ESA Public License Type 3 – v2.2

European Space Agency Public Licence (ESA-PL) Permissive – v2.2
1 Definitions
1.1 “Contributor” means (a) the individual or legal entity that originally creates or later modifies the
Software and (b) each subsequent individual or legal entity that creates or contributes to the
creation of Modifications.
1.2 “Contributor Version” means the version of the Software on which the Contributor based its
Modifications.
1.3 “Distribution” and “Distribute” means any act of selling, giving, lending, renting, distributing,
communicating, transmitting, or otherwise making available, physically or electronically or by any
other means, copies of the Software or Modifications.
1.4 “ESA” means the European Space Agency.
1.5 “Licence” means this document.
1.6 “Licensor” means the individual or legal entity that Distributes the Software under the Licence to
You.
1.7 “Modification” means any work or software created that is based upon or derived from the
Software (or portions thereof) or a modification of the Software (or portions thereof). For the
avoidance of doubt, linking a library to the Software results in a Modification.
1.8 “Object Code” means any non-Source Code form of the Software and/or Modifications.
1.9 “Patent Claims” (of a Contributor) means any patent claim(s), owned at the time of the Distribution
or subsequently acquired, including without limitation, method, process and apparatus claims, in
any patent licensable by a Contributor which would be infringed by making use of the rights
granted under Sec. 2.1, including but not limited to make, have made, use, sell, offer for sale or
import of the Contributor Version and/or such Contributor’s Modifications (if any), either alone or in
combination with the Contributor Version. “Licensable” means having the right to grant, whether at
the time of the Distribution or subsequently acquired, the rights conveyed herein.
1.10 “Software” means the software Distributed under this Licence by the Licensor, in Source Code
and/or Object Code form.
1.11 “Source Code” means the preferred, usually human readable form of the Software and/or
Modifications in which modifications are made and the associated documentation included in or
with such code.
1.12 “You” means an individual or legal entity exercising rights under this Licence (the licencee).
2 Grant of Rights
2.1 Copyright. The Licensor, and each Contributor in respect of such Contributor’s Modifications,
hereby grants You a world-wide, royalty-free, non-exclusive license under Copyright, subject to
the terms and conditions of this Licence, to:
- use the Software;
- reproduce the Software by any or all means and in any or all form;
- Modify the Software and create works based on the Software;
- communicate to the public, including making available, display or perform the Software or
copies thereof to the public;
- Distribute, sublicense, lend and rent the Software.
The licence grant is perpetual and irrevocable, unless terminated pursuant to Sec. 7.
2.2 Patents. Each Contributor in respect of such Contributor’s Modifications, hereby grants You a
world-wide, royalty-free, non-exclusive, sub-licensable licence under Patent Claims to the extent
necessary to make use of the rights granted under Sec. 2.1, including but not limited to make,
have made, use, sell, offer for sale, import, export and Distribute such Contributor’s Modifications
and the combination of such Contributor’s Modifications with the Contributor Version (collectively
called the “Patent Licensed Version” of the Software).
No patent licence is granted for claims that are infringed:
- only as a consequence of further modification of the Patent Licensed Version; or
- by the combination of the Patent Licensed Version with other software or other devices or
hardware, unless such combination was an intended use case of the Patent Licensed
Version (e.g. a general purpose library is intended to be used with other software, a
satellite navigation software is intended to be used with appropriate hardware); or
- by a Modification under Patent Claims in the absence of the Contributor’s Modifications or
by a combination of the Contributor’s Modifications with software other than the Patent
Licensed Version or Modifications thereof.
2.3 Trademark. This Licence does not grant permission to use trade names, trademarks, services
marks, logos or names of the Licensor, except as required for reasonable and customary use in
describing the origin of the Software and as reasonable necessary to comply with the obligations
of this Licence (e.g. by reproducing the content of the notices). For the avoidance of doubt, upon
Distribution of Modifications You must not use the Licensor’s or ESA’s trademarks, names or
logos in any way that states or implies, or can be interpreted as stating or implying, that the final
product is endorsed or created by the Licensor or ESA.
3 Distribution
3.1 No Copyleft.
You may Distribute the Software and/or Modifications, as Source Code or Object Code, under any
licence terms, provided that
(a) notice is given of the use of the Software and the applicability of this Licence to the
Software; and
(b) You make best efforts to ensure that further Distribution of the Software and/or
Modifications (including further Modifications) is subject to the obligations set forth in
this Sec. 3.1 (a) and (b).
4 Notices
The following obligations apply in the event of any Distribution of the Software and/or Modifications as
Source Code and/or Object Code:
4.1 You must include a copy of this Licence and all of the notices set out in this Sec. 4.
4.2 You may not remove or alter any copyright, patent, trademark and attribution notices nor any of
the notices set out in this Sec. 4, except as necessary for your compliance with this Licence or
otherwise permitted by this Licence, except for those notices that do not pertain to the
Modifications You Distribute.
4.3 Each Contributor must cause its Modification carrying prominent notices stating that the Software
has been modified and the date of modification and identify itself as the originator of its
Modifications in a manner that reasonably allows identification and contact with the Contributor.
