Management Policy for Open-Source Compliance Artifacts
Overview
When introducing, using, and redistributing third-party open-source software, you must fulfill open-source obligations in the software license. Common open-source obligations are classified into obligations to declare the use of open-source software, obligations to declare the code open-source, and obligations to declare modifications to the code. Deliverables required for fulfilling open-source obligations are collectively referred to as open-source compliance artifacts. This document focuses on the specifications for these artifacts in the OpenHarmony community.
Managing Artifacts for Declaring the Use of Software
The common method in the industry for declaring the use of a piece of open-source software is to provide a NOTICE file with the version release. The NOTICE file specifies the name, copyright, and license information of the open-source software used, as well as a disclaimer.
Usage Scenarios of NOTICE
If the binary file contains third-party open-source software, provide a file named NOTICE to declare the use of the software.
Requirements on the NOTICE Content
The NOTICE file must describe all third-party open-source software used in the code, including their names, software versions, copyrights, and license information in plain text.
Generation Rules for NOTICE
See Automatic Generation and Collection Policy of OpenHarmony Open-Source Software NOTICE.
Storage Location of NOTICE
For OS Device Images
-
The NOTICE file is stored as NOTICE.txt under system.img > system/etc in the standard device OS image package ( .tar file).
-
The NOTICE file is stored as NOTICE.txt under /system/etc in the system.
For Applications
The NOTICE file is usually stored in the top directory of the release folder or compressed package. For a .jar file, the NOTICE is generally stored in the META-INF directory.
Lifecycle of NOTICE
The lifecycle of the NOTICE file is the same as that of the binary file. According to the OpenHarmony Version Lifecycle Rules, the lifecycle of the NOTICE file matches that of the LTS and Release versions.
NOTICE Template
A complete NOTICE file should contain the following content:
OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE NOTICE
Please note we provide an open source software notice for the third party open source software along with this software and/or this software component (in the following just "this SOFTWARE"). The open source software licenses are granted by the respective right holders.
Warranty Disclaimer
THE OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE IN THIS PRODUCT IS DISTRIBUTED IN THE HOPE THAT IT WILL BE USEFUL, BUT WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY, WITHOUT EVEN THE IMPLIED WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. SEE THE APPLICABLE LICENSES FOR MORE DETAILS.
Copyright Notice and License Texts
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Software: XXXX vXX
Copyright notice:
Copyright 2023 XXXX Co. LTD
Copyright 2022 XXXX Co. LTD
License: Apache License 2.0
Apache License
Version 2.0, January 2004
http://www.apache.org/licenses/
TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR USE, REPRODUCTION, AND DISTRIBUTION
1. Definitions.
"License" shall mean the terms and conditions for use, reproduction,
and distribution as defined by Sections 1 through 9 of this document.
"Licensor" shall mean the copyright owner or entity authorized by
the copyright owner that is granting the License.
"Legal Entity" shall mean the union of the acting entity and all
other entities that control, are controlled by, or are under common
control with that entity. For the purposes of this definition,
"control" means (i) the power, direct or indirect, to cause the
direction or management of such entity, whether by contract or
otherwise, or (ii) ownership of fifty percent (50%) or more of the
outstanding shares, or (iii) beneficial ownership of such entity.
"You" (or "Your") shall mean an individual or Legal Entity
exercising permissions granted by this License.
"Source" form shall mean the preferred form for making modifications,
including but not limited to software source code, documentation
source, and configuration files.
"Object" form shall mean any form resulting from mechanical
transformation or translation of a Source form, including but
not limited to compiled object code, generated documentation,
and conversions to other media types.
"Work" shall mean the work of authorship, whether in Source or
Object form, made available under the License, as indicated by a
copyright notice that is included in or attached to the work
(an example is provided in the Appendix below).
"Derivative Works" shall mean any work, whether in Source or Object
form, that is based on (or derived from) the Work and for which the
editorial revisions, annotations, elaborations, or other modifications
represent, as a whole, an original work of authorship. For the purposes
of this License, Derivative Works shall not include works that remain
separable from, or merely link (or bind by name) to the interfaces of,
the Work and Derivative Works thereof.
"Contribution" shall mean any work of authorship, including
the original version of the Work and any modifications or additions
to that Work or Derivative Works thereof, that is intentionally
submitted to Licensor for inclusion in the Work by the copyright owner
or by an individual or Legal Entity authorized to submit on behalf of
the copyright owner. For the purposes of this definition, "submitted"
means any form of electronic, verbal, or written communication sent
to the Licensor or its representatives, including but not limited to
communication on electronic mailing lists, source code control systems,
and issue tracking systems that are managed by, or on behalf of, the
Licensor for the purpose of discussing and improving the Work, but
excluding communication that is conspicuously marked or otherwise
designated in writing by the copyright owner as "Not a Contribution."
"Contributor" shall mean Licensor and any individual or Legal Entity
on behalf of whom a Contribution has been received by Licensor and
subsequently incorporated within the Work.
2. Grant of Copyright License. Subject to the terms and conditions of
this License, each Contributor hereby grants to You a perpetual,
worldwide, non-exclusive, no-charge, royalty-free, irrevocable
copyright license to reproduce, prepare Derivative Works of,
publicly display, publicly perform, sublicense, and distribute the
Work and such Derivative Works in Source or Object form.
