W30 DTD licensing (Re: copyright question concerning published DTDs)

[Adam Di Carlo <adam@onshore.com>]

[Note: I am CC'ing the debian-legal mailing list, which is concerned
with the process of evaulating licenses to determine whether we can
consider them "free" and include them in the distribution.]

>>>>> "jrj" == Joseph M Reagle Jr (W3C) <reagle@w3.org> writes:
jrj> We are going to have to put more thought into addressing this
jrj> issue properly, but for the time being, the short answer is yes.

jrj> 5.9 Is a DTD (Document Type Definition) covered by the document
jrj> or software terms?

jrj> DTDs are frequently part of our specifications and consequently
jrj> -- in strict terms -- fall under the document copyright
jrj> terms. However, as long as you do not use the same formal public
jrj> identifier for a modified W3C DTD (which might confuse
jrj> applications), you may treat the DTD under the software terms.
jrj> This means that you are permitted to make a derivative or
jrj> modified W3C DTD, but even under software terms you are obligated
jrj> to include/retain the W3C copyright notice. We further appreciate
jrj> a couple sentences regarding who made the modifications, when,
jrj> and what changes were made in the original DTD -- a common
jrj> software documentation practice.

Great.

We understand that normative documents and standards require
protection not afforded by most of the licenses considered free by the
Free Software Community.  I believe you might even with to go further
and stipulate that any modifications must be accompanied by notices so
that it is completely clear such that the modified DTD is in no way a
standard or blessed by the W30.

Just to add one additional wrinkle, you might want to distinguish and
allow changes (without changing the Formal Public Identifier) that
have no functional different to any application.  For instance, change
the names of entity files or DTDs in order to facilitate system-wide
integration.

jrj> We expect to revisit this topic as metadata schemas become and
jrj> increasingly important part of W3C specifications and as the
jrj> metadata schema definition capabilities of XML and RDF advance.

I agree.  Again, my concern is based on the notion that sharing is
what has made the Internet and the standards movement so great -- it
is not that I am looking to modify or have modified any W30
distributed DTDs.

Thank you for your clarification and prompt response on this complex
issue.

--
.....Adam Di Carlo....adam@onShore.com.....<URL:http://www.onShore.com/>