



General Area Dispatch                                           R. Sayre
Internet-Draft                                                          
Updates: 5378 (if approved)                              B. E. Carpenter
Intended status: Best Current Practice                 Univ. of Auckland
Expires: 18 November 2026                                    17 May 2026


                            Derivative Works
                 draft-sayre-gendispatch-derivative-01

Abstract

   This document clarifies that IETF correspondence must not contain
   legal limitations on derivative works.

About This Document

   This note is to be removed before publishing as an RFC.

   Status information for this document may be found at
   https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-sayre-gendispatch-derivative/.

   Discussion of this document takes place on the WG General Area
   Dispatch mailing list (mailto:gendispatch@ietf.org), which is
   archived at https://datatracker.ietf.org/group/gendispatch/
   documents/.  Subscribe at https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/
   gendispatch/.

Status of This Memo

   This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the
   provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79.

   Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering
   Task Force (IETF).  Note that other groups may also distribute
   working documents as Internet-Drafts.  The list of current Internet-
   Drafts is at https://datatracker.ietf.org/drafts/current/.

   Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months
   and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any
   time.  It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference
   material or to cite them other than as "work in progress."

   This Internet-Draft will expire on 18 November 2026.







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Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2026 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
   document authors.  All rights reserved.

   This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
   Provisions Relating to IETF Documents (https://trustee.ietf.org/
   license-info) in effect on the date of publication of this document.
   Please review these documents carefully, as they describe your rights
   and restrictions with respect to this document.  Code Components
   extracted from this document must include Revised BSD License text as
   described in Section 4.e of the Trust Legal Provisions and are
   provided without warranty as described in the Revised BSD License.

Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
   2.  Conventions and Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
   3.  Derivative Works  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
   4.  Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
   5.  IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
   6.  References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
     6.1.  Normative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
     6.2.  Informative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   Authors' Addresses  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4

1.  Introduction

   This document updates Rights Contributors Provide to the IETF Trust
   [RFC5378] in order to clarify and limit which contributions may
   include a restriction on derivative rights.

2.  Conventions and Definitions

   The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
   "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "NOT RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and
   "OPTIONAL" in this document are to be interpreted as described in
   BCP 14 [RFC2119] [RFC8174] when, and only when, they appear in all
   capitals, as shown here.

3.  Derivative Works

   There is an expansive definition of "Contribution" in [RFC5378].
   There is also a mechanism formally defined in Section 5.3 of that RFC
   that allows a Contributor to limit the right to produce derivative
   works.  As written, this optional mechanism applies to all
   Contributions.  Using this mechanism outside of specifications, for
   example, in electronic mail, makes it difficult for people to respond



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   and inhibits collaboration.  This behavior impedes the very idea of
   collaborating about the Internet over the Internet.  The IESG has
   stated [IESG-DERIV] that derivative works limitations should only be
   applied to technical specifications.

   This document narrows the use of this mechanism to technical
   specifications, such as Internet-Drafts or other complete
   specifications.  It no longer applies to correspondence, such as
   public online IETF fora as defined in [RFC9945], appeals, minutes, or
   audio or video recordings of IETF meetings.

   Such IETF correspondence MUST NOT include restrictions on derivative
   works.  This restriction covers text that is intentionally inserted
   and also includes automatically inserted terms inserted by corporate
   email software.  Both variations are disruptive.

   It is always possible to publish an Internet-Draft with a restrictive
   derivative works clause.

   When introducing a document with such a clause, care must be taken to
   note the restriction.  This consideration applies to email and IETF
   meeting presentations.

   All other rights Contributors provide to the IETF Trust [RFC5378]
   remain in place.

4.  Security Considerations

   This document has no direct impact on Internet security.

5.  IANA Considerations

   This document has no IANA actions.

6.  References

6.1.  Normative References

   [RFC2119]  Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
              Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC2119, March 1997,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2119>.

   [RFC5378]  Bradner, S., Ed. and J. Contreras, Ed., "Rights
              Contributors Provide to the IETF Trust", BCP 78, RFC 5378,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC5378, November 2008,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc5378>.




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   [RFC8174]  Leiba, B., "Ambiguity of Uppercase vs Lowercase in RFC
              2119 Key Words", BCP 14, RFC 8174, DOI 10.17487/RFC8174,
              May 2017, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc8174>.

   [RFC9945]  Eggert, L., Ed. and E. Lear, Ed., "IETF Community
              Moderation", BCP 245, RFC 9945, DOI 10.17487/RFC9945,
              February 2026, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc9945>.

6.2.  Informative References

   [IESG-DERIV]
              IESG, "IESG Statement on Clarifying Derivative Works
              Rights", October 2025, <https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/
              statement-iesg-statement-on-clarifying-derivative-works-
              rights/>.

Authors' Addresses

   Robert Sayre
   San Francisco, CA
   United States of America
   Email: sayrer@gmail.com


   Brian E. Carpenter
   The University of Auckland
   School of Computer Science
   The University of Auckland
   PB 92019
   Auckland 1142
   New Zealand
   Email: brian.e.carpenter@gmail.com



















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