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1CERN Open Hardware Licence v1.2
2
3Preamble
4
5Through this CERN Open Hardware Licence ("CERN OHL") version 1.2, CERN
6wishes to provide a tool to foster collaboration and sharing among
7hardware designers.  The CERN OHL is copyright CERN. Anyone is welcome
8to use the CERN OHL, in unmodified form only, for the distribution of
9their own Open Hardware designs. Any other right is reserved. Release
10of hardware designs under the CERN OHL does not constitute an
11endorsement of the licensor or its designs nor does it imply any
12involvement by CERN in the development of such designs.
13
141. Definitions
15
16In this Licence, the following terms have the following meanings:
17
18“Licence” means this CERN OHL.
19
20“Documentation” means schematic diagrams, designs, circuit or circuit
21board layouts, mechanical drawings, flow charts and descriptive text,
22and other explanatory material that is explicitly stated as being made
23available under the conditions of this Licence. The Documentation may
24be in any medium, including but not limited to computer files and
25representations on paper, film, or any other media.
26
27“Documentation Location” means a location where the Licensor has
28placed Documentation, and which he believes will be publicly
29accessible for at least three years from the first communication to
30the public or distribution of Documentation.
31
32“Product” means either an entire, or any part of a, device built using
33the Documentation or the modified Documentation.
34
35“Licensee” means any natural or legal person exercising rights under
36this Licence.
37
38“Licensor” means any natural or legal person that creates or modifies
39Documentation and subsequently communicates to the public and/ or
40distributes the resulting Documentation under the terms and conditions
41of this Licence.
42
43A Licensee may at the same time be a Licensor, and vice versa.
44
45Use of the masculine gender includes the feminine and neuter genders
46and is employed solely to facilitate reading.
47
482. Applicability
49
502.1. This Licence governs the use, copying, modification,
51communication to the public and distribution of the Documentation, and
52the manufacture and distribution of Products. By exercising any right
53granted under this Licence, the Licensee irrevocably accepts these
54terms and conditions.
55
562.2. This Licence is granted by the Licensor directly to the Licensee,
57and shall apply worldwide and without limitation in time. The Licensee
58may assign his licence rights or grant sub-licences.
59
602.3. This Licence does not extend to software, firmware, or code
61loaded into programmable devices which may be used in conjunction with
62the Documentation, the modified Documentation or with Products, unless
63such software, firmware, or code is explicitly expressed to be subject
64to this Licence. The use of such software, firmware, or code is
65otherwise subject to the applicable licence terms and conditions.
66
673. Copying, modification, communication to the public and distribution
68of the Documentation
69
703.1. The Licensee shall keep intact all copyright and trademarks
71notices, all notices referring to Documentation Location, and all
72notices that refer to this Licence and to the disclaimer of warranties
73that are included in the Documentation. He shall include a copy
74thereof in every copy of the Documentation or, as the case may be,
75modified Documentation, that he communicates to the public or
76distributes.
77
783.2. The Licensee may copy, communicate to the public and distribute
79verbatim copies of the Documentation, in any medium, subject to the
80requirements specified in section 3.1.
81
823.3. The Licensee may modify the Documentation or any portion thereof
83provided that upon modification of the Documentation, the Licensee
84shall make the modified Documentation available from a Documentation
85Location such that it can be easily located by an original Licensor
86once the Licensee communicates to the public or distributes the
87modified Documentation under section 3.4, and, where required by
88section 4.1, by a recipient of a Product. However, the Licensor shall
89not assert his rights under the foregoing proviso unless or until a
90Product is distributed.
