Changes between Version 2 and Version 3 of Obsolete/HaikuTrademarkPolicy


Ignore:
Timestamp:
May 7, 2010, 4:04:04 PM (14 years ago)
Author:
mmadia
Comment:

copying drafted text from haiku-inc freelist's thread for additional exposure

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  • Obsolete/HaikuTrademarkPolicy

    v2 v3  
    55== By no means, should this document be considered official ==
    66Rather, it is a work in progress. It is expected that devising a sound Trademark Policy will take some time. This page serves as a mechanism to foster it's development. Discussions may occur on [http://www.freelists.org/list/haiku Haiku's General Mailing List] or [http://www.freelists.org/list/haiku-inc Haiku, Inc.'s Mailing list]
     7
     8
     9----
     10== Introduction ==
     11
     12Haiku, Inc.(the "NPO") is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to
     13supporting the Haiku Project (the "Project") and the development of Haiku
     14(the "Software").
     15At a minimum, the Project is comprised of those with commit access to the
     16Software's source code repositories. Additional definitions of what roles and
     17persons are considered part of the Project is outside of the NPO's duties.
     18The Software is an open-source operating system for x86 compatible of i586 and
     19greater (including Pentium® and Athlon™). It is inspired by BeOS, which was
     20developed by Be Inc. and currently is intellectual property of ACCESS Co.
     21Additional platforms (arm, ppc, m68k, mipsel, x86_64) are in various stages of
     22development.
     23The Haiku logo and name are the trademarks (the "Marks") owned by the NPO.
     24
     25Throughout this document, phrases akin to "within good taste and obvious restrictions" appear.
     26"good taste", is easiest defined by examining something that is not in
     27good taste, such as the Marks being used in a manner that disrespects others,
     28be it persons, other projects, etc.
     29"obvious restrictions" includes, but is not limited to usage in any unlawful,
     30defamatory, threatening, obscene, pornographic or any other way which would
     31degrade Haiku's reputation or bring civil liability upon Haiku.
     32
     33== Statement of Purpose ==
     34
     35Our interests in the Trademark policy is to protect the name, image,
     36and brand that is HAIKU through regulation. While the wording in this
     37policy may appear strict, it should be clearly expressed that Haiku,
     38Inc. has a policy of granting permission with a minimum of effort
     39where it is visibly good for the Project and makes sense. The policy
     40put forth here is needed to prevent use that is damaging to the NPO
     41and the Project.
     42
     43 * Permission to be granted on a case-by-case basis, with the goal of a quick decision with minimal fuss.
     44 * Policy compliance does not by itself constitute permission.
     45 * Permission of one usage case does not grant nor imply permission for other usage cases.
     46 * Haiku, Inc. can deny/revoke permission at its discretion.
     47 * Haiku, Inc. can grant permission at its own discretion, even in violation of its own policy.
     48
     49To be clear, only the owners of the trademark have the capacity to
     50grant permission. However, the community at large is welcomed to
     51provide feedback to shape the decision.
     52
     53
     54== How to contact the NPO? ==
     55
     56For any questions, concerns, comments:
     57
     58Send an email to the haiku-inc freelists mailing list or contact us
     59privately at info@xxxxxxxxxxxx (eventually to become an @haiku-inc.org
     60address). You are encouraged to engage us publicly, as it provides the
     61community at large an opportunity to participate and suggest points
     62that may otherwise be overlooked.
     63
     64If a discussion is occurring on another public mailing list and one of
     65the BOD members have not responded, send an email to the haiku-inc
     66freelists mailing list, as it is possible for the on-going discussion
     67to have gone unnoticed. eg, due to a higher volume or simply being a
     68list to which none of us are subscribed to.
     69
     70=== (i'm not sure how/where this part should fit in) ===
     71
     72As long as the use of the Marks is in good taste; complies with the obvious
     73restrictions; and accept bearing full legal responsibly, indemnifying the NPO;
     74then it should be perfectly OK for you to freely give away or provide :
     75 * Physical items -- shirts, cds, stickers, etc.
     76 * Internet downloads -- mirrors of official HAIKU releases, graphics of and relating to trademarks (eg for personal use or creating new promotional material for use by the Project). [#Distros A note on distributions]
     77
     78In fact, if you let the NPO know, we will see how we can help you, eg
     79by providing funds or other assets.
     80
     81Now, as soon as money becomes any part of that exchange -- eg
     82collecting donations, directly selling, or charging any type of fees,
     83the NPO must be notified and grant you authorization *prior* to doing
     84so.
     85
     86
     87== Promotional material ==
     88
     89Within the bounds of good taste and obvious restrictions, Haiku, Inc.
     90has little concern in the matters of artistic design or reason to deny
     91a work based on differences of opinion regarding the design.
     92
     93Any designs that are to become assets paid by the NPO require prior
     94approval before purchase. It is likely to expect the NPO to also
     95require at least the final-for-print graphics under a license that
     96minimally allows free-reproduction at the public's discretion.
