CERN Open Hardware Licence

CERN Open Hardware Licence v1.2 

Preamble

Through this CERN Open Hardware Licence ("CERN OHL") version 1.2, CERN

wishes to provide a tool to foster collaboration and sharing among

hardware designers.  The CERN OHL is copyright CERN. Anyone is welcome

to use the CERN OHL, in unmodified form only, for the distribution of

their own Open Hardware designs. Any other right is reserved. Release

of hardware designs under the CERN OHL does not constitute an

endorsement of the licensor or its designs nor does it imply any

involvement by CERN in the development of such designs.

1. Definitions

In this Licence, the following terms have the following meanings:

“Licence” means this CERN OHL.

“Documentation” means schematic diagrams, designs, circuit or circuit

board layouts, mechanical drawings, flow charts and descriptive text,

and other explanatory material that is explicitly stated as being made

available under the conditions of this Licence. The Documentation may

be in any medium, including but not limited to computer files and

representations on paper, film, or any other media.

“Documentation Location” means a location where the Licensor has

placed Documentation, and which he believes will be publicly

accessible for at least three years from the first communication to

the public or distribution of Documentation.

“Product” means either an entire, or any part of a, device built using

the Documentation or the modified Documentation.

“Licensee” means any natural or legal person exercising rights under

this Licence.

“Licensor” means any natural or legal person that creates or modifies

Documentation and subsequently communicates to the public and/ or

distributes the resulting Documentation under the terms and conditions

of this Licence.

A Licensee may at the same time be a Licensor, and vice versa. 

Use of the masculine gender includes the feminine and neuter genders

and is employed solely to facilitate reading.

2. Applicability

2.1. This Licence governs the use, copying, modification,

communication to the public and distribution of the Documentation, and

the manufacture and distribution of Products. By exercising any right

granted under this Licence, the Licensee irrevocably accepts these

terms and conditions.

2.2. This Licence is granted by the Licensor directly to the Licensee,

and shall apply worldwide and without limitation in time. The Licensee

may assign his licence rights or grant sub-licences.

2.3. This Licence does not extend to software, firmware, or code

loaded into programmable devices which may be used in conjunction with

the Documentation, the modified Documentation or with Products, unless

such software, firmware, or code is explicitly expressed to be subject

to this Licence. The use of such software, firmware, or code is

otherwise subject to the applicable licence terms and conditions.

3. Copying, modification, communication to the public and distribution

of the Documentation

3.1. The Licensee shall keep intact all copyright and trademarks

notices, all notices referring to Documentation Location, and all

notices that refer to this Licence and to the disclaimer of warranties

that are included in the Documentation. He shall include a copy

thereof in every copy of the Documentation or, as the case may be,

modified Documentation, that he communicates to the public or

distributes.

3.2. The Licensee may copy, communicate to the public and distribute

verbatim copies of the Documentation, in any medium, subject to the

requirements specified in section 3.1.

3.3. The Licensee may modify the Documentation or any portion thereof

provided that upon modification of the Documentation, the Licensee

shall make the modified Documentation available from a Documentation

Location such that it can be easily located by an original Licensor

once the Licensee communicates to the public or distributes the

modified Documentation under section 3.4, and, where required by

section 4.1, by a recipient of a Product. However, the Licensor shall

not assert his rights under the foregoing proviso unless or until a

Product is distributed.

3.4. The Licensee may communicate to the public and distribute the

modified Documentation (thereby in addition to being a Licensee also

becoming a Licensor), always provided that he shall:

a) comply with section 3.1;

b) cause the modified Documentation to carry prominent notices stating

that the Licensee has modified the Documentation, with the date and

description of the modifications;

c) cause the modified Documentation to carry a new Documentation

Location notice if the original Documentation provided for one;

d) make available the modified Documentation at the same level of

abstraction as that of the Documentation, in the preferred format for

making modifications to it (e.g. the native format of the CAD tool as

applicable), and in the event that format is proprietary, in a format

viewable with a tool licensed under an OSI-approved license if the

proprietary tool can create it; and

e) license the modified Documentation under the terms and conditions

of this Licence or, where applicable, a later version of this Licence

as may be issued by CERN.

3.5. The Licence includes a non-exclusive licence to those patents or

registered designs that are held by, under the control of, or

sub-licensable by the Licensor, to the extent necessary to make use of

the rights granted under this Licence. The scope of this section 3.5

shall be strictly limited to the parts of the Documentation or

modified Documentation created by the Licensor.

4. Manufacture and distribution of Products

4.1. The Licensee may manufacture or distribute Products always

provided that, where such manufacture or distribution requires a

licence under this Licence the Licensee provides to each recipient of

such Products an easy means of accessing a copy of the Documentation

or modified Documentation, as applicable, as set out in section 3.

4.2. The Licensee is invited to inform any Licensor who has indicated

his wish to receive this information about the type, quantity and

dates of production of Products the Licensee has (had) manufactured

5. Warranty and liability

5.1. DISCLAIMER – The Documentation and any modified Documentation are

provided "as is" and any express or implied warranties, including, but

not limited to, implied warranties of merchantability, of satisfactory

quality, non-infringement of third party rights, and fitness for a

particular purpose or use are disclaimed in respect of the

Documentation, the modified Documentation or any Product. The Licensor

makes no representation that the Documentation, modified

Documentation, or any Product, does or will not infringe any patent,

copyright, trade secret or other proprietary right. The entire risk as

to the use, quality, and performance of a Product shall be with the

Licensee and not the Licensor. This disclaimer of warranty is an

essential part of this Licence and a condition for the grant of any

rights granted under this Licence. The Licensee warrants that it does

not act in a consumer capacity.

5.2. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY – The Licensor shall have no liability

for direct, indirect, special, incidental, consequential, exemplary,

punitive or other damages of any character including, without

limitation, procurement of substitute goods or services, loss of use,

data or profits, or business interruption, however caused and on any

theory of contract, warranty, tort (including negligence), product

liability or otherwise, arising in any way in relation to the

Documentation, modified Documentation and/or the use, manufacture or

distribution of a Product, even if advised of the possibility of such

damages, and the Licensee shall hold the Licensor(s) free and harmless

from any liability, costs, damages, fees and expenses, including

claims by third parties, in relation to such use.

6. General

6.1. Except for the rights explicitly granted hereunder, this Licence

does not imply or represent any transfer or assignment of intellectual

property rights to the Licensee.

6.2. The Licensee shall not use or make reference to any of the names

(including acronyms and abbreviations), images, or logos under which

the Licensor is known, save in so far as required to comply with

section 3. Any such permitted use or reference shall be factual and

shall in no event suggest any kind of endorsement by the Licensor or

its personnel of the modified Documentation or any Product, or any

kind of implication by the Licensor or its personnel in the

preparation of the modified Documentation or Product.

6.3. CERN may publish updated versions of this Licence which retain

the same general provisions as this version, but differ in detail so

far this is required and reasonable. New versions will be published

with a unique version number.

6.4. This Licence shall terminate with immediate effect, upon written

notice and without involvement of a court if the Licensee fails to

comply with any of its terms and conditions, or if the Licensee

initiates legal action against Licensor in relation to this

Licence. Section 5 shall continue to apply.