Intellectual Property (IP) Use Policy

The X12 EDI Standard, including any codes, segments, data elements and other information and data that comprise the X12 EDI Standard (the “X12 Standard”), and all other reports, documents, data, databases, codes and materials, in any and all forms and formats (including published and draft versions), related to or made available in connection therewith (collectively, “X12 Products”) are protected by copyright and must be used in accordance with this IP policy. The X12 Products include, without limitation, the following, regardless of whether X12 makes those products available for use at no cost or in exchange for license fees:

• X12 Standard, including, without limitation, all Figures, Design Rules, Guidelines, Control Standards, Transaction Set Tables, Segment Directory, Data Element Directory, and Code Source Directory
• Implementation Guides (TR3), other Technical Reports and Workbooks
• Table Data, Schemas, and other derivatives created from the X12 Standard and/or Implementation Guidelines
• External Code Lists

X12 owns or manages the copyrights to all X12 Products, and is the only organization authorized to grant licenses and other permissions for use of X12 Products.

See the X12 Wordbook (X12 | ID required to access) for more information on terminology related to X12 Products and their definitions: wordbook.x12.org.

You may not use, copy, reproduce, distribute, modify or create any derivative work of, any X12 Product, in whole or in part, for any purpose, unless you have an active license agreement with, or other express written permission from X12, or such use is permitted by law. 

Without limiting the foregoing and as further described in the “AI Use Strictly Prohibited” section below, unless expressly permitted by X12, you may not use, or permit or allow any person to use, any X12 Product (including as it may be incorporated into an Artifact) in connection with any artificial intelligence technology or system.

Uses Requiring an X12 License Agreement:

An active license agreement with X12 is required to incorporate or use the X12 Standard or any other X12 Product in or in connection with a software product or solution, whether made available on-cloud, on-premises, via API or otherwise (“Software”). X12 licensees may only use those X12 Products specifically licensed under their X12 agreement and then only for the limited purposes expressly permitted in that X12 agreement. Any use or distribution of an X12 Product other than as expressly permitted in the applicable license agreement is strictly prohibited.

X12 offers a variety of license types, ranging from individual end users to commercial developers of Software. However, many X12 license types only allow internal use of the licensed X12 Products within the licensee’s organization. Unless expressly permitted by the terms of your X12 license agreement, you may not incorporate or use any X12 Product in or in connection with any Software that is commercially available or otherwise licensed, distributed or provided to any person that is not internal to your organization.

Visit X12 Licensing to learn more about obtaining a license to X12 Products. 

Uses Requiring Written Permission:

Separate from the Software-related uses requiring an X12 license agreement, X12’s express written permission is required for any and all other uses of an X12 Product. This includes (1) creating or developing any document, spreadsheet, presentation, database, or other material or work product in any format that incorporates, quotes, cites, references, uses or is otherwise based on any X12 Product (each an “Artifact”), including Artifacts containing your organization’s proprietary instructions for creating transactions based on an associated X12 Implementation Guide (“Companion Guides”) and (2) reproducing, distributing, displaying, or otherwise using any Artifact for any purpose. For the avoidance of doubt, Artifacts may not be stand-alone requirements documents. 

Certain X12 license types may permit the licensee to create and use certain Artifacts in connection with their Software; however, any use or distribution of any Artifact that is not expressly permitted under your license agreement requires X12’s express written permission. 

Information on seeking X12’s permission, and associated requirements, for Artifacts is below. 

AI Use Strictly Prohibited:

Except as may be expressly permitted in your license agreement with X12, or otherwise expressly permitted in writing by X12 in its sole discretion, you may not use, or permit or allow any person to use, any X12 Product (including as it may be incorporated into an Artifact) in connection with any artificial intelligence (“AI”), including to (1) create any derivative of or replacement for an X12 Product; (2) train, fine-tune, or otherwise modify the weights, algorithms, or other parameters of any AI Tools; and/or (3) ground (including via retrieval-augmented generation or otherwise), prompt, or otherwise develop or influence any AI Tools or outputs therefrom. “AI Tools” are machine-based systems designed to operate with varying levels of autonomy and capable of, for a given set of objectives, inferring from the input received and generating predictions, recommendations, data, content or decision that influence physical or virtual environments, whether now existing or hereafter evolved or created, and include large language models, machine learning technologies, and generative AI systems.

Other Strictly Prohibited Uses:

Certain uses of X12 Products are strictly prohibited, even if you have a license agreement with X12. In particular, you may not: 

• Distribute, sell, lease, sublicense, provide, or otherwise make available any X12 Product on a stand-alone basis to any organization or individual; 
• Use any X12 Product in any manner that may give a false or misleading impression or statement as to X12 or that may misconstrue or otherwise inaccurately reference or display the X12 Product; or
• Use any X12 Product to create any substitutes or replacements of, or standards that compete with, an X12 Product, in whole or in part. 

