Clarification of Derivative Works Restrictions
draft-sayre-gendispatch-derivative-05
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| Document | Type | Active Internet-Draft (individual) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Authors | Robert Sayre , Brian E. Carpenter | ||
| Last updated | 2026-08-05 | ||
| RFC stream | (None) | ||
| Intended RFC status | (None) | ||
| Formats | |||
| Stream | Stream state | (No stream defined) | |
| Consensus boilerplate | Unknown | ||
| RFC Editor Note | (None) | ||
| IESG | IESG state | I-D Exists | |
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draft-sayre-gendispatch-derivative-05
Network Working Group R. Sayre
Internet-Draft
Updates: 5378 (if approved) B. E. Carpenter
Intended status: Best Current Practice Univ. of Auckland
Expires: 6 February 2027 5 August 2026
Clarification of Derivative Works Restrictions
draft-sayre-gendispatch-derivative-05
Abstract
This document clarifies that only IETF Documents may contain legal
limitations on derivative works.
About This Document
This note is to be removed before publishing as an RFC.
Status information for this document may be found at
https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-sayre-gendispatch-derivative/.
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This Internet-Draft will expire on 6 February 2027.
Copyright Notice
Copyright (c) 2026 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
document authors. All rights reserved.
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This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
Provisions Relating to IETF Documents (https://trustee.ietf.org/
license-info) in effect on the date of publication of this document.
Please review these documents carefully, as they describe your rights
and restrictions with respect to this document. Code Components
extracted from this document must include Revised BSD License text as
described in Section 4.e of the Trust Legal Provisions and are
provided without warranty as described in the Revised BSD License.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2. Conventions and Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
3. Derivative Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
4. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
5. IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
6. References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
6.1. Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
6.2. Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Appendix A. Change Log [RFC Editor, please remove] . . . . . . . 4
A.1. Draft-00 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
A.2. Draft-01 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
A.3. Draft-02 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
A.4. Draft-03 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
A.5. Draft-04 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
A.6. Draft-05 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Authors' Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1. Introduction
This document updates Rights Contributors Provide to the IETF Trust
[RFC5378] in order to clarify and limit which contributions may
include a restriction on derivative rights.
2. Conventions and Definitions
This document uses the terminology defined in [RFC5378].
3. Derivative Works
Section 1 of [RFC5378] defines "Contribution", a "Contributor" and
"IETF Documents". Sections 5.3 and 6 of RFC 5378 describe an
optional mechanism for a Contributor to limit derivative works rights
with a notice in the Contribution.
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This optional mechanism has sometimes been misconstrued as applying
to all Contributions. Using this mechanism outside of
specifications, for example, in electronic mail, makes it difficult
for people to respond and inhibits collaboration. This behavior
impedes the very idea of collaborating about the Internet over the
Internet. The IESG has previously issued a statement on this topic
[IESG-DERIV].
This document clarifies with normative effect that RFC 5378 permits
the use of this mechanism only for the text of IETF Documents, i.e.,
RFCs or Internet-Drafts that are used in the IETF Standards Process.
*Question for legal review:* Which of the following two alternative
sentences would be more effective and less problematic for
participants?
*Version 1:* Derivative works restrictions may not be applied to
other Contributions, such as but not limited to public online IETF
fora as defined in [RFC9945], appeals, minutes, or audio or video
recordings of IETF meetings.
*Version 2:* Derivative works restrictions attached to other
Contributions, such as but not limited to public online IETF fora as
defined in [RFC9945], appeals, minutes, or audio or video recordings
of IETF meetings, have no validity and should be ignored by all IETF
participants.
All other rights Contributors provide to the IETF Trust/ICMP
[RFC5378] remain in place.
4. Security Considerations
This document has no direct impact on Internet security.
5. IANA Considerations
This document has no IANA actions.
6. References
6.1. Normative References
[RFC5378] Bradner, S., Ed. and J. Contreras, Ed., "Rights
Contributors Provide to the IETF Trust", BCP 78, RFC 5378,
DOI 10.17487/RFC5378, November 2008,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc5378>.
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[RFC9945] Eggert, L., Ed. and E. Lear, Ed., "IETF Community
Moderation", BCP 245, RFC 9945, DOI 10.17487/RFC9945,
February 2026, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc9945>.
6.2. Informative References
[IESG-DERIV]
IESG, "IESG Statement on Clarifying Derivative Works
Rights", October 2025, <https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/
statement-iesg-statement-on-clarifying-derivative-works-
rights/>.
Appendix A. Change Log [RFC Editor, please remove]
A.1. Draft-00
* Original version
A.2. Draft-01
* Added author, expanded argument
A.3. Draft-02
* Removed pointless sentence
A.4. Draft-03
* Significant rewording
A.5. Draft-04
* Update after IETF 126 discussion
A.6. Draft-05
* Sharpened definitions taken from RFC5378
* Avoided paraphrasing IESG statement
* Added explicit "ban vs ignore" choice
* Added explicit legal query
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Acknowledgements
Helpful comments were made by Jay Daley, Roman Danyliw, Stephen
Farrell, Joel Halpern, Christian Huitema, John Klensin, Eliot Lear,
John Levine, Rich Salz, Paul Wouters, ...
Authors' Addresses
Robert Sayre
San Francisco, CA
United States of America
Email: sayrer@gmail.com
Brian E. Carpenter
The University of Auckland
School of Computer Science
The University of Auckland
PB 92019
Auckland 1142
New Zealand
Email: brian.e.carpenter@gmail.com
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