ECHO Intellectual Property and Sharing
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Table of contents
Introduction
ECHO’s mission is to reduce hunger and improve lives through partnerships that equip people with agricultural skills. One of the key products of these partnerships is shared knowledge that can benefit small-scale farmers around the world. We believe that in sharing knowledge, people are empowered to find, test, and improve available solutions. In order to facilitate this, ECHO makes available resources produced internally, and those shared with the greater ECHO community of practice by network members.
The purpose of this document is to encourage the use and sharing of resources. You are encouraged to contact ECHO at echo@echonet.org if you find anything in this document that you do not understand, or if you wish to use a resource in a way that may require permission.
Community contributed resources
ECHO represents a vast network of agriculture and community development practitioners around the world. The sharing of information is a core value in this community of practice. ECHO is pleased to offer our publishing platforms for use by individuals and organizations in need of a way to disseminate high-quality resources without the overhead of managing their own distribution platform.
Attribution: We believe in giving credit where credit is due. Resources provided by third parties will always be given full credit for their work.
Control of Work: Resources provided by third parties maintain their original intellectual property rights. You may request that your resources be removed from any ECHO platform at any time. In order to be considered for distribution, copyright restrictions on submitted works must be no more restrictive than those covered under: “Copyright ECHO Inc. Some Rights Reserved.”
Guidelines
Every submitted resource is evaluated by technical staff and is subject to approval. In order to maintain the level of quality for which ECHO is known and trusted, resources will be accepted or rejected based on these guidelines:
- Does the resource fit within the parameters of the community of practice?
- Is the subject matter of the resource appropriate to the audience?
- Is the content of the resource balanced, and without bias?
- Is the content of the resource primarily commercial in nature?
- Does the quality of the work uphold the values of the community?
- Is the resource presented in a professional manner?
- Is the resource complete and accurate?
- Does the resource provide appropriate citations and credit sources?
Submit a resource
If you have resources that you would like to share with the ECHO network please email the ECHO Technical Response Unit at submissions@echocommunity.org.
ECHO resources
ECHO resources are created with the intention of sharing freely. Under international copyright law, no action needs to be taken by the creator of any work to ensure full copyright protection. Creators, however, may choose to suspend some of their rights voluntarily. In order to promote the free exchange of ideas, ECHO has placed no restrictions on the direct duplication and distribution of most of the resources under its control. Wise stewardship does require that certain resources maintain copyright restrictions in order to protect the investment made in their production.
Why not use an open license?
In order to maintain quality standards ECHO employs several distinct licensing models for works under its control. Open licenses typically allow for modification, and the free republication and distribution of works. Some ECHO works, including all of those which are derivative works of other open licensed material, are licensed with open Creative Commons licenses.
Most works published by ECHO are covered by slightly more restrictive licenses that limit republication, but still allow for these works to be shared freely.
Copyright and license(s)
All resources made available through ECHO’s platforms fall into one of four categories:
Copyright ECHO Inc. All Rights Reserved
The formality “All Rights Reserved” is used on intellectual property owned by ECHO Inc. to indicate a separation between works that maintain the full rights and restrictions of the Berne Convention as amended in 1979 (labeled “All Rights Reserved”) and those that hold a less restrictive set of permissions (bearing any other formality or license).
Copyright ECHO Inc. Some Rights Reserved
The formality “Some Rights Reserved” is used to indicate a special class of intellectual property for which ECHO Inc. has full rights, but chooses to suspend some restrictions in order to make these works widely available. Works distributed by ECHO that do not specify any other formality or license shall be understood to fall into this class.
All members of ECHOcommunity.org are hereby granted special privileges to access, reproduce, and distribute works within the following guidelines:
Permissions granted
May link
No permission is necessary to link to any PUBLICLY available work, resource, or page on any website controlled by ECHO Inc. This does not include framing which is disallowed.
May duplicate
No permission is necessary to duplicate physical media or electronic files covered under this license.
May translate
So long as all restrictions are met no permission is necessary to translate any work covered under this license in part or whole.
May distribute
So long as all restrictions are met, no permission is necessary to distribute any work covered under this license.
Restrictions
Attribution required
Appropriate credit must be given, in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests ECHO Inc. endorses you or your use of the work.
No publication for profit (noncommercial use only)
No part of any work covered by this license shall be used for commercial purposes without specific, written, permission. No part of any work covered by this license shall be sold either individually or as a part of a greater product. This restriction applies to all, regardless of business classification.
No modification
Works covered by this license shall not be modified in any way without express permission. Images included within another work may not be used in any way except that which was originally intended.
No republication
Works covered by this license shall not be republished as part of another work without express permission.
No public internet distribution
No work covered by this license may be distributed to the public through the internet without written permission. Works may be linked, but may not be uploaded to any service that would provide open access. (Do not publish any work found here on your website, use a link instead.)
Creative Commons
Some works distributed by ECHO are licensed under one of the Creative Commons licenses. Individual licenses have distinct permissions and restrictions. See the Creative Commons website for details.
Copyright held by a third-party, published with express permission
Intellectual property holders other than ECHO Inc. sometimes choose to allow ECHO Inc. to redistribute their works. This is always done with permission, and the original holder maintains all rights to their material. These works are distributed under the same permissions and restrictions as outlined in the section “ECHO Inc. Some Rights Reserved” above, but all permissions must be sought from the original copyright holder.
Disputes
ECHO Inc. strives to maintain a high level of quality and integrity. With user-submitted content it is possible for accidental infringement to occur. If you believe that your intellectual property rights are being violated please contact us immediately at echo@echonet.org or call +1.239.543.3246.
Trademarks
A trademark is a device, for example a word, name, or symbol that identifies and distinguishes the goods and/or services of one entity from another. ECHO trademarks are intellectual property owned by ECHO Inc., represent the quality of our work, and are vigorously defended.