OpenSimulator Community Conference

Intellectual Property Policy
Staff Members & Volunteers

The OpenSimulator Community Conference is organized as a joint production by the Overte Foundation, a non-profit foundation, and AvaCon, Inc., a 501(c)(3) public charity, collectively the “Conference Organizers”, and is primarily staffed by unpaid staff members and volunteers who donate their time and skills to help organize the conference.

The purpose of this Intellectual Property Policy is to address the rights of the Conference Organizers, staff members, and volunteers, with regard to any intellectual property they may own or create in the course of their duties or tasks for the conference.

Regarding work that a staff member or volunteer performs on behalf of the Conference Organizers, or in connection with the conference, or in the course of their duties for the conference, the staff member or volunteer agrees, as a condition of performing any duties or tasks, that:

a.  The Conference Organizers, staff members, and volunteers retain all rights, title, and interest in and to any materials they may respectively own and provide to staff members or volunteers in connection with the conference, or for the staff member or volunteer’s use in the course of performing their duties for the conference.  Staff members and volunteers may only use such materials for the purposes of the conference and for the duration of the conference, and shall not use any such conference related materials for any other purpose, unless otherwise agreed in a specific instance;

b.  Should work that a staff member or volunteer performs on behalf of the Conference Organizers, or in connection with the conference, or in the course of their duties for the conference, result in the creation of new intellectual property, the rights, title, and interest in and to any such creative works shall vest in their authors, creators, or performers, however, the staff member or volunteer agrees to grant to the Conference Organizers, and the Conference Organizers’ assigns, licensees, and successors, an irrevocable, world-wide, royalty free, non-exclusive, transferable license to use such intellectual property for purposes including normal business operations and operational matters, in order to keep good records, to execute, promote, and publicise current or future conferences or events, to make archives where possible, to prepare derivative works of, to distribute, reproduce, and to reproduce for webcasting, broadcasting, and live audio streaming, unless otherwise agreed in a specific instance;

c.  A staff member or volunteer retains all rights, title, and interest in and to any intellectual property they own and may donate the use of to Conference Organizers in connection with the conference, however, the staff member or volunteer agrees to grant to the Conference Organizers and the Conference Organizers’ assigns, licensees, and successors an irrevocable, world-wide, royalty free, non-exclusive, transferable license to use such intellectual property for purposes including normal business operations and operational matters, in order to keep good records, to execute, promote, and publicise current or future conferences or events, to make archives where possible, to prepare derivative works of, to distribute, reproduce, reproduce for webcasting, broadcasting, and live audio streaming, unless agreed otherwise in a specific instance, and further warrants that they are the sole owner of all rights in the intellectual property or are authorized to grant such a license of the material in accordance with the terms and conditions of this agreement, and that such a license grant will not infringe the intellectual property rights of any third party.   The staff member or volunteer further will indemnify, defend and hold harmless the Conference Organizers from and against any loss, damage, costs, liability and expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising from or out of any third-party action or claim that use of the material in accordance with the terms and conditions in this agreement infringes the intellectual property rights of such third party;

d.  In the event that a staff member or volunteer creates a derivative work of intellectual property owned by or licensed to Conference Organizers while performing work on behalf of the Conference Organizers, or in connection with the conference, or in the course of their duties for the conference, the rights, title, and interest in and to any such derivative works shall remain vested in their respective owners unless otherwise agreed in a specific instance;

e. From time to time, staff members or volunteers may create foreground intellectual property that includes background intellectual property such as copyrighted materials derived from third party sources and/or Creative Commons licensed materials. As there may be restrictions on the future use of background intellectual property derived from third parties, staff members and volunteers have a responsibility to consider the effect of such restrictions when including these materials in the development of foreground intellectual property for the conference, and must communicate any restrictions to Conference Organizers with respect to the proposed use of the foreground intellectual property. Staff members and volunteers must also seek the advice of their supervisor and/or Conference Organizers if the use of intellectual property derived from third parties contains any restrictions.  In the event that a staff member or volunteer uses background intellectual property that has license restrictions on its use, and the staff member or volunteer fails to consult with or inform Conference Organizers of such restrictions, the staff member or volunteer agrees to indemnify, defend and hold harmless the Conference Organizers from and against any loss, damage, costs, liability and expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising from or out of any third-party action or claim that use of the material in accordance with the terms and conditions in this agreement infringes the intellectual property rights of such third party.

The terms of this agreement shall remain in effect even if a staff member or volunteer leaves or is terminated from a staff or volunteer position.  Any agreement a staff member or volunteer makes with other entities or agents relating to use or access to content created under the terms of this agreement must be consistent with these terms, and no such agreement with another party can abrogate, nullify, void or modify this agreement.

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