK; OR (B) THE
RESULTS OF ANY PROJECT UNDERTAKEN USING THE PROGRAM, ANY
MODIFICATION, A COMBINED WORK OR AN AGGREGATE WORK.  IN NO EVENT
SHALL THE CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT,
INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, CONSEQUENTIAL OR ANY OTHER DAMAGES
(INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR
SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION)
HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT,
STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE)
ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THE PROGRAM, EVEN IF ADVISED
OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.  YOU HEREBY WAIVE ANY CLAIMS
FOR DAMAGES OF ANY KIND AGAINST CONTRIBUTORS WHICH MAY RESULT FROM
YOUR USE OF THE PROGRAM.

B. Requirements for a Distribution of Modifiable Code

If you distribute the Program in a form to which the recipient can
make Modifications (e.g. source code), the terms of this license
apply to use by recipient. In addition, each source and data file
of the Program and any Modification you distribute must contain the
following notice:

"Copyright (c) 2000- (insert then current year) OCLC Online
Computer Library Center, Inc. and other contributors. All rights
reserved.  The contents of this file, as updated from time to time
by the OCLC Office of Research, are subject to OCLC Research Public
License Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may not use this file
except in compliance with the License. You may obtain a current
copy of the License at http://purl.oclc.org/oclc/research/ORPL/.
Software distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS"
basis, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See
the License for the specific language governing rights and
limitations under the License.  This software consists of voluntary
contributions made by many individuals on behalf of OCLC
Research. For more information on OCLC Research, please see
http://www.oclc.org/oclc/research/.  The Original Code is
______________________________.  The Initial Developer of the
Original Code is ________________________. Portions created by
______________________ are Copyright (C) _____
_______________________. All Rights Reserved. Contributor(s):
______________________________________."

C. Requirements for a Distribution of Non-modifiable Code

If you distribute the Program in a form to which the recipient
cannot make Modifications (e.g. object code), the terms of this
license apply to use by recipient and you must include the
following statement in appropriate and conspicuous locations:

"Copyright (c) 2000- (insert then current year) OCLC Online
Computer Library Center, Inc. and other contributors. All rights
reserved."

In addition, the source code must be included with the object code
distribution or the distributor must provide the source code to the
recipient upon request.

D. Requirements for a Combined Work Distribution

Distributions of Combined Works are subject to the terms of this
license and must be made at no charge to the recipient beyond the
costs of physically transferring the files to recipient.

A Combined Work may be distributed as either modifiable or
non-modifiable code. The requirements of Section 3.B or 3.C above
(as appropriate) apply to such distributions.

An "Aggregate Work" is when the Program exists, without
integration, with other programs on a storage medium. This License
does not apply to portions of an Aggregate Work which are not
covered by the definition of "Program" provided in this
License. You are not forbidden from selling an Aggregate
Work. However, the Program contained in an Aggregate Work is
subject to this License.  Also, should the Program be extracted
from an Aggregate Work, this License applies to any use of the
Program apart from the Aggregate Work.

Section 4. License Grant

For purposes of permitting use of your Modifications by OCLC and
other licensees hereunder, you hereby grant to OCLC and such other
licensees the non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty- free,
transferable, sublicenseable license to execute, copy, alter,
delete, modify, adapt, change, revise, enhance, develop, publicly
display, distribute (internally and externally) and/or create
derivative works based on your Modifications (and derivative works
thereof) in accordance with these Terms. This Section 4 shall
survive termination of this License for any reason.

Section 5. Termination of Rights

This non-exclusive license (with respect to the grant from a
particular Contributor) automatically terminates for any entity
that initiates legal action for intellectual property infringement
(with respect to the Program) against such Contributor as of the
initiation of such action.

If you fail to comply with this License, your rights (but not your
obligations) under this License shall terminate automatically
unless you cure such breach within thirty (30) days of becoming
aware of the noncompliance. All sublicenses granted by you which
preexist such termination and are properly granted shall survive
such termination.

Section 6. Other Terms

Except for the copyright notices required above, you may not use
any trademark of any of the Contributors without the prior written
consent of the relevant Contributor.  You agree not to remove,
alter or obscure any copyright or other proprietary rights notice
contained in the Program.

All transfers of the Program or any part thereof shall be made in
compliance with U.S.  import/export regulations or other
restrictions of the U.S. Department of Commerce, as well as other
similar trade or commerce restrictions which might apply.

Any patent obtained by any party covering the Program or any part
thereof must include a provision providing for the free, perpetual
and unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use by any third
party.

If, as a consequence of a court judgment or settlement relating to
intellectual property infringement or any other cause of action,
conditions are imposed on you that contradict the conditions of
this License, such conditions do not excuse you from compliance
with this License. If you cannot distribute the Program so as to
simultaneously satisfy your obligations under this License and such
other conditions, you may not distribute the Program at all. For
example, if a patent license would not permit royalty-free
redistribution of the Program by all those who receive copies
directly or indirectly through you, you could not satisfy both the
patent license and this License, and you would be required to
refrain entirely from distribution of the Program.

If you learn of a third party claim or other restriction relating
to a Program you have already distributed you shall promptly redo
your Program to address the issue and take all reasonable steps to
inform those who may have received the Program at issue. An example
of an appropriate reasonable step to inform would be posting an
announcement on an appropriate web bulletin board.

The provisions of this License are deemed to be severable, and the
invalidity or unenforceability of any provision shall not affect or
impair the remaining provisions which shall continue in full force
and effect.  In substitution for any provision held unlawful, there
shall be substituted a provision of similar import reflecting the
original intent of the parties hereto to the extent permissible
under law.

The Original Contributor from time to time may change this License,
and the amended license will apply to all copies of the Program
downloaded after the new license is posted. This License grants
only the rights expressly stated herein and provides you with no
implied rights or licenses to the intellectual property of any
Contributor.

		This License is the complete and exclusive statement
of the agreement between the parties. This License shall be
governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State
of Ohio and the United States of America, without regard to
principles of conflicts of law.

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