[License-review] request for review of the 3D Slicer License

Thu May 27 19:11:04 UTC 2021

Hello -

I'm requesting a review of the 3D Slicer license for Legacy Approval as a
Non-Reusable license.

This license was drafted in 2005 by lawyers working for Brigham and Women's
Hospital (BWH), a teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School, to be
BSD-like but with a few extra provisions related to medical software.  It
is specific to BWH so it's not directly reusable.

It was written in part because BWH was the prime contractor on an
NIH-funded development consortium (na-mic.org) and wanted all code
contributions to be compatible with ultimate use in real-world medical
products (that is, commercial FDA-approved medical devices, which are
almost universally closed source even if they build on open software).
Compliance with the Slicer License was required for subcontractors, a group
that included General Electric and several universities (MIT, UNC...) who
all reviewed and accepted this license.

The license has been in continuous use since 2005 on software (slicer.org)
that has been downloaded something like a million times and has been
referenced in about 12,000 academic publications (
https://www.slicer.org/wiki/Main_Page/SlicerCommunity).  Some of the code
is also now being used in several medical products, with this license
having been reviewed and accepted by the companies involved.

Here are some of the key points that BWH included to increase their comfort
at distributing open source medical software.

* contributors affirm that they have de-identified any patient data they
contribute

* contributors explicitly grant royalty free rights if they contribute code
covered by a patent they control (i.e. to avoid submarine patents) and the
right to sublicense code, data, and patents

* no GPL or other copyleft allowed because that would make the code
basically impossible to use in real medical products

* it states that the code is "designed for research" and "CLINICAL
APPLICATIONS ARE NEITHER RECOMMENDED NOR ADVISED" just to make it extra
clear that any commercial clinical uses of the code are solely the
responsibility of the user and not BWH or the other developers.

The full text is linked and copied below for your consideration.

Thanks,
Steve

https://github.com/Slicer/Slicer/blob/master/License.txt

For more information, please see:

                      http://www.slicer.org

The 3D Slicer license below is a BSD style license, with extensions
to cover contributions and other issues specific to 3D Slicer.

3D Slicer Contribution and Software License Agreement ("Agreement")
Version 1.0 (December 20, 2005)

This Agreement covers contributions to and downloads from the 3D
Slicer project ("Slicer") maintained by The Brigham and Women's
Hospital, Inc. ("Brigham"). Part A of this Agreement applies to
contributions of software and/or data to Slicer (including making
revisions of or additions to code and/or data already in Slicer). Part
B of this Agreement applies to downloads of software and/or data from
Slicer. Part C of this Agreement applies to all transactions with
Slicer. If you distribute Software (as defined below) downloaded from
Slicer, all of the paragraphs of Part B of this Agreement must be
included with and apply to such Software.

Your contribution of software and/or data to Slicer (including prior
to the date of the first publication of this Agreement, each a
"Contribution") and/or downloading, copying, modifying, displaying,
distributing or use of any software and/or data from Slicer
(collectively, the "Software") constitutes acceptance of all of the
terms and conditions of this Agreement. If you do not agree to such
terms and conditions, you have no right to contribute your
Contribution, or to download, copy, modify, display, distribute or use
the Software.

PART A. CONTRIBUTION AGREEMENT - License to Brigham with Right to
Sublicense ("Contribution Agreement").

1. As used in this Contribution Agreement, "you" means the individual
   contributing the Contribution to Slicer and the institution or
   entity which employs or is otherwise affiliated with such
   individual in connection with such Contribution.

2. This Contribution Agreement applies to all Contributions made to
   Slicer, including without limitation Contributions made prior to
   the date of first publication of this Agreement. If at any time you
   make a Contribution to Slicer, you represent that (i) you are
   legally authorized and entitled to make such Contribution and to
   grant all licenses granted in this Contribution Agreement with
   respect to such Contribution; (ii) if your Contribution includes
   any patient data, all such data is de-identified in accordance with
   U.S. confidentiality and security laws and requirements, including
   but not limited to the Health Insurance Portability and
   Accountability Act (HIPAA) and its regulations, and your disclosure
   of such data for the purposes contemplated by this Agreement is
   properly authorized and in compliance with all applicable laws and
   regulations; and (iii) you have preserved in the Contribution all
   applicable attributions, copyright notices and licenses for any
   third party software or data included in the Contribution.

3. Except for the licenses granted in this Agreement, you reserve all
   right, title and interest in your Contribution.

4. You hereby grant to Brigham, with the right to sublicense, a
   perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive, no charge, royalty-free,
   irrevocable license to use, reproduce, make derivative works of,
   display and distribute the Contribution. If your Contribution is
   protected by patent, you hereby grant to Brigham, with the right to
   sublicense, a perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive, no-charge,
   royalty-free, irrevocable license under your interest in patent
   rights covering the Contribution, to make, have made, use, sell and
   otherwise transfer your Contribution, alone or in combination with
   any other code.

5. You acknowledge and agree that Brigham may incorporate your
   Contribution into Slicer and may make Slicer available to members
   of the public on an open source basis under terms substantially in
   accordance with the Software License set forth in Part B of this
   Agreement. You further acknowledge and agree that Brigham shall
   have no liability arising in connection with claims resulting from
   your breach of any of the terms of this Agreement.

