In addition to acceptance of the organization's Charter, as a condition of membership PDF Association members agree to abide by the IPR policy and Code of Conduct, to use of ISO draft documents correctly, to work within PDF Association processes, and to promptly pay membership dues.
Non-members participating in PDF Association Liaison Working Groups and events agree, as a condition of participation, to abide by the PDF Association's IPR policy and Code of Conduct.
This text was adapted from and is fully aligned with the ISO/IEC/ITU Common Patent Policy.
The following is a "code of practice" regarding patents covering, in varying degrees, the subject matters of PDF Association publications (collectively referred to as “Deliverables”).
The rules of the "code of practice" are simple and straightforward. Deliverables are drawn up by technical and not patent experts; thus, they may not necessarily be very familiar with the complex international legal situation of intellectual property rights such as patents, etc.
Deliverables are non-binding; their objective is to ensure compatibility of technologies and systems on a worldwide basis. To meet this objective, which is in the common interests of all those participating, it must be ensured that the Deliverables, their applications, use, etc. are accessible to everybody.
It follows, therefore, that a patent embodied fully or partly in a Deliverable must be accessible to everybody without undue constraints. To meet this requirement in general is the sole objective of the code of practice. The detailed arrangements arising from patents (licensing, royalties, etc.) are left to the parties concerned, as these arrangements might differ from case to case.
This code of practice may be summarized as follows:
“Recipients of this draft are invited to submit, with their comments, notification of any relevant patent rights of which they are aware and to provide supporting documentation.”
“Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of patent rights. The PDF Association shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.”
“The PDF Association draws attention to the fact that it is claimed that compliance with this document may involve the use of a patent concerning (...subject matter…) given in (...subclause…).”
Questions about this policy should be directed to info@pdfa.org.
We as members, contributors, and leaders pledge to make participation in our community a harassment-free experience for everyone, regardless of age, body size, visible or invisible disability, ethnicity, sex characteristics, gender identity and expression, level of experience, education, socio-economic status, nationality, personal appearance, race, caste, color, religion, or sexual identity and orientation.
We pledge to act and interact in ways that contribute to an open, welcoming, diverse, inclusive, and healthy community.
Examples of behavior that contributes to a positive environment for our community include:
Examples of unacceptable behavior include:
Community leaders are responsible for clarifying and enforcing our standards of acceptable behavior and will take appropriate and fair corrective action in response to any behavior that they deem inappropriate, threatening, offensive, or harmful.
Community leaders have the right and responsibility to remove, edit, or reject comments, commits, code, wiki edits, issues, and other contributions that are not aligned to this Code of Conduct, and will communicate reasons for moderation decisions when appropriate.
This Code of Conduct applies within all community spaces, and also applies when an individual is officially representing the community in public spaces. Examples of representing our community include using an official e-mail address, posting via an official social media account, or acting as an appointed representative at an online or offline event.
Instances of abusive, harassing, or otherwise unacceptable behavior may be reported to the community leaders responsible for enforcement at code-of-conduct@pdfa.org or directly to the CEO or Chair of the Board of Directors. All complaints will be reviewed and investigated promptly and fairly.
All community leaders are obligated to respect the privacy and security of the reporter of any incident.
Community leaders will follow these Community Impact Guidelines in determining the consequences for any action they deem in violation of this Code of Conduct:
Community Impact: Use of inappropriate language or other behavior deemed unprofessional or unwelcome in the community.
Consequence: A private, written warning from community leaders, providing clarity around the nature of the violation and an explanation of why the behavior was inappropriate. A public apology may be requested.
Community Impact: A violation through a single incident or series of actions.
Consequence: A warning with consequences for continued behavior. No interaction with the people involved, including unsolicited interaction with those enforcing the Code of Conduct, for a specified period of time. This includes avoiding interactions in community spaces as well as external channels like social media. Violating these terms may lead to a temporary or permanent ban.
Community Impact: A serious violation of community standards, including sustained inappropriate behavior.
Consequence: A temporary ban from any sort of interaction or public communication with the community for a specified period of time. No public or private interaction with the people involved, including unsolicited interaction with those enforcing the Code of Conduct, is allowed during this period. Violating these terms may lead to a permanent ban.
Community Impact: Demonstrating a pattern of violation of community standards, including sustained inappropriate behavior, harassment of an individual, or aggression toward or disparagement of classes of individuals.
Consequence: A permanent ban from any sort of public interaction within the community.
This Code of Conduct was adapted from the Contributor Covenant, version 2.0. Translations are available.
ISO owns the copyright on all draft standards developed in ISO Working Groups.
All in-process ISO draft standards and the supporting documents (informally known as "n-docs") distributed to respective ISO committees within the standards development process are available to current Individual, Full, Partner and Observer members in consideration of the PDF Association’s category “A” liaison arrangement with ISO.
Corporate members are prohibited from re-distributing or re-publishing any ISO draft document beyond their own employees. Individual members may not redistribute ISO drafts whatsoever; they are for personal use only.
NOTE: ISO draft documents are not exposed to non-members participating in Liaison Working Groups.
PDF Association working groups are open to all PDF Association members. The discussions and documents developed in these working groups are restricted to members of the PDF Association, and may not be distributed to others without the express consent of the working group's members as expressed in a ballot.
Formal publications are developed under the PDF Association's publication procedures. The majority of PDF Association organization and working group publications are released to the public via pdfa.org. They may not be hosted on other websites without the express permission of the PDF Association.
Membership dues go to maintain the PDF Association's infrastructure and resources and to pay for its staff. Prompt payment of current-year membership dues is vital.
Notice of payment due for the current year are sent to members before January 15 and are due by February 21.
The following policy governs how the PDF Association will respond to non-paying members:
Members terminating or abandoning their membership are obliged to remove the PDF Association logo from their website and marketing materials.
In all cases membership reinstatement requires payment of unpaid dues.