KiCad Open-Source Project Community Rules

1. General Provisions

• 1.1. This community is created and maintained by NextPCB, aiming to promote the use of KiCad, foster open-source hardware culture, and give back to the ecosystem.
• 1.2. By participating in this community, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by these Terms in their entirety.

2. Donation Mechanism

• 2.1. For each original KiCad project uploaded by a user and approved through review, NextPCB pledges to donate US$10 in the user's name to the KiCad Foundation.
• 2.2. Each user can receive a maximum donation of US$50 per calendar month.
• 2.3. The total donation amount will be summarized monthly by NextPCB and donated in full to the official KiCad designated channel.
• 2.4. After your project is submitted, the review process takes approximately one day. Once approved, the donation amount will be recorded in real-time on KiCad Project community.

3. Project Review Criteria

Projects must meet all the following requirements to pass review:

• Completeness: Must include schematic (.kicad_sch), PCB layout file (.kicad_pcb), a project description, and at least one render or photo of the finished board.
• Originality: Must be an original user creation or a significant derivative work based on others' open-source projects (see Definition 4).
• License: Must explicitly declare an open-source license.
• Quality: Designs should be reasonable, readable, and free of obvious errors.

4. Originality Definition

• 4.1. Original Project: A project whose main design and development were independently completed by the user.
• 4.2. Acceptable Derivative Work: A project based on existing open-source work that involves functional improvements, performance optimizations, structural revisions, or innovative adaptations, and clearly attributes the original source and its license. Mere cosmetic changes (e.g., changing board color, silkscreen) do not qualify.
• 4.3. Prohibited Actions: Directly copying, re-uploading others' projects, or repeatedly submitting slightly modified versions of the same project are considered violations.

5. User Rights and Responsibilities

• 5.1. Users retain all intellectual property rights for their uploaded projects but must comply with the terms of the chosen open-source license.
• 5.2. By uploading a project, the user warrants they hold the necessary rights and grants NextPCB a license to display and distribute the project content.
• 5.3. Users are responsible for the accuracy and legality of their project's content and must ensure it does not infringe upon any third party's intellectual property or other legal rights.

6. Violations & Actions

NextPCB reserves the right to take action against the following:

• Project Removal: Takedown of projects that fail review criteria or are suspected violations.
• Account Suspension or Ban: Permanent disqualification for severe violations like plagiarism, spamming, or malicious registrations.
• Legal Pursuit: NextPCB reserves the right to pursue legal action against users whose infringements cause losses to NextPCB.

7. Disclaimer & Modifications

• 7.1. NextPCB reserves the right to modify these Terms based on operational needs. Any changes will be announced in the community in advance.
• 7.2. NextPCB holds final interpretation rights regarding this initiative.