On 03/30/16 18:38, Pen-Yuan Hsing wrote: > On 30/03/16 13:45, Mike Gerwitz wrote: >> On Wed, Mar 30, 2016 at 12:23:26 +0100, Pen-Yuan Hsing wrote: >>> I really like the idea of copyleft and licenses such as the GPLv3. >>> What is >>> the closest equivalent of GPLv3 for hardware? >> >> This is rms' position: >> >> https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-hardware-designs.en.html > > Thanks Mike for the link, I just took another look at his essay again. > as I understand it, he thinks the situation for hardware is different > but generally recommends the GPLv3 for hardware *designs*. RMS also > correctly points out the problem of patents in hardware, which I alluded > to (but didn't make clear) in the original question. My understanding of > this problem is that even if you release your hardware under a copyleft > license, the license or only apply to one embodiment of your hardware > because it is one single expression of a work? > > However, since patents require prior art, if you create something and > released its design and the physical portions under a copyleft license, > you are essentially putting all of that into the "prior art" realm, > which would prevent others from patenting it? Would this work to attain > the equivalent of copyleft for hardware? > > IngeGNUe also mentioned releasing the hardware under CC BY-SA, which is > essentially a form of copyleft (please correct me if I am wrong). How > does that compare to releasing the hardware under GPLv3? Or is there > another license that addresses this issue, which leads to my original > question of if there's an hardware compatible license that is in the > *spirit* of copyleft? I say spirit because copyright (and hence copyleft > per set) might not be the biggest issue for hardware. > > This might become a real issue for me in the coming months since I'm > trying to sign up for a maker/hacker related meeting to discuss and > brainstorm hardware projects... > > Thanks!! >
If you'll forgive the "open source" phrasing -- you'll have to live with it on many of these hardware endeavors :) -- there are a bunch of people in your shoes too: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-source_hardware#Licenses http://p2pfoundation.net/Open_Hardware_Licenses http://antipastohw.blogspot.com/2010/01/grand-unifying-theory-of-open-source.html There do exist "open" hardware licenses and maybe some of them are copyleft... This is really worrying: "But actually, the situation is very different for hardware design, since copyleft relies on copyright, and hardware is (in most cases) not protected by copyright law." - http://keimform.de/2009/the-tricky-business-of-copylefting-hardware/ This is useful history, the problems have been going on for years: http://gondwanaland.com/mlog/2012/01/10/open-hardware-licenses-history/ http://oss-watch.ac.uk/resources/licdiff <--- I have NEVER heard of these people until now, no idea if they have a good reputation... IF they are good, then maybe they will know someone on the other side of the Atlantic.
