1 CERN Open Hardware Licence v1.2
5 Through this CERN Open Hardware Licence ("CERN OHL") version 1.2, CERN
6 wishes to provide a tool to foster collaboration and sharing among
7 hardware designers. The CERN OHL is copyright CERN. Anyone is welcome
8 to use the CERN OHL, in unmodified form only, for the distribution of
9 their own Open Hardware designs. Any other right is reserved. Release
10 of hardware designs under the CERN OHL does not constitute an
11 endorsement of the licensor or its designs nor does it imply any
12 involvement by CERN in the development of such designs.
16 In this Licence, the following terms have the following meanings:
18 “Licence” means this CERN OHL.
20 “Documentation” means schematic diagrams, designs, circuit or circuit
21 board layouts, mechanical drawings, flow charts and descriptive text,
22 and other explanatory material that is explicitly stated as being made
23 available under the conditions of this Licence. The Documentation may
24 be in any medium, including but not limited to computer files and
25 representations on paper, film, or any other media.
27 “Documentation Location” means a location where the Licensor has
28 placed Documentation, and which he believes will be publicly
29 accessible for at least three years from the first communication to
30 the public or distribution of Documentation.
32 “Product” means either an entire, or any part of a, device built using
33 the Documentation or the modified Documentation.
35 “Licensee” means any natural or legal person exercising rights under
38 “Licensor” means any natural or legal person that creates or modifies
39 Documentation and subsequently communicates to the public and/ or
40 distributes the resulting Documentation under the terms and conditions
43 A Licensee may at the same time be a Licensor, and vice versa.
45 Use of the masculine gender includes the feminine and neuter genders
46 and is employed solely to facilitate reading.
50 2.1. This Licence governs the use, copying, modification,
51 communication to the public and distribution of the Documentation, and
52 the manufacture and distribution of Products. By exercising any right
53 granted under this Licence, the Licensee irrevocably accepts these
56 2.2. This Licence is granted by the Licensor directly to the Licensee,
57 and shall apply worldwide and without limitation in time. The Licensee
58 may assign his licence rights or grant sub-licences.
60 2.3. This Licence does not extend to software, firmware, or code
61 loaded into programmable devices which may be used in conjunction with
62 the Documentation, the modified Documentation or with Products, unless
63 such software, firmware, or code is explicitly expressed to be subject
64 to this Licence. The use of such software, firmware, or code is
65 otherwise subject to the applicable licence terms and conditions.
67 3. Copying, modification, communication to the public and distribution
70 3.1. The Licensee shall keep intact all copyright and trademarks
71 notices, all notices referring to Documentation Location, and all
72 notices that refer to this Licence and to the disclaimer of warranties
73 that are included in the Documentation. He shall include a copy
74 thereof in every copy of the Documentation or, as the case may be,
75 modified Documentation, that he communicates to the public or
78 3.2. The Licensee may copy, communicate to the public and distribute
79 verbatim copies of the Documentation, in any medium, subject to the
80 requirements specified in section 3.1.
82 3.3. The Licensee may modify the Documentation or any portion thereof
83 provided that upon modification of the Documentation, the Licensee
84 shall make the modified Documentation available from a Documentation
85 Location such that it can be easily located by an original Licensor
86 once the Licensee communicates to the public or distributes the
87 modified Documentation under section 3.4, and, where required by
88 section 4.1, by a recipient of a Product. However, the Licensor shall
89 not assert his rights under the foregoing proviso unless or until a
90 Product is distributed.
92 3.4. The Licensee may communicate to the public and distribute the
93 modified Documentation (thereby in addition to being a Licensee also
94 becoming a Licensor), always provided that he shall:
96 a) comply with section 3.1;
98 b) cause the modified Documentation to carry prominent notices stating
99 that the Licensee has modified the Documentation, with the date and
100 description of the modifications;
102 c) cause the modified Documentation to carry a new Documentation
103 Location notice if the original Documentation provided for one;
105 d) make available the modified Documentation at the same level of
106 abstraction as that of the Documentation, in the preferred format for
107 making modifications to it (e.g. the native format of the CAD tool as
108 applicable), and in the event that format is proprietary, in a format
109 viewable with a tool licensed under an OSI-approved license if the
110 proprietary tool can create it; and
112 e) license the modified Documentation under the terms and conditions
113 of this Licence or, where applicable, a later version of this Licence
114 as may be issued by CERN.
