General rules on copyrights

By nature, copyrights may apply to different kinds of material regardless of their merit, e.g. a text, a figure, a photography, a software source code, etc.

If, in exceptional circumstances, the use of copyrighted material cannot be avoided, the reproduction of a third party text/figure in ETSI deliverables requires the author's authorization and the said copyrighted material shall be indicated by the symbol ©. 

To help you obtain the author's authorization, please use the template below.

Please send this request either by email and/or by post and once it is accepted please forward the response to the Technical Officer and also to editHelp!.

"Dear [Name of the contacted person],

I am contacting you in my capacity as Rapporteur for ETSI [Type and reference of the ETSI Deliverable] drafted by ETSI [Name of the TB/ISG].

We would like to reproduce the following part of [Name and reference of the copyrighted work] in ETSI [Type and reference of the ETSI Deliverable] that is intended to be published on [Date of publication].

We consider that it will better serve the purpose of [Type and reference of the ETSI Deliverable] if we reproduce your [Name of the copyrighted text/figure intended to be reproduced] instead of a simple citation providing the reference and source of your work.

If you agree with this reproduction in ETSI [Type and reference of the ETSI Deliverable] including future releases and versions, we kindly ask you to provide us with the corresponding written copyright authorization to the profit of ETSI, at your earliest convenience.

Thanking you in advance for your feedback if possible by the [Deadline], I am at your disposal should you need any further clarification.

In case of a negative reply from you or in the absence of reply, we will not reproduce your work and will simply cite your [Name and reference of the copyrighted work] indicating the source.

With best regards,

[Rapporteurs name and signature]"

Here is an example of a proper authorisation given to ETSI:

[Company/Organisation name] grants ETSI the right to use and reproduce [e.g. figure/table #] of the [Company/Organisation name] [document details], free of charge, on a worldwide basis and for the duration of the copyrights solely for use and reproduction in ETSI deliverable [document number], in its draft stage including future publication and revisions of this deliverable by ETSI. Grant of use and reproduction of [e.g. figure/table #] is provided “as is” and at ETSI’s own risk.

Reproduction of third parties text

Providing a reference to a third party text shall be preferred to reproducing such a text. Taking into consideration that a copyright authorization may be withdrawn at any moment from the copyright holder, the reproduction of third parties texts shall be avoided.

The reproduction of a third party text in ETSI deliverables requires the author's authorization.

NOTE: Further details on the subject can also be found in the file "Reproduction of third-party material".

Reproduction of third parties software elements

Many software elements such as the source code, the object code and the graphic interfaces may be protected by copyright.

The reproduction of software elements in ETSI deliverables shall be avoided and in case it cannot be avoided, shall require to get the software owner's authorization.

In case of open source elements, the risks of contamination of ETSI deliverables shall be assessed before introducing such elements into ETSI deliverables.

NOTE: Further details on these subjects can also be found in the file "Manual of signs".