The smallprint
For policy wonks (it's no insult - we need policy wonks!)
Our legal protections
TLDR; our position is 'use but don't abuse.' You can use whatever we publish, but claiming authorship or ownership is not allowed.
Hollyhock Systems™ is dedicated to an open source philosophy with our products, designs and software. However, we do use licences, trademarks and automatic copyright protections on our designs. Please see below for overviews of our licences, what they cover, which trademarks we use and how copyright protection works.
Happy reading and happy experimenting.
CERN Open Hardware Licence v2
Strongly Rec
This will into effect once the SNM prototype is finalised.
GNU GPLv3
This will into effect once the SNM prototype is finalised.
Trademarks
We operate under two trademarks in UK law and UK/EU trading conventions:
Hollyhock Systems™
Spectrum Noise Machine™
NoiC Engine™
Copyright protections
Due to the nature of the Spectrum Noise Machine's PCB design, it is not patented as an invention. But it is protected under several types of copyright protection:
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Literary copyright protection - the C/C++ code (the NoiC Engine™) that creates the SNM's sound are automatically protected as a literary work (funny that code is considered literature!)
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Artistic copyright protection - the PCB (printed circuit board) schematic drawings and Gerber file renders are automatically protected as artistic works, specifically under the technical drawing clause.
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Design copyright protection - the .pcb design files are automatically protected as designs under copyright law. The board itself can also come under 'design right protection' in UK law.