Re: [RFC] Change EDK II to BSD+Patent License

["Doran, Mark" <mark.doran@intel.com>]

Hi Kevin:

I'm not a lawyer and even if I were I couldn't give you legal advice of course.

That said, I believe the intent of the BSD+patent license is well stated in the note that is included immediately above the actual rendition of terms on this page here: https://opensource.org/licenses/BSDplusPatent

That note says:

"Note: This license is designed to provide: a) a simple permissive license; b) that is compatible with the GNU General Public License (GPL), version 2; and c) which also has an express patent grant included." 

I'll re-iterate what I said before in making the original proposal: the intent is to make sure that the code in the project continues to have permissive terms for users and that users of the code need not have a concern about any potential for IP infringement as a result of using any Contributions that are made part of the project.
--
Cheers,

Mark.


> -----Original Message-----
> From: edk2-devel [mailto:edk2-devel-bounces@lists.01.org] On Behalf Of
> Kevin D Davis
> Sent: Tuesday, March 5, 2019 12:19 PM
> To: Kinney, Michael D <michael.d.kinney@intel.com>; edk2-devel@lists.01.org
> Subject: Re: [edk2] [RFC] Change EDK II to BSD+Patent License
> 
> 
> 
> 
>     	Mr. Kinney,
> Wow.  Of all the many licenses I’ve read, this one takes the cake at having
> the highest confusion to words ratio for my reading comprehension
> level.  I’ll admit my level is a lot lower than some on this reflector.
> Maybe if I knew the intent of this license when reading it I would find it
> clear.  Is there an opinion about the intentions around these two
> questions?
> A) am I granting patent rights if I add patentable/patented code?
> B) do I need to get a patent license from all of the copyright holders to
> use this code for technology covered by their code?
> 
> 
>     	Thanks,Kevin
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On Tue, Mar 5, 2019 at 1:10 PM -0600, "Kinney, Michael D"
> <michael.d.kinney@intel.com> wrote:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Hello,
> 
> This RFC follows up on the proposal from Mark Doran to change the
> EDK II Project to a BSD+Patent License.
> 
> 	https://lists.01.org/pipermail/edk2-devel/2019-February/036260.html
> 
> The review period for this license change is 30 days.  If there is no
> unresolved feedback on April 9, 2019, then commits of the license change
> patches will begin on April 9, 2019.
> 
>   ** Please provide feedback on the proposal by Monday April 8, 2019. **
> 
> Feedback can be sent to edk2-devel@lists.01.org, the EDK II community
> manager or any of the EDK II stewards.
> 
>   * Stephano Cetola    Community Manager
>   * Leif Lindholm       Steward
>   * Andrew Fish                  Steward
>   * Laszlo Ersek               Steward
>   * Michael Kinney    Steward
> 
> The goal is to convert all of the files in the edk2 repository that are
> currently covered by the BSD 2-Clause License and the TianoCore
> Contribution Agreement to a BSD+Patent License.
> 
> I will be following up with pointers to public GitHub branches that
> contain the set of changes to the edk2 repository for review.
> 
> The proposal is to perform this change to edk2/master in the steps listed
> below. The license change will not be applied to any of the other existing
> branches in the edk2 repository.
> 
> 1) Add a License-History.txt file to the root of the edk2 repository that
>    contains the BSD 2-Clause License and the TianoCore Contribution
>    Agreement along with the details on the license change to BSD+Patent.
> 
> 2) Change all files currently covered by a BSD 2-Clause license and the
>    TianoCore Contribution Agreement to a BSD+Patent license and add an
>    SPDX-License-Identifier statement.  The link to the BSD+Patent license
>    and the text for file headers is listed below.
> 
>    https://opensource.org/licenses/BSDplusPatent
> 
>    ======================================================================
>    SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-2-Clause-Patent
> 
>    Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
>    modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are
> met:
> 
>    1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
> notice,
>       this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
> 
>    2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
> notice,
>       this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
> documentation
>       and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
> 
>    Subject to the terms and conditions of this license, each copyright
> holder
>    and contributor hereby grants to those receiving rights under this
> license
>    a perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive, no-charge, royalty-free,
> irrevocable
>    (except for failure to satisfy the conditions of this license) patent
>    license to make, have made, use, offer to sell, sell, import, and
> otherwise
>    transfer this software, where such license applies only to those patent
>    claims, already acquired or hereafter acquired, licensable by such
> copyright
>    holder or contributor that are necessarily infringed by:
> 
>    (a) their Contribution(s) (the licensed copyrights of copyright holders
> and
>        non-copyrightable additions of contributors, in source or binary
> form)
>        alone; or
> 
>    (b) combination of their Contribution(s) with the work of authorship to
>        which such Contribution(s) was added by such copyright holder or
>        contributor, if, at the time the Contribution is added, such
> addition
>        causes such combination to be necessarily infringed. The patent
> license
>        shall not apply to any other combinations which include the
>        Contribution.
> 
>    Except as expressly stated above, no rights or licenses from any
> copyright
>    holder or contributor is granted under this license, whether expressly,
> by
>    implication, estoppel or otherwise.
> 
>    DISCLAIMER
> 
>    THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS
> IS"
>    AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO,
> THE
>    IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
> PURPOSE
>    ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS OR CONTRIBUTORS
> BE
>    LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR
>    CONSEQUENTIAL 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 THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF
> THE
>    POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
>    ======================================================================
> 
> 3) Update Readme.md and License.txt in the root of the edk2 repository to
>    state that content is covered by a BSD+Patent license.  Also state that
>    BSD+Patent is the preferred license for the EDK II project.
> 
> 4) Remove the Contributions.txt file in the root of the edk2 repository
>    That contiants the TianoCore Contribution Agreement.
> 
> 5) Update all documentation to state that content submitted under the
>    BSD+Patent license no longer requires the Tianocore Contribution
>    Agreement which means the following line is not required in commit
>    messages for changes to files that are covered by a BSD+Patent.
> 
>        Contributed-under: TianoCore Contribution Agreement 1.1
> 
> 6) Create Wiki page(s) that provide the details of the BSD+Patent License
>    change and provide the status of the license change for each TianoCore
>    repository and package.
> 
> Once the conversion of the edk2 repository is complete, work will begin
> on the other repositories in the TianoCore project.
> 
> Best regards,
> 
> Mike
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