FW: Patent Policy 2020 for Spec Editors

FYI – forwarding earlier communication to chairs

From: fantasai <fantasai.lists@inkedblade.net>
Sent: Tuesday, September 15, 2020 5:04 PM
To: spec-prod <spec-prod@w3.org>
Cc: chairs@w3.org
Subject: Patent Policy 2020 for Spec Editors

Patent Policy 2020 is taking effect today, 15 September 2020.
IANAL, so please consult yours to fully understand the implications.
But as a spec editor, here's what you need to know about the W3C Patent Policy.

First, a few reminders about the W3C Patent Policy, both 2004/2017 and 2020:

* It is based on participation in the WG, not on contributions. All
participants are equally obligated, not just the contributor.

* Contrary to popular belief, the Patent Policy does cover Working Drafts.
(Roughly speaking, WG participants are committed to the contents of each
published WD, CRD, or candidate change annotation unless they exclude at their
next opportunity or the material is dropped, even though that commitment does
not become a licensing obligation until later, and even if they resign before
that obligation takes effect.)

* The Patent Policy DOES NOT cover documents not published on /TR. Editor's
Drafts, PRs in GitHub, comments in issues, Google Documents, emails, and
meeting minutes are not protected at all.

So publish your work officially, early and often.


Next, what you need to know about the 2020 changes:

1. Although Process 2020 is taking effect across all groups automatically and
immediately, the Patent Policy updates are not. See
https://lists.w3.org/Archives/Member/chairs/2020JulSep/0076.html<https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/NQ26ClYmL2Uo2zj4Fyou1k> for the
transition plan.

2. Specs published on /TR will need to indicate their governing Patent Policy.
Make sure you're on the latest ReSpec or Bikeshed builds and check the SOTD
output to make sure it's configured correctly for your group.

3. For groups operating under Patent Policy 2020, licensing obligations will
take effect on CR Snapshots as well as Recommendations.

4. Licensing commitments carry from one CR or REC to the next provided that
the changes would have been in scope for the original charter. So if you're
planning on significantly changing the scope of your spec over time, have a
chat with Wendy first.


Full text of the Patent Policy is available at
https://www.w3.org/Consortium/Patent-Policy/<https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/uf3kCmZn6YI5jR94s96Y3F>

~fantasai