I am responding from the New Opportunities Fund to recent correspondence
referring to both NOF's IPR conditions and to issues around Open Source
systems. Whilst we welcome debate about the pros and cons of open source, I
would like to clarify some points raised about IPR and the NOF requirements:
1. The NOF IPR conditions specify (page 4 under Definitions) that 'Material
means any documentation or material (including without limitation software
and databases) to be provided to the Fund etc..' This is further explained
in the guidance letter (13 August 02 under 'Definitions' and under '2.2
Licences' on page 4) ...'in the case of material that is delivered with
software or databases specially written for this project (including any
adaptation of commercially available software or databases) The Fund would
expect that any commercial exploitation would recognise the use of public
funds in the generation of the material. Significant commercial
exploitation might involve grant repayment.'
2. The IPR conditions give the Fund the right to use the materials
developed for the programme but do not provide for any 'transfer' of IPR.
This is an important difference. The Fund will not 'own' the IPR to
materials created (including software) but through the conditions does have
rights over the commercial exploitation of the material, as explained above.
3. If any grant holder in unclear on this point and has any query regarding
terms and conditions of NOF grants please contact NOF directly either
through your case manager or to this email address at
<[log in to unmask]>.
4. If you are a supplier contracted to a grant-holder please address your
queries to the grant-holder who will raise them with NOF where necessary.
5. Please note that neither the IPR conditions nor the Technical Standards
conditions require a commitment to open source software, but we welcome that
debate on the nof-jiscmail list as it raises awareness of an important
issue.
Best wishes,
Sarah Mitchell, Programme Manager, NOF-Digitise
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