Policy for use of ECSS System by non-ECSS members

The European Space Agency, on behalf of the participating members, holds copyright for all ECSS documents. No ECSS document may be reproduced in any form without the explicit consent of ESA. However, this consent is granted to ECSS members for their own use, for their contractors and subcontractors.

In case of request by non-ESA members or non-ECSS members for using ECSS documents in whole or in part in their own documentation, the following policy shall be applied:

• direct use of ECSS standards themselves should be made rather than rewriting using quotation of ECSS standards. This could avoid incoherencies with ECSS system due to partial imports of ECSS requirements, modified quotations or quotation of obsolete versions.
• ECSS members are informed of requests addressed to the ES. Final version of the proposed agreement to grant use and/or translation should be submitted to SB approval and, when approved, signed by the SB chairman on behalf of ECSS members (Copyright on ECSS standards being held by ESA on behalf of ECSS members, final agreement are also to be signed by ESA appropriate official).
• when ECSS documents text is used, ECSS copyright is acknowledged, quotations clearly identified in the document together with exact reference/version and potential modifications of ECSS standards used as source. This applies also to any derived document.
• when translation of ECSS standard(s) is performed by the beneficiary, this translation should be made available to ECSS members.

Source: ECSS-P-00C (22 March 2013) clause 5.8 ‘Policy for use of ECSS System by non-ECSS members’.