Clarification of Derivative Works Restrictions
draft-sayre-gendispatch-derivative-06

Network Working Group                                           R. Sayre
Internet-Draft                                                          
Updates: 5378 (if approved)                              B. E. Carpenter
Intended status: Best Current Practice                 Univ. of Auckland
Expires: 14 February 2027                                 13 August 2026

             Clarification of Derivative Works Restrictions
                 draft-sayre-gendispatch-derivative-06

Abstract

   This document updates RFC 5378 to clarify 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/.

   Discussion of this document takes place on the ipr-wg Working Group
   mailing list (mailto:ipr-wg@ietf.org), which is archived at
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   https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/ipr-wg/.

Status of This Memo

   This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the
   provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79.

   Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering
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   time.  It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference
   material or to cite them other than as "work in progress."

   This Internet-Draft will expire on 14 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 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
   3.  Derivative Works Clarification  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
   4.  Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
   5.  IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
   6.  References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
     6.1.  Normative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
     6.2.  Informative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
   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
     A.7.  Draft-06  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   Acknowledgements  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   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.

   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.

   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].

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2.  Conventions and Definitions

   This document uses the terminology defined in Section 1 of [RFC5378].

3.  Derivative Works Clarification

   The No Derivative Works mechanism is limited to IETF Contributions
   which are Internet-Drafts and RFCs that are used in the IETF
   Standards Process, and is not applicable to any other IETF
   Contribution types as defined by RFC 5378.

   All other rights Contributors grant to the IETF Trust or IETF IPMC
   per [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>.

   [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/>.

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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

A.7.  Draft-06

   *  More succinct version

   *  Removed explicit legal query

   *  Editorial fixes

Acknowledgements

   Helpful comments were made by Jay Daley, Roman Danyliw, Glenn Deen,
   Stephen Farrell, Joel Halpern, Christian Huitema, John Klensin, Eliot
   Lear, John Levine, Rich Salz, Paul Wouters, and other members of the
   community.

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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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