6. YOU WARRANT THAT TO THE BEST OF YOUR KNOWLEDGE YOUR CONTRIBUTION
   DOES NOT CONTAIN ANY CODE THAT REQURES OR PRESCRIBES AN "OPEN
   SOURCE LICENSE" FOR DERIVATIVE WORKS (by way of non-limiting
   example, the GNU General Public License or other so-called
   "reciprocal" license that requires any derived work to be licensed
   under the GNU General Public License or other "open source
   license").

PART B. DOWNLOADING AGREEMENT - License from Brigham with Right to
Sublicense ("Software License").

1. As used in this Software License, "you" means the individual
   downloading and/or using, reproducing, modifying, displaying and/or
   distributing the Software and the institution or entity which
   employs or is otherwise affiliated with such individual in
   connection therewith. The Brigham and Women's Hospital,
   Inc. ("Brigham") hereby grants you, with right to sublicense, with
   respect to Brigham's rights in the software, and data, if any,
   which is the subject of this Software License (collectively, the
   "Software"), a royalty-free, non-exclusive license to use,
   reproduce, make derivative works of, display and distribute the
   Software, provided that:

(a) you accept and adhere to all of the terms and conditions of this
Software License;

(b) in connection with any copy of or sublicense of all or any portion
of the Software, all of the terms and conditions in this Software
License shall appear in and shall apply to such copy and such
sublicense, including without limitation all source and executable
forms and on any user documentation, prefaced with the following
words: "All or portions of this licensed product (such portions are
the "Software") have been obtained under license from The Brigham and
Women's Hospital, Inc. and are subject to the following terms and
conditions:"

(c) you preserve and maintain all applicable attributions, copyright
notices and licenses included in or applicable to the Software;

(d) modified versions of the Software must be clearly identified and
marked as such, and must not be misrepresented as being the original
Software; and

(e) you consider making, but are under no obligation to make, the
source code of any of your modifications to the Software freely
available to others on an open source basis.

2. The license granted in this Software License includes without
   limitation the right to (i) incorporate the Software into
   proprietary programs (subject to any restrictions applicable to
   such programs), (ii) add your own copyright statement to your
   modifications of the Software, and (iii) provide additional or
   different license terms and conditions in your sublicenses of
   modifications of the Software; provided that in each case your use,
   reproduction or distribution of such modifications otherwise
   complies with the conditions stated in this Software License.

3. This Software License does not grant any rights with respect to
   third party software, except those rights that Brigham has been
   authorized by a third party to grant to you, and accordingly you
   are solely responsible for (i) obtaining any permissions from third
   parties that you need to use, reproduce, make derivative works of,
   display and distribute the Software, and (ii) informing your
   sublicensees, including without limitation your end-users, of their
   obligations to secure any such required permissions.

4. The Software has been designed for research purposes only and has
   not been reviewed or approved by the Food and Drug Administration
   or by any other agency. YOU ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT CLINICAL
   APPLICATIONS ARE NEITHER RECOMMENDED NOR ADVISED. Any
   commercialization of the Software is at the sole risk of the party
   or parties engaged in such commercialization. You further agree to
   use, reproduce, make derivative works of, display and distribute
   the Software in compliance with all applicable governmental laws,
   regulations and orders, including without limitation those relating
   to export and import control.

5. The Software is provided "AS IS" and neither Brigham nor any
   contributor to the software (each a "Contributor") shall have any
   obligation to provide maintenance, support, updates, enhancements
   or modifications thereto. BRIGHAM AND ALL CONTRIBUTORS SPECIFICALLY
   DISCLAIM ALL EXPRESS AND IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND INCLUDING,
   BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR
   A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL
   BRIGHAM OR ANY CONTRIBUTOR BE LIABLE TO ANY PARTY FOR DIRECT,
   INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, EXEMPLARY OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES
   HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY ARISING IN ANY WAY
   RELATED TO THE SOFTWARE, EVEN IF BRIGHAM OR ANY CONTRIBUTOR HAS
   BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. TO THE MAXIMUM
   EXTENT NOT PROHIBITED BY LAW OR REGULATION, YOU FURTHER ASSUME ALL
   LIABILITY FOR YOUR USE, REPRODUCTION, MAKING OF DERIVATIVE WORKS,
   DISPLAY, LICENSE OR DISTRIBUTION OF THE SOFTWARE AND AGREE TO
   INDEMNIFY AND HOLD HARMLESS BRIGHAM AND ALL CONTRIBUTORS FROM AND
   AGAINST ANY AND ALL CLAIMS, SUITS, ACTIONS, DEMANDS AND JUDGMENTS
   ARISING THEREFROM.

6. None of the names, logos or trademarks of Brigham or any of
   Brigham's affiliates or any of the Contributors, or any funding
   agency, may be used to endorse or promote products produced in
   whole or in part by operation of the Software or derived from or
   based on the Software without specific prior written permission
   from the applicable party.

7. Any use, reproduction or distribution of the Software which is not
   in accordance with this Software License shall automatically revoke
   all rights granted to you under this Software License and render
   Paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Software License null and void.

8. This Software License does not grant any rights in or to any
   intellectual property owned by Brigham or any Contributor except
   those rights expressly granted hereunder.

PART C. MISCELLANEOUS

This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with
the laws of The Commonwealth of Massachusetts without regard to
principles of conflicts of law. This Agreement shall supercede and
replace any license terms that you may have agreed to previously with
respect to Slicer.
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