RFC 4748 BEST CURRENT PRACTICE META · INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

RFC 3978 Update to Recognize the IETF Trust

Shifts IETF copyright management to a new trust organization

On rfc-editor.org ↗
PUBLISHED
October 2006
AUTHORS
S. Bradner
STREAM
IETF
BUILDS ON
RFC 3978 — IETF Contribution Rights
OBSOLETED BY
RFC 5378 — Rights Contributors Provide to the IETF Trust
PUBLICATION DATE
October 2006
DOI
10.17487/RFC4748

RFC text

Contents
Original text · RFC Editor View on rfc-editor.org ↗
Network Working Group                                    S. Bradner, Ed.
Request for Comments: 4748                            Harvard University
BCP: 78                                                     October 2006
Updates: 3978
Category: Best Current Practice


              RFC 3978 Update to Recognize the IETF Trust

Status of This Memo

   This document specifies an Internet Best Current Practices for the
   Internet Community, and requests discussion and suggestions for
   improvements.  Distribution of this memo is unlimited.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (C) The IETF Trust (2006).

Abstract

   This document updates RFC 3978 "IETF Rights in Contributions" to
   recognize that the IETF Trust is now the proper custodian of all
   IETF-related intellectual property rights.

   This document does not constrain how the IETF Trust exercises those
   rights.

1.  Introduction

1.1.  IETF Trust

   Currently the IETF requires that authors of Contributions to the IETF
   grant to the IETF (meaning the full set of participants in the IETF
   Standards Process) a limited set of non-exclusive rights and
   permissions as part of the process of submitting such Contribution.
   These rights and permissions are detailed in "IETF Rights in
   Contributions" (RFC 3978 - BCP 78) [RFC3978].

   The IETF Trust was recently formed to act as the administrative
   custodian of all copyrights and other intellectual property rights
   relating to the IETF Standards Process that had previously been held
   by ISOC and the Corporation for National Research Initiatives (CNRI)
   (see [IETF_Trust_Agmt]).

   The IETF is supported by an IETF Administrative Support Activity
   (IASA) defined in BCP 101 [BCP101].  BCP 101 was updated by [RFC4371]
   to recognize the creation of the IETF Trust.

   This document updates RFC 3978 in order to recognize the IETF Trust
   and to implement the structure needed to support it.  Most
   importantly, it alters the license-grant path as follows:  whereas
   previously, authors of Contributions to the IETF would grant a
   license to ISOC, such authors will grant a license to the IETF Trust
   (in Section 3.3).  This document concerns itself only with changes to
   RFC 3978 needed to recognize the creation of the IETF Trust.

   This introductory section is to provide context for the reader.
   Section 2 of this document is intended to be normative.

2.  Updates to RFC 3978

   The text of RFC 3978 is hereby updated as set forth below to reflect
   the creation of the IETF Trust.

2.1.  Update Introduction

   In the third paragraph of Section 2, replace "IETF and Internet
   Society (ISOC)" with "IETF Trust and the IETF" and replace "IETF and
   ISOC" with "IETF Trust and the IETF".

2.2.  Update Section 3.3

   In Section 3.3, replace two instances of "ISOC and the IETF" and one
   instance of "IETF and ISOC" with "IETF Trust and the IETF".

2.3.  Update Section 3.4

   In Section 3.4(b), add "IETF Trust, " after "IETF,".

2.4.  Update Section 4.2

   In Section 4.2, replace two instances of "ISOC and the IETF" and one
   instance of "IETF and ISOC" with "IETF Trust and the IETF".

2.5.  Update Section 5

   In Section 5 change two instances of "ISOC" to "IETF Trust".

2.6.  Update Copyright Statement

   Replace "Internet Society" with "IETF Trust" in the copyright
   statement in Section 5.4.

2.7.  Update Section 5.5

   In Section 5.5 insert ", THE IETF TRUST" after "INTERNET SOCIETY".

2.8.  Update Section 5.6

   In Section 5.6, replace all occurrences of "Internet Society" or
   "ISOC" with "IETF Trust".

2.9.  Update Section 7.1

   In Section 7.1, replace two instances of "IETF/ISOC" with "IETF Trust
   and IETF".

2.10.  Update Section 8

   In Section 8, insert ", the IETF Trust" after "ISOC".

3.  Security Considerations

   This type of process document does not have a direct impact on the
   security of the Internet or Internet protocols.