The aforementioned notices must at a minimum be in a text file included with the Distribution titled
“CHANGELOG”.
4.4 The Software may include a "NOTICE" text file containing general notices. Any Contributor can
create such a NOTICE file or add notices to it, alongside or as an addendum to the original text,
provided that such notices cannot be construed as modifying the Licence. If the Software displays
all or part of the notice file (e.g. in an “About” or “Release Notes” window), Your Modifications
must retain such display. However, if the Software does not display such notice, You do not need
to make it do so.
4.5 Each Contributor must identify all of its Patent Claims by providing at a minimum the patent
number and identification and contact information in a text file included with the Distribution titled
"LEGAL".
5 Warranty and Liability
5.1 Each Contributor warrants and represents that it has sufficient rights to grant the rights to its
Modifications conveyed by this Licence.
5.2 Except as expressly set forth in this Licence, the Software is provided to You on an “as is” basis
and without warranties of any kind, including without limitation merchantability, fitness for a
particular purpose, absence of defects or errors, accuracy or non-infringement of intellectual
property rights. Mandatory statutory warranty claims, e.g. in the event of wilful deception or
fraudulent misrepresentation, shall remain unaffected.
5.3 Except as expressly set forth in this Licence, neither Licensor nor any Contributor shall be liable,
including, without limitation, for direct, indirect, incidental, or consequential damages (including
without limitation loss of profit), however caused and on any theory of liability, arising in any way
out of the use or Distribution of the Software or the exercise of any rights under this Licence, even
if You have been advised of the possibility of such damages. Mandatory statutory liability claims,
e.g. in the event of wilful misconduct, wilful deception or fraudulent misrepresentation, shall remain
unaffected.
6 Additional Agreements
While Distributing the Software or Modifications, You may choose to conclude additional
agreements, for free or for charge, regarding for example support, warranty, indemnity, liability or
liability obligations and/or rights, provided such additional agreements are consistent with this
Licence and do not effectively restrict the recipient’s rights under this Licence. 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 or Licensor, and only if You agree to indemnify, defend, and
hold each Contributor or Licensor harmless for any liability incurred by, or claims asserted against,
such Contributor or Licensor by reason of your accepting any such warranty or additional liability.
7 Infringements
If You have knowledge that exercising rights granted by this Licence infringes third party's
intellectual property rights, including without limitation copyright and patent rights, You must:
(a) take reasonable steps (such as notifying appropriate mailing lists or newsgroups) to
inform ESA and those who received the Software about the infringement; and
(b) cease infringing uses of the Software until You have been granted or have otherwise
acquired the respective rights or modified the Software so that the Modification is noninfringing.
8 Termination
8.1 This Licence and the rights granted hereunder will terminate automatically upon any breach by
You with the terms of this Licence if you fail to cure such breach within 30 days of becoming
aware of the breach.
8.2 If You institute patent litigation against any entity (including a cross-claim or counterclaim in a
lawsuit) alleging that the Software constitutes direct or contributory patent infringement, then any
patent and copyright licences granted to You under this Licence for the Software shall terminate
as of the date such litigation is filed.
8.3 Any licences validly granted by You under the Licence prior to termination shall continue and
survive termination.
9 Applicable Law, Arbitration and Compliance
9.1 This Licence is governed by the laws of the ESA Member State where the Licensor resides or has
his registered office. “Member States” are the members of the European Space Agency pursuant
to Art. 1 of the ESA Convention [1]. This licence shall be governed by German law if a dispute arises
with the ESA as a Licensor or if the Licensor has no residence or registered office inside a
Member State.
9.2 Any dispute arising out of this Licence shall be finally settled in accordance with the Rules of
Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce by one or more arbitrators designated in
conformity with those rules. Arbitration proceedings shall take place in Cologne, Germany. The
award shall be final and binding on the parties, no appeal shall lie against it. The enforcement of
the award shall be governed by the rules of procedure in force in the state/country in which it is to
be executed.
9.3 For the avoidance of doubt, You are solely responsible for compliance with current applicable
requirements of national laws. The Software can be subject to export control laws. If You export
the Software it is your responsibility to comply with all export control laws. This may include
different requirements, as e.g. registering the Software with the local authorities.
9.4 If it is impossible for You to comply with any of the terms of this Licence due to statute, judicial
order or regulation You must:
(a) comply with the terms of this Licence to the maximum extent possible; and
(b) describe the limitations and the Object Code and/or Source Code they affect. Such
description must be included in the LEGAL notice described in Section 4. Except to the
extent prohibited by statute or regulation, such description must be sufficiently detailed for
an average recipient to be able to understand it.
10 Miscellaneous
10.1 Only ESA has the right to modify or publish new versions of this Licence. ESA may assign this
right to other individuals or legal entities. Each version will be given a distinguishing version
number.
10.2 This Licence represents the complete agreement concerning subject matter hereof.
10.3 If any provision of this Licence is held invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions of this
Licence shall not be affected. The invalid or unenforceable provision shall be construed and/or
reformed to the extent necessary to make it enforceable and valid.
[1] As of May 2017 the Member States are Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece,
Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and
the United Kingdom.