Asp Forum - the Python Foundation

Mark Tarver

3/24/2010 8:51:00 PM

From the website

The Python Software Foundation (PSF) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit
corporation that
holds the intellectual property rights behind the Python programming
language. We manage the open source licensing for Python version 2.1
and later and own and protect the trademarks associated with Python.

Could somebody explain 'what holding the intellectual property rights'
means in this context and in what sense PSF manages the licensing and
protects the trademarks associated with Python? This is for my
education.

thanks

Mark

5 Answers

Robert Kern

3/24/2010 9:09:00 PM

On 2010-03-24 15:50 PM, Mark Tarver wrote:
>> From the website
>
> The Python Software Foundation (PSF) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit
> corporation that
> holds the intellectual property rights behind the Python programming
> language. We manage the open source licensing for Python version 2.1
> and later and own and protect the trademarks associated with Python.
>
> Could somebody explain 'what holding the intellectual property rights'
> means in this context and in what sense PSF manages the licensing and
> protects the trademarks associated with Python? This is for my
> education.

The PSF owns the Python language trademark:

http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=4007:...

Its trademark policy is given in detail here:

http://www.python.org/psf/t...

It also controls the license of the Python interpreter and its surrounding code.
Contributors license their code to the PSF. Contributors keep the copyright to
their code, but they agree to give the PSF the right to distribute it under a
different license if the PSF decides to change licenses. See the Contributor
Agreement:

http://www.python.org/psf/contrib/con...

I believe they also outright own the copyright to most of the code that was in
the Python 2.1 release and up until this Contributor Agreement was set up. I
could be wrong about that, though.

--
Robert Kern

"I have come to believe that the whole world is an enigma, a harmless enigma
that is made terrible by our own mad attempt to interpret it as though it had
an underlying truth."
-- Umberto Eco

Steve Holden, Chairman, PSF

3/24/2010 9:19:00 PM

Mark Tarver wrote:
>>From the website
>
> The Python Software Foundation (PSF) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit
> corporation that
> holds the intellectual property rights behind the Python programming
> language. We manage the open source licensing for Python version 2.1
> and later and own and protect the trademarks associated with Python.
>
> Could somebody explain 'what holding the intellectual property rights'
> means in this context and in what sense PSF manages the licensing and
> protects the trademarks associated with Python? This is for my
> education.
>
The PSF requires that contributors sign an agreement licensing their
code to us, and allowing us to distribute it under the license of our
choosing (this does not in any way preclude the contributor licensing
the same code to any other party under different terms).

In this way people who use Python can be relatively sure that the code
is untrammeled by claims of copyright or patent by anyone other than the
PSF, and can therefore use it without fear of losing their rights to do
so because of legal action by third parties.

We have also registered the trademark "Python" for use in reference to
computer programming languages, thereby ensuring that we can take action
should some ill-advised individual or organization decide to produce
another language with "Python" in its name which we did not feel
conformed sufficiently strictly to the language definition, for instance.

The PSF has an established policy with regard to the use of its
trademarks, which you can read at

http://www.python.org/psf/t...

regards
Steve
--
Steve Holden Chairman, Python Software Foundation
See PyCon Talks from Atlanta 2010 http://pyco...
Holden Web LLC http://www.hold...
UPCOMING EVENTS: http://holdenweb.event...

Paul Rubin

3/24/2010 11:22:00 PM

"Steve Holden, Chairman, PSF" <chairman@python.org> writes:
> We have also registered the trademark "Python" for use in reference to
> computer programming languages, thereby ensuring that we can take action
> should some ill-advised individual or organization decide to produce
> another language with "Python" in its name

There has been a Lisp compiler called "Python" for many years:

http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=141...

Rami Chowdhury

3/25/2010 11:11:00 AM

On 2010-03-24 16:22, Paul Rubin wrote:
> "Steve Holden, Chairman, PSF" <chairman@python.org> writes:
> > We have also registered the trademark "Python" for use in reference to
> > computer programming languages, thereby ensuring that we can take action
> > should some ill-advised individual or organization decide to produce
> > another language with "Python" in its name
>
> There has been a Lisp compiler called "Python" for many years:
>
> http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=141...

The FAQ disclaims any connection and claims that Python the Lisp
compiler has been around longer than Python the language...

http://www.cons.org/cmuc...

I was awfully confused the first time I came across SBCL giving me warnings
about Python, though -- proves how well the PSF has safeguarded the name!

> --
> http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/p...

Mark Tarver

3/29/2010 10:46:00 AM

On 24 Mar, 22:18, "Steve Holden, Chairman, PSF" <chair...@python.org>
wrote:
> MarkTarver wrote:
> >>From the website
>
> > The Python Software Foundation (PSF) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit
> > corporation that
> > holds the intellectual property rights behind the Python programming
> > language. We manage the open source licensing for Python version 2.1
> > and later and own and protect the trademarks associated with Python.
>
> > Could somebody explain 'what holding the intellectual property rights'
> > means in this context and in what sense PSF manages the licensing and
> > protects the trademarks associated with Python? This is for my
> > education.
>
> The PSF requires that contributors sign an agreement licensing their
> code to us, and allowing us to distribute it under the license of our
> choosing (this does not in any way preclude the contributor licensing
> the same code to any other party under different terms).
>
> In this way people who use Python can be relatively sure that the code
> is untrammeled by claims of copyright or patent by anyone other than the
> PSF, and can therefore use it without fear of losing their rights to do
> so because of legal action by third parties.
>
> We have also registered the trademark "Python" for use in reference to
> computer programming languages, thereby ensuring that we can take action
> should some ill-advised individual or organization decide to produce
> another language with "Python" in its name which we did not feel
> conformed sufficiently strictly to the language definition, for instance.
>
> The PSF has an established policy with regard to the use of its
> trademarks, which you can read at
>
> http://www.python.org/psf/t...
>
> regards
> Steve
> --
> Steve Holden Chairman, Python Software Foundation
> See PyCon Talks from Atlanta 2010 http://pyco...
> Holden Web LLC http://www.hold...
> UPCOMING EVENTS: http://holdenweb.event...

Thankyou to all on this thread for this clarification. I may return
and ask some questions if I need further clarification.

Mark

comp.lang.python

the Python Foundation

Mark Tarver

Robert Kern

Steve Holden, Chairman, PSF

Paul Rubin

Rami Chowdhury

Mark Tarver

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