116 3.5. The Licence includes a non-exclusive licence to those patents or
117 registered designs that are held by, under the control of, or
118 sub-licensable by the Licensor, to the extent necessary to make use of
119 the rights granted under this Licence. The scope of this section 3.5
120 shall be strictly limited to the parts of the Documentation or
121 modified Documentation created by the Licensor.
123 4. Manufacture and distribution of Products
125 4.1. The Licensee may manufacture or distribute Products always
126 provided that, where such manufacture or distribution requires a
127 licence under this Licence the Licensee provides to each recipient of
128 such Products an easy means of accessing a copy of the Documentation
129 or modified Documentation, as applicable, as set out in section 3.
131 4.2. The Licensee is invited to inform any Licensor who has indicated
132 his wish to receive this information about the type, quantity and
133 dates of production of Products the Licensee has (had) manufactured
135 5. Warranty and liability
137 5.1. DISCLAIMER – The Documentation and any modified Documentation are
138 provided "as is" and any express or implied warranties, including, but
139 not limited to, implied warranties of merchantability, of satisfactory
140 quality, non-infringement of third party rights, and fitness for a
141 particular purpose or use are disclaimed in respect of the
142 Documentation, the modified Documentation or any Product. The Licensor
143 makes no representation that the Documentation, modified
144 Documentation, or any Product, does or will not infringe any patent,
145 copyright, trade secret or other proprietary right. The entire risk as
146 to the use, quality, and performance of a Product shall be with the
147 Licensee and not the Licensor. This disclaimer of warranty is an
148 essential part of this Licence and a condition for the grant of any
149 rights granted under this Licence. The Licensee warrants that it does
150 not act in a consumer capacity.
152 5.2. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY – The Licensor shall have no liability
153 for direct, indirect, special, incidental, consequential, exemplary,
154 punitive or other damages of any character including, without
155 limitation, procurement of substitute goods or services, loss of use,
156 data or profits, or business interruption, however caused and on any
157 theory of contract, warranty, tort (including negligence), product
158 liability or otherwise, arising in any way in relation to the
159 Documentation, modified Documentation and/or the use, manufacture or
160 distribution of a Product, even if advised of the possibility of such
161 damages, and the Licensee shall hold the Licensor(s) free and harmless
162 from any liability, costs, damages, fees and expenses, including
163 claims by third parties, in relation to such use.
167 6.1. Except for the rights explicitly granted hereunder, this Licence
168 does not imply or represent any transfer or assignment of intellectual
169 property rights to the Licensee.
171 6.2. The Licensee shall not use or make reference to any of the names
172 (including acronyms and abbreviations), images, or logos under which
173 the Licensor is known, save in so far as required to comply with
174 section 3. Any such permitted use or reference shall be factual and
175 shall in no event suggest any kind of endorsement by the Licensor or
176 its personnel of the modified Documentation or any Product, or any
177 kind of implication by the Licensor or its personnel in the
178 preparation of the modified Documentation or Product.
180 6.3. CERN may publish updated versions of this Licence which retain
181 the same general provisions as this version, but differ in detail so
182 far this is required and reasonable. New versions will be published
183 with a unique version number.
185 6.4. This Licence shall terminate with immediate effect, upon written
186 notice and without involvement of a court if the Licensee fails to
187 comply with any of its terms and conditions, or if the Licensee
188 initiates legal action against Licensor in relation to this
189 Licence. Section 5 shall continue to apply.