2. Introduction

   Under the laws of most countries and current international treaties
   (for example the "Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and
   Artistic Work" [Berne]), authors obtain numerous rights in the works
   they produce automatically upon producing them.  These rights include
   copyrights, moral rights and other rights.  In many cases, if the
   author produces a work within the scope of his or her employment,
   most of those rights are usually assigned to the employer, either by
   operation of law or, in many cases, under contract.  (The Berne
   Convention names some rights as "inalienable", which means that the
   author retains them in all cases.)

   This document details the rights that the IETF requires in IETF
   Contributions and rights the IETF, as publisher of Internet-Drafts,
   requires in all such Drafts including RFC Editor Contributions.  The
   RFC Editor may also define additional rights required for RFC Editor
   Contributions.

   In order for works to be used within the IETF Standards Process or to
   be published as Internet-Drafts, certain limited rights in all
   Contributions must be granted to the IETF and Internet Society
   (ISOC).  In addition, Contributors must make representations to IETF
   and ISOC regarding their ability to grant these rights.  These
   necessary rights and representations have until now been laid out in
   Section 10 of [RFC2026].  In the years since [RFC2026] was published
   there have been a number of times when the exact intent of Section 10
   has been the subject of vigorous debate within the IETF community.
   The aim of this document is to clarify various ambiguities in Section
   10 of [RFC2026] that led to these debates and to amplify the policy
   in order to clarify what the IETF is currently doing.

   Section 1 gives definitions used in describing these policies.
   Sections 3, 4, 5, and 6 of this document address the rights in
   Contributions previously covered by Section 10 of [RFC2026] and the
   "Note Well" explanatory text presented at many IETF activities.

   Sections 7 and 8 then explain the rationale for these provisions,
   including some of the clarifications that have become understood
   since the adoption of [RFC2026].  The rules and procedures set out in
   this document are not intended to substantially modify or alter the
   IETF's current policy toward Contributions.

   A companion document [RFC3979] deals with rights in technologies
   developed or specified as part of the IETF Standards Process.  This
   document is not intended to address those issues.

   The rights addressed in this document fall into the following
   categories:

   o  rights to make use of contributed material
   o  copyrights in IETF documents
   o  rights to produce derivative works
   o  rights to use trademarks

   This document is not intended as legal advice.  Readers are advised
   to consult their own legal advisors if they would like a legal
   interpretation of their rights or the rights of the IETF in any
   Contributions they make.