I <3 open source, and especially open source circuits (i learned mostly by taking apart SparkFun eagle files).
And I have a conundrum. I have modified a BY-NC-SA protected board, so I have it posted on my GitHub with the appropriate license and changelog of modifications.
Now: How do I get a BY-NC-SA board fabricated?
If I upload it to BatchPCB, then they are making a profit on it (which isnt allowed by the license). But this board is too complicated for me to want to DIY resist-and-etch it.
So what can i do? I dont want to redesign the whole board from the ground up.
Faulty logic…how could you ever build anything with other than found materials then? Parts manufacturers profit when you have to buy the stuff to build the design…the computer you used to download the design made someone profit…your ISP made money by transferring the download to you.
macegr:
Faulty logic…how could you ever build anything with other than found materials then? Parts manufacturers profit when you have to buy the stuff to build the design…the computer you used to download the design made someone profit…your ISP made money by transferring the download to you.
Well i had it up on batchPCB and one of the authors asked me to take it down. (i am a batchpcb approved seller, but it didnt have any markup, just selling for the price you’d get if you downloaded the files off my github and uploaded them)
Contact the creator and ask for permission. Since it’s “BY” there’s probably some contact information.
Selling the board at production cost should be in accordance with the Creative Commons license.
I have a board that’s BY-NC-SA, with a waiver granted for commercial use as part of a larger system. I did this so the board can be used commercially where there’s some value added, but somebody can’t just have a bunch of my boards run and sell the bare boards at a profit.
What’s the difference? Any time I upload a design to batchpcb it does that. I choose to not mark anything up. So I don’t make any profit, but I guess the board house does.
ajray:
What’s the difference? Any time I upload a design to batchpcb it does that. I choose to not mark anything up. So I don’t make any profit, but I guess the board house does.
What’s the difference? Any time I upload a design to batchpcb it does that. I choose to not mark anything up. So I don’t make any profit, but I guess the board house does.
I don’t think that’s the problem.
Your problem is that anyone buying the board would have to agree to the license and the BatchPCB sale mechanism doesn’t provide for that.
BTW, looking at the license, V3.0 says “You may not exercise any of the rights granted to You in Section 3 above in any manner that is primarily intended for or directed toward commercial advantage or private monetary compensation.” I can’t see that making boards available at cost would be directed to commercial advantage as the same price is available to everyone. Then note the word ‘primarily’. Again, your intent seems obvious - making the board available to everyone at a reasonable price.