Questions tagged [contributor-agreements]
For questions about the legal documents covering contributions from outside a project's core team.
74 questions
0 votes
0 answers
57 views
looking for a copyleft license that allows myself to `#include` my library in proprietary closed-source applications but not others unless granted [duplicate]
I’m looking for a copyleft license or CLA for a library I’m developing that meets the following requirements: The library itself remains fully copyleft (e.g., GPLv3). Only I, the original author, am ...
- 109
8 votes
3 answers
565 views
Can a CLA allow selling exceptions without allowing relicensing to no longer be FOSS?
Selling exceptions to FOSS licenses (e.g., like Qt) is okay, but changing a project's license from a FOSS one to a proprietary one (e.g., like Redis, MongoDB, and HashiCorp) is bad. Given a project ...
4 votes
2 answers
2k views
Is it possible for the .NET open source code to be "rugpulled", or relicensed?
Attempting to read the Contribution License Agreement (source) for the .NET Foundation code. This includes the C#/VB.NET Roslyn compiler, the .NET CLR, and other runtimes. I am a fervent user of these ...
- 143
11 votes
2 answers
2k views
Implicit licensing when contributing to an open source project
Imagine I fork a MIT licensed project on GitHub, make some changes and submit a Pull Request (PR). I own the copyright of my changes. The PR is accepted. A few years later, someone uses the software ...
- 331
3 votes
1 answer
167 views
License like LGPL-3.0, but owner can sell source to 3rd party freely and contributors can't say no or revoke code
TL;DR: Basically "Hey, look, I felt your soft A lacked this so I made this Soft B. You can buy it and add it or do whatever you want with it but don't be a dick and give credit where it's due. ...
- 133
4 votes
1 answer
517 views
Is a CLA necessary?
PDF4QT is released under LGPL3+. If you open a PR, the maintainer asks you to sign a CLA. Is this necessary? My code must be released under LGPL3+ as well, otherwise I'll fail to fulfill the license ...
- 345
2 votes
0 answers
73 views
Could a CLA be avoided by simply specifying in the license a particular owner who may grant closed source use? [duplicate]
One of the main purposes of a CLA (contributor license agreement), as I understand it, is to allow some owner of the software to have full rights to relicense the code if desired. This is rather ...
- 121
3 votes
1 answer
143 views
License to accept contributions without losing the rights on the application
English is not my native language so all the subtleties of licensing law are lost on me. I can't find what I'm looking for. The initial problem: I have created an association and its website which ...
- 39
0 votes
1 answer
125 views
How to open source a project developed at several companies by a single author
I've been the only author (or at least the author of 99.9% of code) on a project that initially started as a masters research project at a research organisation. After completing my studies I was ...
- 111
2 votes
2 answers
456 views
How to require contributor to agree BEFORE creating a pull request?
Does anyone have a solution to the problem below? Yes, I can reject at review time, but I'd rather have that taken care of prior to reviewing the PR. Do we know if github will support yml for pull ...
- 59
4 votes
0 answers
73 views
Does a BSD-3 repository own Pull Requests?
I submit a large PR to repository X. Later, I close the PR and make my own repository that uses some of X's code, and give X due attribution in the NOTICE file and function docstrings. At time of ...
-2 votes
1 answer
253 views
AGPL, with Apache-2.0 option for non-commercial use
I want to license a project that allows anyone to license it under AGPL-3.0, but with the option to license it under Apache-2.0 for non-commercial use only. Are there any hidden pitfalls I may have ...
3 votes
1 answer
165 views
How can I handle minors as contributors?
Ok, firstly, to clarify when I say minor, I mean someone under the age of majority in the US. In this case his father reached out to me regarding a sort of mentor/apprenticeship, so I know I have his ...
- 879
22 votes
1 answer
7k views
How to avoid being AWSed?
Elastic built the tool, AWS redistributed it and is dominating the market. Elastic is probably going to struggle and slowly die because they are bad at business. However, they built a great tool and ...
- 323
0 votes
1 answer
216 views
Can a CLA be agreed to implicitly, like a license?
For license on software, users who download the software must abide by the license, usually in something like a LICENSE file. I don't need to ask them to fax me a signed document or anything. For CLAs,...
- 113