3. Grant of Patent License. Subject to the terms and conditions of
this License, each Contributor hereby grants to You a perpetual,
worldwide, non-exclusive, no-charge, royalty-free, irrevocable
(except as stated in this section) patent license to make, have made,
use, offer to sell, sell, import, and otherwise transfer the Work,
where such license applies only to those patent claims licensable
by such Contributor that are necessarily infringed by their
Contribution(s) alone or by combination of their Contribution(s)
with the Work to which such Contribution(s) was submitted. If You
institute patent litigation against any entity (including a
cross-claim or counterclaim in a lawsuit) alleging that the Work
or a Contribution incorporated within the Work constitutes direct
or contributory patent infringement, then any patent licenses
granted to You under this License for that Work shall terminate
as of the date such litigation is filed.
4. Redistribution. You may reproduce and distribute copies of the
Work or Derivative Works thereof in any medium, with or without
modifications, and in Source or Object form, provided that You
meet the following conditions:
(a) You must give any other recipients of the Work or
Derivative Works a copy of this License; and
(b) You must cause any modified files to carry prominent notices
stating that You changed the files; and
(c) You must retain, in the Source form of any Derivative Works
that You distribute, all copyright, patent, trademark, and
attribution notices from the Source form of the Work,
excluding those notices that do not pertain to any part of
the Derivative Works; and
(d) If the Work includes a "NOTICE" text file as part of its
distribution, then any Derivative Works that You distribute must
include a readable copy of the attribution notices contained
within such NOTICE file, excluding those notices that do not
pertain to any part of the Derivative Works, in at least one
of the following places: within a NOTICE text file distributed
as part of the Derivative Works; within the Source form or
documentation, if provided along with the Derivative Works; or,
within a display generated by the Derivative Works, if and
wherever such third-party notices normally appear. The contents
of the NOTICE file are for informational purposes only and
do not modify the License. You may add Your own attribution
notices within Derivative Works that You distribute, alongside
or as an addendum to the NOTICE text from the Work, provided
that such additional attribution notices cannot be construed
as modifying the License.
You may add Your own copyright statement to Your modifications and
may provide additional or different license terms and conditions
for use, reproduction, or distribution of Your modifications, or
for any such Derivative Works as a whole, provided Your use,
reproduction, and distribution of the Work otherwise complies with
the conditions stated in this License.
5. Submission of Contributions. Unless You explicitly state otherwise,
any Contribution intentionally submitted for inclusion in the Work
by You to the Licensor shall be under the terms and conditions of
this License, without any additional terms or conditions.
Notwithstanding the above, nothing herein shall supersede or modify
the terms of any separate license agreement you may have executed
with Licensor regarding such Contributions.
6. Trademarks. This License does not grant permission to use the trade
names, trademarks, service marks, or product names of the Licensor,
except as required for reasonable and customary use in describing the
origin of the Work and reproducing the content of the NOTICE file.
7. Disclaimer of Warranty. Unless required by applicable law or
agreed to in writing, Licensor provides the Work (and each
Contributor provides its Contributions) on an "AS IS" BASIS,
WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or
implied, including, without limitation, any warranties or conditions
of TITLE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY, or FITNESS FOR A
PARTICULAR PURPOSE. You are solely responsible for determining the
appropriateness of using or redistributing the Work and assume any
risks associated with Your exercise of permissions under this License.
8. Limitation of Liability. In no event and under no legal theory,
whether in tort (including negligence), contract, or otherwise,
unless required by applicable law (such as deliberate and grossly
negligent acts) or agreed to in writing, shall any Contributor be
liable to You for damages, including any direct, indirect, special,
incidental, or consequential damages of any character arising as a
result of this License or out of the use or inability to use the
Work (including but not limited to damages for loss of goodwill,
work stoppage, computer failure or malfunction, or any and all
other commercial damages or losses), even if such Contributor
has been advised of the possibility of such damages.
9. Accepting Warranty or Additional Liability. While redistributing
the Work or Derivative Works thereof, You may choose to offer,
and charge a fee for, acceptance of support, warranty, indemnity,
or other liability obligations and/or rights consistent with this
License. However, in accepting such obligations, You may act only
on Your own behalf and on Your sole responsibility, not on behalf
of any other Contributor, and only if You agree to indemnify,
defend, and hold each Contributor harmless for any liability
incurred by, or claims asserted against, such Contributor by reason
of your accepting any such warranty or additional liability.
END OF TERMS AND CONDITIONS
Managing Artifacts for Declaring Code Open-Source
The code released in the OpenHarmony community is automatically open-sourced, and therefore no additional open-source software package is required. The tool described in Generating an Open-Source Software Package enables automatic generation of the open-source software packages involved in OpenHarmony during the integration of downstream products. It also provides the reference implementation. The OpenHarmony community is not responsible for the fulfillment of open-source obligations of downstream products.
The obligations specified in the license clauses must be fulfilled. For example, the open-source code can be compiled, and the compilation result is consistent with the open-source part in the distributed software artifact; a build guide is included in the open-source software package to describe the build environment, tools, and operation procedures.
Managing Artifacts for Declaring Modifications to Software
According to some open-source license clauses, after modifying a piece of open-source software, you must declare the modification time, modified code, and modified files.
If an existing file of the open-source software is modified, attach the modification statement to the header of the modified file. For details, see the following template.
* 20XX.XX.XX - XXXXX (modification time and brief description of the modification)
Copyright(c)20XX. XXXXXXX (Copyright statement of the modifier, with the year when the modification occurs.)
If a file is added to the open-source software, attach the copyright statement of the new contributor, license, and disclaimer to the file header.