The TAPR Open Hardware License (TAPR OPL) is a
license
A license (American English) or licence (Commonwealth English) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit).
A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another part ...
used in
open-source hardware
Open-source hardware (OSH, OSHW) consists of physical artifact (software development), artifacts of technology designed and offered by the open-design movement. Both free and open-source software (FOSS) and open-source hardware are created by th ...
projects. It was created by
Tucson Amateur Packet Radio (TAPR), an international amateur radio organization. Version 1.0 was published on May 25, 2007.
Like the
GNU General Public License
The GNU General Public Licenses (GNU GPL or simply GPL) are a series of widely used free software licenses, or ''copyleft'' licenses, that guarantee end users the freedom to run, study, share, or modify the software. The GPL was the first ...
, the OHL is designed to guarantee freedom to share and to create, and forbids anyone who receives rights under the OHL to deny any other licensee those same rights to copy, modify, and distribute documentation, and to make, use and distribute products based on that documentation.
Conditions
Although the TAPR OHL aims to maintain the philosophy of
open-source software
Open-source software (OSS) is Software, computer software that is released under a Open-source license, license in which the copyright holder grants users the rights to use, study, change, and Software distribution, distribute the software an ...
, there are obvious differences in physical reality which require some differences in licenses. As a result, the license defines two conditions: Documentation, as in design information; and Products, the physical products created from them.
Adoption
The TAPR OHL is the license for the materials from the
Open Graphics Project as of April 7, 2009. The TAPR OHL is the license for the materials from Lotus Green Data Centers as of July 28, 2008.
Criticism
Former
OSI president
Eric S. Raymond
Eric Steven Raymond (born December 4, 1957), often referred to as ESR, is an American software developer, open-source software advocate, and author of the 1997 essay and 1999 book ''The Cathedral and the Bazaar''. He wrote a guidebook for the R ...
expressed some concerns about certain aspects of the OHL. He claimed that the license has "lots of problems" and that it "strips the word 'distribution' of its normal meaning, assuring lots of contention over edge cases".
[Ars Technica: TAPR introduces open-source hardware license, OSI skeptical](_blank)
There were also concerns that the Open Hardware License may place the design and/or idea into the
public domain
The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no Exclusive exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly Waiver, waived, or may be inapplicable. Because no one holds ...
by publishing it before securing the benefits of patent protection.
Novelty And Non-Obviousness, Conditions For Obtaining A Patent: US Patent and Trademark Office
The OSI did not choose to review the TAPR license.
See also
* Open Hardware License
* Open-source hardware
Open-source hardware (OSH, OSHW) consists of physical artifact (software development), artifacts of technology designed and offered by the open-design movement. Both free and open-source software (FOSS) and open-source hardware are created by th ...
References
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External links
Open Source Semiconductor Core Licensing, 25 Harvard Journal of Law & Technology 131 (2011)
Article analyzing the law, technology and business of open source semiconductor cores
Open hardware licenses