Source Code Policy

1. Objectives

This policy will accomplish the following objectives:

1. Provide guidance to covered agencies¹³ on software procurement considerations that must be made prior to acquiring any custom-developed software. This applies only to software developed in the performance of a Federal agreement;

2. Establish policy requirements for Government-wide source code receipt and reuse, including requirements for covered agencies to require delivery of source code produced in the performance of a Federal Government agreement and, subject to certain exceptions,¹⁴ make it broadly available Government-wide;

3. Establish requirements for releasing code in the public domain or as OSS, including requirements for covered agencies to secure the rights necessary to make some custom-developed source code releasable to the public as OSS; and

4. Provide instructions and support to facilitate implementation of this policy.

Footnotes

• ¹³See definition of “Covered Agency” in Appendix A: Definitions.↩
• ¹⁴See “Exceptions to Government-wide Reuse or to Publication” in the Implementation section of this policy.↩