John Levine wrote: >>IANAL, but if you've followed discussions in places like the IPR WG, >>it doesn't take much to conclude that this is a complicated space in >>which rules interpreted by real lawyers play a big role. The conclusion is not surprising given the knowledge level of IETF on IPR issues demnstrated in this thread. > Since approximately my entire income depends on copyright law (I write > books), I have looked at Title 17 and its interpretation pretty > closely. I have to conclude that given the facts surrounding the > early RFCs: pre-1976, no copyright notice, many written on government > contract, and a history of widespread copying and reuse without > explicit permission, it'd be extremely hard to make a case that there > were any limits on their use. The point is "copyright notice". It was required in US on copyrighted materials before 1989 (not 1976). http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.html Notice was required under the 1976 Copyright Act. This requirement was eliminated when the United States adhered to the Berne Convention, effective March 1, 1989. Although works published without notice before that date could have entered the public domain in the United States, the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (URAA) restores copyright in certain foreign works originally published without notice. For further information about copyright amendments in the URAA, request Circular 38b. So, in general, RFCs published before March 1, 1989 (RFC1093 is the last one) are safe. Note that there may be exceptions. For example, URAA may affect RFCs 994 and 995 authored by ISO, though copyright issues on DIS is too complicated to be discussed here. Note also that "fair use" clause should be applicable for most use of RFCs including 994 and 995. Note finally that my answer is valid only for US domestic use. Of course, copyright issues on materials distributed world-wide through the Internet is too complicated to be discussed here. Masataka Ohta _______________________________________________ Ietf@xxxxxxxx https://www1.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/ietf