Limited Use of Draft X12 Products:

Any draft versions of X12 Products may only be used by X12 members in good standing, and then only for the purposes of official X12 collaboration, including related internal discussion or evaluation within the member's own organization. Use of X12 Product drafts for any other purpose is strictly prohibited.

Permission to use any X12 Product, including in or in connection with Artifacts, must be requested by email to ip@x12.org and include:

• your name, organization, title, address, city, state, zip, and email;
• a detailed description of the proposed Artifact or other use of an X12 Product
• a list of all X12 Product(s) you intend to cite, reference or otherwise rely upon; and 
• a detailed description of the use and/or distribution of your Artifact, including the intended audience and planned distribution method for the Artifact.

Companion Guides and other permitted Artifacts must comply with the Requirements for Use of X12 Products in Artifacts, available here, which includes additional Best Practices for Companion Guides. If you are requesting permission to create and distribute a Companion Guide, your request may include a copy or attachment of the proposed Companion Guide. The proposed Companion Guide should be clearly labeled as “DRAFT-NOT APPROVED BY X12 FOR DISTRIBUTION” (or similar label) until such time as X12 may grant its written permission for the Companion Guide. For the avoidance of doubt, you may not use or distribute, other than to X12 as part of your request for approval, your proposed Companion Guide unless and until you have express written permission from X12 to do so. For all other types of requests, you may not create the proposed Artifact, or otherwise proceed with your proposed use, unless and until you have express written permission from X12 to do so. 

X12 will endeavor to handle requests and related Artifacts as confidential, but is not responsible or liable for any confidential or proprietary information you include in your submission.

Reviewing Your Request:

X12 will review your submission and notify you via email of its determination. X12’s review of submitted Artifacts is focused on use of the X12 Product and compliance with this IP Policy. X12 does not review or evaluate requests, including any proposed Companion Guide, for accuracy, validity, or compliance with any applicable law, State or Federal mandate, including HIPAA, all of which remains your sole responsibility. 

While X12 strives to accommodate requests for permission, X12 reserves the right to withhold or condition its permission in its sole discretion. If permission is not granted, however, X12 will endeavor to communicate the reasons for denial and, where appropriate, provide you with an opportunity to revise and resubmit your request for review in accordance with the foregoing. X12 reserves the right to revoke permission at any time, including for failure to comply with this IP Policy, and grant of permission by X12 does not constitute any waiver of any rights or remedies X12 may have at law or in equity. Permission from X12 does not constitute any affiliation with X12 or any endorsement by X12 of the Artifact, its contents, intended use, or associated organization, and you may not make any statements or otherwise imply any such affiliation with or endorsement by X12.

Scope of Permission:

Any permission granted by X12 is limited to the specific use cited in the approved request and, if applicable, the specific version of the Artifact approved by X12, and does not extend to any other Artifacts, including any revisions to the approved Artifact, or for other uses. Permission is limited to the requesting organization and does not extend to, and cannot be transferred to, any other person. 

1. Q: Who can grant the necessary permission for use of X12 Products?
   A: Other than Commercial Use licensees who can grant limited internal use rights to their software customers, only X12 has authority to grant such permission.
    
2. Q: I have a Glass license and want to display an X12 Product on a virtual call conducted by another organization, is this allowed?
   A: No. A Glass license entitles the holder to access and use X12 Products themselves for specified purposes; sharing that content, whether by screensharing, screenshots, email, hardcopy, Glass account access or otherwise, with others who don’t also hold an appropriate license is not permitted.
    
3. Q: My organization has an Internal Use license. I created a mapping document and want to share it with people from another organization, is this allowed?
   A: No. Nothing developed under an X12 Internal Use license can be shared with anyone outside of the organization holding the internal use license.
    
4. Q: I want to share an X12 Product that I licensed from X12 with my trading partners, is this allowed?
   A: No. Each organization needs to hold their own active license permitting use of the associated X12 Product's content within their organization.
    
5. Q: I created a proprietary Companion Guide or industry implementation guide with instructions supplemental to an X12 Implementation Guide or the X12 Standard. Can I post the Artifact on my website for public viewing?
   A: Only if you have applied for and been granted permission for the use of X12’s intellectual property in your Companion Guide or industry implementation guide and your Companion Guide or industry implementation guide has been approved by X12. You may not post the Artifact prior to being granted explicit permission.
    
6. Q: How can I verify that my vendor has obtained the appropriate permission or entered into a licensing agreement with X12?
   A: Please review the X12 featured licensing partners at https://x12.org/products/licensing-program/partners to confirm your vendor has been granted the relevant rights to use X12 Products.

X12 reserves all rights and remedies with respect to any actual or threatened violations of this IP Policy, including without limitation, to suspend a member or licensee’s usage rights and access to X12 Products, terminate any license agreements, withdraw any previously-granted permission and to initiate legal action related to the prohibited use, including by seeking injunctive relief and monetary damages.