Re: [dpdk-dev] [PATCH v1] doc: add SPDX Licence to doc files

[Hemant Agrawal <hemant.agrawal@nxp.com>]

HI John,
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Kovacevic, Marko [mailto:marko.kovacevic@intel.com]
> Sent: Friday, May 25, 2018 9:00 PM
> To: Thomas Monjalon <thomas@monjalon.net>; Hemant Agrawal 
> <hemant.agrawal@nxp.com>; Yigit, Ferruh <ferruh.yigit@intel.com>
> Cc: dev@dpdk.org; Mcnamara, John <john.mcnamara@intel.com>
> Subject: RE: [dpdk-dev] [PATCH v1] doc: add SPDX Licence to doc files
> 
> >
> >
> > It has been recommended to add SPDX tags to release notes, with a 
> > global copyright on behalf of all contributors, or community.
> >
> > We need a v2 of this patch, thanks.
> >
> >
> 
> Hi Thomas,
> 
> What exactly is the global copyright ?
> 
> [Hemant] We discussed with LF foundation lawyers. It was suggested to 
> use "Copyright 2018 The DPDK Community"


Hi Hemant,

Is that valid? "The DPDK Community" isn't a single, clear entity.

If that is what has been agreed then we are okay with it but I wanted to make 100% sure.

[Hemant] I got following recommendation from the Linux Foundation legal:
"For files that are e.g. release scripts and documentation, these are typically understood to consist of contributions that are copyrighted by their contributors. So even if there isn't a notice in the file, it would still generally be understood to be subject to its contributors' copyrights and to be licensed out under an open source license.

As you suggested, adding copyright and license notices can help clarify these specifics for downstream uses. We have recommended as best practices that projects add something like "Copyright The _________ Project" or "Copyright The __________ contributors". I think your suggestion of "Copyright The DPDK Community" is fine. And yes, I'd recommend including the appropriate license notice and/or SPDX identifier in these files as well.
Just to be clear, also, we _don't_ recommend removing pre-existing copyright notices unless you are the copyright holder in question. It's generally understood that it's fine to add general copyright notices where accurate, but only the copyright holder should remove or modify their own notices. "

[Hemant] So, "The DPDK Project" or "The DPDK contributors" or "The DPDK community" - anything is fine, we have to use just one of these consistently. 

Regards,
Hemant