#1166 Quotations from RFCs and I-Ds - suggested resolution

(oops!) Sorry, but Simon just triggered another devilish
detail. Where do we 
do the corresponding punt for translated RFCs?

This would be (3) "something completely
different", I guess.

Thanks,

Spencer


> Harald Alvestrand <haraldalvestrand.no> writes:
>
>> Based on discussion in Dallas, I suggest that we
resolve this:
>>
>> The IPR WG desires that in outgoing rights, the
IETF should allow
>> anyone to publish excerpts of any length from all
parts of published
>> RFCs and Internet-drafts, with attribution as
appropriate for the
>> medium it is used in.
>>
>> Examples of attributions are "RFC xxxx
says", "Excerpt from RFC xxxx
>> by Joe Bloggs" et cetera.
>>
>> Note that this resolution of this issue does not
touch the issue of
>> modified versions at all.
>>
>> Comments?
>
> It seems fine, but lacking in detail.
>
> I wish that we can address typographical and editorial
changes here,
> either be permitting them explicitly or to disallow
them explicitly.
>
> Like Spencer Dawkin says, I don't think there is any
disagreement over
> your simple permission grant above.  However the
problem is in the
> interpretation of what it means, so I believe it should
not be
> resolved with too brief text, or it will come up again
later on.
>
> This is also a "devil in the detail" that
is causing problems in
> practice, because it is unclear whether verbatim
quoting rights give
> me the right to make minor changes that may amount to a
copyright
> infringement if it is done enough times in a product.
>
> Do you think that typographical/editorial modifications
should be
> permitted or not?
>
> Some proposed paths to take:
>
> 1)
>
> I'd argue to grant rights to re-format the text, in
order to e.g.:
>
> * remove page breaks
>
> * re-flow the text to fit a particular column width
>
> * add text to fit a particular circumstance.  For
example, it is often
>  useful to quote an RFC in a C++ source comment, which
for longer
>  quotes typically require that you prefix each line
with '//'.
>
> and to make editorial changes, in order to e.g.:
>
> * fix typos
>
> * improve ascii art in a real book
>
> * in a small excerpt for e.g. a function API,
incorporate changes from
>  the RFC errate.  The reason is that it does not make
sense to say,
>  in the man page for foo():
>
>    RFC 4711 says: The iteration count must be 0-256
exclusive.  An
>    errata to RFC 4711 says: Change 0-256 to 0-256
inclusive.
>
>  Instead, I think it should be permitted to say:
>
>    RFC 4711 (with errata) says: The iteration count
must be 0-256
>    inclusive.
>
>  Admittedly, this small example is short enough to not
be a copyright
>  infringement, but in the real world the changes may
well be too
>  large.
>
> The text to grant these rights could be kept abstract
and does not
> have to discuss details.  One suggestion to start
discussions:
>
> "Modifications that are of typographical or
editorial nature are
> permitted.
>
> "Examples of typographical changes include
removal of page breaks,
> re-flowing the text to fit a particular column width,
and adding '//',
> /* or */ markers when the excerpt is included in a
source code.
> Examples of editorial changes include fixing typos,
improving ASCII
> art, and applying updates from the RFC errata."
>
> 2)
>
> Explicitly disallow this.  One suggestion to start
discussions:
>
> "Typographical and editorial changes are not
permitted, only verbatim
> extracts are allowed."
>
> "Examples of typographical changes include
removal of page breaks,
> re-flowing the text to fit a particular column width,
and adding '//',
> /* or */ markers when the excerpt is included in a
source code.
> Examples of editorial changes include fixing typos,
improving ASCII
> art, and applying updates from the RFC errata."
>
> 3)
>
> Something completely different.
>
> Thanks,
> Simon
>
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