     97
     98
     99== Websites ==
     100
     101At large Haiku, Inc. is not interested in defining the structure or
     102requirements off Haiku User Group sites nor which sites are to be
     103recognized as official portals for conveying the message of the
     104Project. In this matter, the current members of Haiku, Inc. who happen
     105to be Contributing Project members have an equal voice as as every
     106other Contributing Project member.
     107
     108There are three parts that Haiku, Inc. concerns itself, with respect
     109to the Haiku User Groups and general Haiku-related sites.
     110
     111== Legal indemnification ==
     112
     113To clearly inform website visitors and users who create content that
     114they as individuals bear full responsibility for the content they
     115create and frees Haiku, Inc and the Haiku Project free from any
     116liability.
     117
     118== Financial income ==
     119
     120As with any site relating to Haiku and making use of one or more
     121trademarks (including the name "haiku"), the NPO has a requirement
     122that the website visitors be informed that any donations or money
     123directed to the site does not go to Haiku, Inc. nor towards the Haiku
     124Project at large. It is encouraged and appreciated for those sites to
     125briefly list how the money raised is to be used. Eg, in the case of
     126"Give us money to support the website" or "Support your local Haiku
     127User Group". It is also appreciated to provide a link to Haiku's
     128official donation pages.
     129
     130== Advertisements ==
     131
     132As long as advertisements are not of questionable material (eg, adult
     133imagery or malware) and the advertisement is visually distinct from
     134the Trademarks, the NPO is not concerned.
     135
     136Unfortunately, the NPO is sharing space with the main Project website.
     137This can be viewed as the NPO directly influencing the Project. It is
     138planned to migrate the NPO's pages to a separate website
     139(haiku-inc.org), as this will help to define the NPO's ability to
     140influence the Project.
     141
     142= Miscellaneous Thoughts =
     143
     144=== Distros ===
     145
     146(not sure where/how to better express the distaste for "distro's")
     147Compiled images containing modifications to Haiku's source code,
     148additional software, or non-standard settings are not permitted to use
     149the Trademarks. We encourage you to contact us if the modifications
     150are necessary for a business endeavor or to meet the needs of your
     151projected user base. In the former case, we may grant authorization to
     152use the trademarks. In the latter, it is hopeful that the Project will
     153be willing and able to help you meet your requirements.
     154
     155=== HAIKU User Group logo ===
     156As mentioned on the [haiku] Haiku User Group thread, perhaps a Haiku
     157User Group logo can become another trademark. The key point is to
     158differentiate the HUG logo just enough so that it is not Haiku's logo,
     159but the connection to the Project is understandable and the usage
     160terms are significantly more liberal than the other Marks.
     161
     162With some very basic provisions(eg, legal indemnification for the
     163NPO), the Project would have full control over who and how the HUG
     164logo is to be used. Eg, this logo could allow modifications, such as
     165localizing "User Group" or adding the location/country/group name.
     166
     167To be clear, the NPO would be giving control of that HUG logo to the
     168Project; what rules the Project wishes to put forth are its choice --
     169eg, open to anyone, open only to sites chosen by the Project as
     170official portals of the Projects message, whatever. Once the NPO is
     171migrated to its own website, the website theme could go under the same
     172usage terms (assuming that it isn't already).
     173
     174=== Targeting people for donations ===
     175
     176Another issue that goes beyond the HUG logo is that by targeting or
     177soliciting donations in-the-flesh for Haiku, the Project, or the NPO,
     178the NPO could be placed in a situation where local taxes need to be
     179paid or other legal entanglements. This is another reason why I feel
     180it is important to regulate who & how income is generated, be it
     181through the use of the Marks or even a "donation" box at in-the-flesh
     182events.
     183
     184=== Ideas from Mozilla's TM Policy ===
     185
     186Mozilla has some in-depth pages that explain the various restricts on
     187using their logos, which usage cases do (not) require prior
     188authorization, etc.
     189
     190 * http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/about/logo/stop.html
     191 * http://www.mozilla.org/foundation/trademarks/policy.html
     192
     193It may be worth providing a download for the Futura(?) font that is
     194used in the HAIKU logo.
     195
     196Some notes, assuming that we do not allow the modification of the
     197logo, some websites will need to create new logos.
     198 * Haikuware.ru : http://haikuware.ru/images/logo/haikuware_432x64.png
     199 * Haiku Italita : http://haiku-os.it/files/logo.png  (obviously, this could be a candidate for using the HUG logo or something)
     200
     201Another idea is to explicitly state that the layout of the Marks and
     202other graphics or text must not portray a connection between the two..
     203 Eg, http://haiku-files.org/   "<HAIKU logo>files" ... granted this is
     204one of our sites, but it conveys the point.
     205
     206
     207
     208