DFARS 227.7203-5 Government rights

The standard license rights in computer software that a licensor grants to the Government are unlimited rights, government purpose rights, or restricted rights. The standard license in computer software documentation conveys unlimited rights. Those rights are defined in the clause at 252.227-7014 , Rights in Other Than Commercial Computer Software and Other Than Commercial Computer Software Documentation. In unusual situations, the standard rights may not satisfy the Government's needs or the Government may be willing to accept lesser rights in return for other consideration. In those cases, a special license may be negotiated. However, the licensor is not obligated to provide the Government greater rights and the contracting officer is not required to accept lesser rights than the rights provided in the standard grant of license. The situations under which a particular grant of license applies are enumerated in paragraphs (a) through (d) of this subsection.

(a) Unlimited rights. The Government obtains an unlimited rights license in—

(1) Computer software developed exclusively with Government funds;

(2) Computer software documentation required to be delivered under a Government contract;

(3) Corrections or changes to computer software or computer software documentation furnished to the contractor by the Government;

(4) Computer software or computer software documentation that is otherwise publicly available or has been released or disclosed by the contractor or subcontractor without restrictions on further use, release or disclosure other than a release or disclosure resulting from the sale, transfer, or other assignment of interest in the software to another party or the sale or transfer of some or all of a business entity or its assets to another party;

(5) Computer software or computer software documentation obtained with unlimited rights under another Government contract or as a result of negotiations; or

(6) Computer software or computer software documentation furnished to the Government, under a Government contract or subcontract with—

(i) Restricted rights in computer software, limited rights in technical data, or government purpose license rights and the restrictive conditions have expired; or

(ii) Government purpose rights and the contractor's exclusive right to use such software or documentation for commercial purposes has expired.

(b) Government purpose rights.

(1) Except as provided in paragraph (a) of this subsection, the Government obtains government purpose rights in computer software developed with mixed funding.

(2) The period during which government purpose rights are effective is negotiable. The clause at 252.227-7014 provides a nominal five-year period. Either party may request a different period. Changes to the government purpose rights period may be made at any time prior to delivery of the software without consideration from either party. Longer periods should be negotiated when a five-year period does not provide sufficient time to commercialize the software or, for software developed by subcontractors, when necessary to recognize the subcontractors' interests in the software.

(3) The government purpose rights period commences upon execution of the contract, subcontract, letter contract (or similar contractual instrument), contract modification, or option exercise that required development of the computer software. Upon expiration of the government purpose rights period, the Government has unlimited rights in the software including the right to authorize others to use the data for commercial purposes.

(4) During the government purpose rights period, the Government may not use, or authorize other persons to use, computer software marked with government purpose rights legends for commercial purposes. The Government shall not release or disclose, or authorize others to release or disclose, computer software in which it has government purpose rights to any person unless—

(i) Prior to release or disclosure, the intended recipient is subject to the use and nondisclosure agreement at 227.7103-7 ; or

(ii) The intended recipient is a Government contractor receiving access to the software for performance of a Government contract that contains the clause at 252.227-7025 , Limitations on the Use or Disclosure of Government-Furnished Information Marked with Restrictive Legends.

(5) When computer software marked with government purpose rights legends will be released or disclosed to a Government contractor performing a contract that does not include the clause at 252.227-7025 , the contract may be modified, prior to release or disclosure, to include such clause in lieu of requiring the contractor to complete a use and nondisclosure agreement.

(6) Contracting activities shall establish procedures to assure that computer software or computer software documentation marked with government purpose rights legends are released or disclosed, including a release or disclosure through a Government solicitation, only to persons subject to the use and nondisclosure restrictions. Public announcements in the System for Award Management or other publications must provide notice of the use and nondisclosure requirements. Class use and nondisclosure agreements (e.g., agreements covering all solicitations received by the XYZ company within a reasonable period) are authorized and may be obtained at any time prior to release or disclosure of the government purpose rights software or documentation. Documents transmitting government purpose rights software or documentation to persons under class agreements shall identify the specific software or documentation subject to government purpose rights and the class agreement under which such software or documentation are provided.

(c) Restricted rights.

(1) The Government obtains restricted rights in other than commercial computer software, required to be delivered or otherwise provided to the Government under a contract, that was developed exclusively at private expense.

(2) Contractors are not required to provide the Government additional rights in computer software delivered or otherwise provided to the Government with restricted rights. When the Government has a need for additional rights, the Government must negotiate with the contractor to determine if there are acceptable terms for transferring such rights. List or describe all software in which the contractor has granted the Government additional rights in a license agreement made part of the contract (see paragraph (d) of this subsection). The license shall enumerate the specific additional rights granted to the Government.

(d) Specifically negotiated license rights. Negotiate specific licenses when the parties agree to modify the standard license rights granted to the Government or when the Government wants to obtain rights in computer software in which it does not have rights. When negotiating to obtain, relinquish, or increase the Government's rights in computer software, consider the planned software maintenance philosophy, anticipated time or user sharing requirements, and other factors which may have relevance for a particular procurement. If negotiating to relinquish rights in computer software documentation, consider the administrative burden associated with protecting documentation subject to restrictions from unauthorized release or disclosure. The negotiated license rights must stipulate the rights granted the Government to use, modify, reproduce, release, perform, display, or disclose the software or documentation and the extent to which the Government may authorize others to do so. Identify all negotiated rights in a license agreement made part of the contract.

(e) Rights in derivative computer software or computer software documentation. The clause at 252.227-7014 protects the Government's rights in computer software, computer software documentation, or portions thereof that the contractor subsequently uses to prepare derivative software or subsequently embeds or includes in other software or documentation. The Government retains the rights it obtained under the development contract in the unmodified portions of the derivative software or documentation.