re workprocess IPR placeholder

[Terry Allen <tallen@sonic.net>]

Jon's provided placeholder language in the workprocess WG/TC; it
seems appropriate to respond to it here as well as there.

regards, Terry

| [This is the file ipr.100]
| 
| [Note: This is a placeholder for more specific language.]
| 
| IPR policy for OASIS Technical Committees
| 
|    OASIS exists primarily for the advancement of structured
|    information exchange through the development of specifications
|    licensed under terms that make their use freely available to
|    everyone.  It is not the purpose of OASIS to develop
|    intellectual property for profit.  Participants in OASIS
|    Technical Committees do so with the express understanding that
|    all contributions are made in common with other participants,

I'm not sure what that means.

|    and that while the ownership of OASIS specifications is
|    formally vested in OASIS, all OASIS specifications are public

what does "public" mean here?

|    and may be freely copied, distributed, and applied by any
|    person or organization for any purpose without charge.

Here's a specific scenario:  a member has already developed some
piece that would be useful in a specification under development
in an OASIS TC, and that member has copyrighted it, or patented
it, or slapped (SM) on it, etc.  Can that member submit it for
consideration by the TC with the copyright statement on it?
Can the TC consider it?  If the TC wants to use it, what changes
must be made to it, if any?

I know the IETF has a carefully wrought policy for this kind of
thing; we have a very mild edge case of it in Docbook, for which
the copyright is shared with OASIS.