Draft Debian trademark policy: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 10:55, 6 November 2009

This article is a draft. Out of respect for the unreleased status of this information, please do not cite or republish information here without permission. If you'd like to do so, ask by editing this page!

This is a draft of a Debian Trademark Policy. This is not an official or accepted policy or even a complete draft of one. It's a set of notes that explain the thinking of some interested parties on the issues involved.

The goal of the document is to explain the nature of trademark law to users and to create a policy that is "as free as possible" within the current limitations of trademark law and that simplifies, streamlines, explains, and documents common cases.

Since the desire of this policy is one shared by several other organizations, it can/should be rewritten to serve as a more generic trademark policy for organizations.

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Licensing Procedures

DPL makes decisions in clear cases.
If DPL is conflicted, delegates the decision to a committee of three disinterested Debian Developers.
licensing framework and decision-making processes

Disputes / Violations

The DPL is responsible to ensure the resolution of disputes.

What is a violation? How to tell.

If you think you really have a violation, this is what you should:

Email a (to be created) alias at trademarks@debian.org which will be forward to leader@debian.org , legal@spi-inc.org , spi-trademark@lists.spi-inc.org , and any listed delegates of the DPL.

You Cannot Use the License If....

You are referring to a private company that is involved in the production or promotion of non-free software disconnected to Debian.
etc.

Use Cases

use cases should be here

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-== You need a license if... ==
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-Licensing is necessary any time anyone creates a company, product or set of services, certification program, or even a separate free software project that wants use the DEBIAN mark as part of its name.
-Verbatim copies of ISOs will not require a license. However, if anyone will modify the ISOs before distributing them under the DEBIAN name, this would need to be reviewed.
-All licensed uses should be monitored for quality, and can be terminated if use is contrary to Debian core principles. If someone deviates from our quality standards, we need to be able to take it back.
-=== Criteria ===
-The criteria by which the DPL or his/her delegates evaluates any licensing claim will ultimately hinge on this:
-* ''Whether or not the it confuses the public on the source or origin of the goods or services.''
 == Licensing Procedures ==