4.  References

4.1.  Normative References

   [RFC3978]         Bradner, S., Ed., "IETF Rights in Contributions",
                     BCP 78, RFC 3978, March 2005.

   [BCP101]          Austein, R. and B. Wijnen, "Structure of the IETF
                     Administrative Support Activity (IASA)," BCP 101,
                     RFC 4071, April 2005.

   [RFC4371]         Carpenter, B. and L. Lynch, Ed., "BCP 101 Update
                     for IPR Trust," RFC 4371, January 2006.

   [IETF_Trust_Agmt] www.ietf.org/trust/IETFtrustAgreement20051208.pdf

Editor's Address

   Scott Bradner
   Harvard University
   29 Oxford St.
   Cambridge MA, 02138

   Phone: +1 617 495 3864
   EMail: sob@harvard.edu

Full Copyright Statement

   Copyright (C) The IETF Trust (2006).

   This document is subject to the rights, licenses and restrictions
   contained in BCP 78, and except as set forth therein, the authors
   retain all their rights.

   This document and the information contained herein are provided on an
   "AS IS" basis and THE CONTRIBUTOR, THE ORGANIZATION HE/SHE REPRESENTS
   OR IS SPONSORED BY (IF ANY), THE INTERNET SOCIETY, THE IETF TRUST,
   AND THE INTERNET ENGINEERING TASK FORCE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES,
   EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT
   THE USE OF THE INFORMATION HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY
   IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
   PURPOSE.

Intellectual Property

   The IETF takes no position regarding the validity or scope of any
   Intellectual Property Rights or other rights that might be claimed to
   pertain to the implementation or use of the technology described in
   this document or the extent to which any license under such rights
   might or might not be available; nor does it represent that it has
   made any independent effort to identify any such rights.  Information
   on the procedures with respect to rights in RFC documents can be
   found in BCP 78 and BCP 79.

   Copies of IPR disclosures made to the IETF Secretariat and any
   assurances of licenses to be made available, or the result of an
   attempt made to obtain a general license or permission for the use of
   such proprietary rights by implementers or users of this
   specification can be obtained from the IETF on-line IPR repository at
   http://www.ietf.org/ipr.

   The IETF invites any interested party to bring to its attention any
   copyrights, patents or patent applications, or other proprietary
   rights that may cover technology that may be required to implement
   this standard.  Please address the information to the IETF at
   ietf-ipr@ietf.org.

Acknowledgement

   Funding for the RFC Editor function is provided by the IETF
   Administrative Support Activity (IASA).

AI ELI5

On this page
PROBLEMRFC 3978 assigned IETF intellectual property rights to ISOC (Internet Society), but a new IETF Trust was created to be a better custodian of those rights.
MECHANISMUpdates RFC 3978 by replacing references to ISOC with the IETF Trust, making the Trust the official holder of IETF-related copyrights and IP rights.
WHY IT MATTERSThe IETF Trust became the steward of IETF intellectual property. RFC 4748 was itself later superseded by RFC 5378.

§1The IETF Trust

The IETF requires authors contributing to the IETF Standards Process to grant certain rights and permissions relating to their work, documented in RFC 3978. Previously, these rights were granted to ISOC (Internet Society). However, the IETF Trust was created to act as the administrative custodian of all copyrights and intellectual property rights relating to the IETF Standards Process. This document updates RFC 3978 to recognize the IETF Trust as the proper recipient of these rights.

The IETF had rules about who owns the standards. A new Trust organization was created to manage ownership instead of the old Internet Society.

§2The Changes

RFC 4748 makes targeted edits to RFC 3978, replacing instances of "ISOC" and "Internet Society" with "IETF Trust and the IETF" throughout the document. Specifically, the license-grant path changes: authors now grant licenses directly to the IETF Trust rather than to ISOC. The updates affect the Introduction, sections on rights grants, authorization, copyright statements, and other provisions that reference the copyright holder. The document does not alter the underlying rights and permissions required from authors; it only changes who holds them.

The memo changes the rule book from "give rights to the Internet Society" to "give rights to the IETF Trust". Everything else stays the same.

§3Status and Succession

RFC 4748 is a Best Current Practice document that was itself superseded by RFC 5378 in May 2008. Both documents serve the same purpose: confirming the IETF Trust as the holder of IETF intellectual property. The IETF Trust does not constrain how it exercises those rights, allowing flexibility in licensing and reuse of IETF standards.

This memo updated the rules and later got replaced with a new version. The important part is that the Trust owns IETF intellectual property.

§4References