91
923.4. The Licensee may communicate to the public and distribute the
93modified Documentation (thereby in addition to being a Licensee also
94becoming a Licensor), always provided that he shall:
95
96a) comply with section 3.1;
97
98b) cause the modified Documentation to carry prominent notices stating
99that the Licensee has modified the Documentation, with the date and
100description of the modifications;
101
102c) cause the modified Documentation to carry a new Documentation
103Location notice if the original Documentation provided for one;
104
105d) make available the modified Documentation at the same level of
106abstraction as that of the Documentation, in the preferred format for
107making modifications to it (e.g. the native format of the CAD tool as
108applicable), and in the event that format is proprietary, in a format
109viewable with a tool licensed under an OSI-approved license if the
110proprietary tool can create it; and
111
112e) license the modified Documentation under the terms and conditions
113of this Licence or, where applicable, a later version of this Licence
114as may be issued by CERN.
115
1163.5. The Licence includes a non-exclusive licence to those patents or
117registered designs that are held by, under the control of, or
118sub-licensable by the Licensor, to the extent necessary to make use of
119the rights granted under this Licence. The scope of this section 3.5
120shall be strictly limited to the parts of the Documentation or
121modified Documentation created by the Licensor.
122
1234. Manufacture and distribution of Products
124
1254.1. The Licensee may manufacture or distribute Products always
126provided that, where such manufacture or distribution requires a
127licence under this Licence the Licensee provides to each recipient of
128such Products an easy means of accessing a copy of the Documentation
129or modified Documentation, as applicable, as set out in section 3.
130
1314.2. The Licensee is invited to inform any Licensor who has indicated
132his wish to receive this information about the type, quantity and
133dates of production of Products the Licensee has (had) manufactured
134
1355. Warranty and liability
136
1375.1. DISCLAIMER – The Documentation and any modified Documentation are
138provided "as is" and any express or implied warranties, including, but
139not limited to, implied warranties of merchantability, of satisfactory
140quality, non-infringement of third party rights, and fitness for a
141particular purpose or use are disclaimed in respect of the
142Documentation, the modified Documentation or any Product. The Licensor
143makes no representation that the Documentation, modified
144Documentation, or any Product, does or will not infringe any patent,
145copyright, trade secret or other proprietary right. The entire risk as
146to the use, quality, and performance of a Product shall be with the
147Licensee and not the Licensor. This disclaimer of warranty is an
148essential part of this Licence and a condition for the grant of any
149rights granted under this Licence. The Licensee warrants that it does
150not act in a consumer capacity.
151
1525.2. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY – The Licensor shall have no liability
153for direct, indirect, special, incidental, consequential, exemplary,
154punitive or other damages of any character including, without
155limitation, procurement of substitute goods or services, loss of use,
156data or profits, or business interruption, however caused and on any
157theory of contract, warranty, tort (including negligence), product
158liability or otherwise, arising in any way in relation to the
159Documentation, modified Documentation and/or the use, manufacture or
160distribution of a Product, even if advised of the possibility of such
161damages, and the Licensee shall hold the Licensor(s) free and harmless
162from any liability, costs, damages, fees and expenses, including
163claims by third parties, in relation to such use.
164
1656. General
166
1676.1. Except for the rights explicitly granted hereunder, this Licence
168does not imply or represent any transfer or assignment of intellectual
169property rights to the Licensee.
170
1716.2. The Licensee shall not use or make reference to any of the names
172(including acronyms and abbreviations), images, or logos under which
173the Licensor is known, save in so far as required to comply with
174section 3. Any such permitted use or reference shall be factual and
175shall in no event suggest any kind of endorsement by the Licensor or
176its personnel of the modified Documentation or any Product, or any
177kind of implication by the Licensor or its personnel in the
178preparation of the modified Documentation or Product.
179
1806.3. CERN may publish updated versions of this Licence which retain
181the same general provisions as this version, but differ in detail so
182far this is required and reasonable. New versions will be published
183with a unique version number.
184
1856.4. This Licence shall terminate with immediate effect, upon written
186notice and without involvement of a court if the Licensee fails to
187comply with any of its terms and conditions, or if the Licensee
188initiates legal action against Licensor in relation to this
189Licence. Section 5 shall continue to apply.
190