RFC Copyrights

File: copyright.23Jan01.html

This file is essentially the "copyright-story" file created by Jon Postel sometime before 1988. It was slightly reformatted and clarified in January 2001, but its essential content and style were unchanged, and it therefore reflects the historical rules for RFC Editor copyrights. It was written in Postel's characteristic style: concise, direct, and functional.

There is a pure text version at: ftp://ftp.rfc-editor.org/~in-notes/rfc-editor/copyright.23Jan01

[Note added Feb 2005]


RFC COPYRIGHTS

To protect the integrity of RFC publication, all RFCs are published with an ISOC (Internet Society) copyright statement. The text of the standard copyright statement is appended below.

This copyright notice was designed to ensure that Request For Comments (RFC) documents will have the widest possible distribution. The following general guidelines control the reproduction and modification of RFCs.

1. Copying and distributing an entire RFC without any changes:

1a. The copying and free redistribution are generally encouraged.

1b. The inclusion of such RFC copies in other documents and collections that are distributed for a fee is also encouraged. However, in this case it is a courtesy (i) to ask the RFC author and (ii) provide the RFC author with a copy of the final document or collection.

Anyone can take some RFCs, put them in a book, copyright the book, and sell it. This in no way inhibits anyone else from doing the same thing, or inhibits any other distribution of the RFCs.

2. Copying and distributing the whole RFC with changes in format, font, etcetera:

2a. The same as case 1, with the addition that a note should be made of the reformatting.

3. Copying and distributing portions of an RFC:

3a. As with any material excerpted from another source, proper credit and citations must be provided.

4. Translating RFCs into other languages:

4a. Since wide distribution of RFCs is very desirable, translation into other languages is also desirable. The same requirements and courtesies should be followed in distributing RFCs in translation as would be followed when distributing RFCs in the original language.


The RFC Editor
Last revised: 23 January 2001

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STANDARD RFC COPYRIGHT

In the following copyright text, is replaced by the original publication date of the RFC containing the text.

"Copyright (C) The Internet Society (). All Rights Reserved.

This document and translations of it may be copied and furnished to others, and derivative works that comment on or otherwise explain it or assist in its implmentation may be prepared, copied, published and distributed, in whole or in part, without restriction of any kind, provided that the above copyright notice and this paragraph are included on all such copies and derivative works. However, this document itself may not be modified in any way, such as by removing the copyright notice or references to the Internet Society or other Internet organizations, except as needed for the purpose of developing Internet standards in which case the procedures for copyrights defined in the Internet Standards process must be followed, or as required to translate it into languages other than English.

The limited permissions granted above are perpetual and will not be revoked by the Internet Society or its successors or assigns.

This document and the information contained herein is provided on an "AS IS" basis and THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE INTERNET ENGINEERING TASK FORCE DISCLAIMS 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."

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