
CERN OHL v1.2

2013-09-06 - CERN, Geneva, Switzerland

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.
