On licenses for [Open] Hardware

TL;DR

This paper explains key concepts of hardware licenses, reviews popular licenses, and discusses practical issues through case studies to guide open hardware licensing decisions, especially in the context of RISC-V.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of hardware licensing, including case studies and discussions on applicability, addressing a gap in practical guidance for open hardware licensing.

Findings

Analysis of popular hardware licenses

Case studies illustrating licensing choices

Discussion of legal and commercial considerations

Abstract

This document explains the basic concepts related to software and hardware licenses, and it summarizes the most popular licenses that are currently used for hardware projects. Two case studies of hardware projects at different levels of abstraction are also presented, together with a discussion of license applicability, commercial issues, code protection, and related concerns. This paper intends to help the reader understand how to release open hardware with the most appropriate license, and to answer questions that are of current interest. We have been mainly motivated by the growing influence of the open RISC-V ISA, but trying to address a wider hardware point of view.