Proposal: All Contributors to have a signed Apache ICLA

[Sharan-F]

Hi All

I'd like to suggest that we implement a policy that all project contributors of ideas, code and documentation (so this includes people updating the wiki) to have signed Individual Contributor Licence Agreements (ICLA)

What it means?
Signing an ICLA means that you understand that what you have contributed (or want to contribute) is subject to the Apache Licence and that you are happy to do this.

The ICLA is not tied to any employer you may have.

Details of the Apache Licences and Contributor Licence Agreements can be found at the link below:

http://www.apache.org/licenses/#clas

Future Contributor Process
The future process could be as follows:

1. Anyone requesting to become a contributor will need to have completed an ICLA
2. We will check the official list of filed ICLAs before granting contributor permissions (e.g. on the wiki)


If the community is happy to implement this policy then I will

1. Take a look at our current list of wiki contributors and see if any do not have an ICLA on file
2. Contact them with the details of how to file one

Thanks
Sharan

[Pierre Smits]

Hi all,

In general that is a good idea. Contributing has implications, not only for
contributors, but also every one else (including the ASF itself) who
touches the contribution. Everybody must be aware of those implications and
the means to deal with these. The iCLA helps in that respect.

Regards,

Pierre Smits

*ORRTIZ.COM <http://www.orrtiz.com>*
Services & Solutions for Cloud-
Based Manufacturing, Professional
Services and Retail & Trade
http://www.orrtiz.com

[Ron Wheeler]

http://www.apache.org/dev/new-committers-guide.html also discusses the
need to look at Corporate CLAs to cover the case where employees have IP
agreements with their employers that might cover work done in or outside
of working hours.

The important thing is to be sure that NONE of the content is ever
subject to litigation by a person or company that can claim that they
own parts of the software or documentation.

This is specially true of companies that are incorporating OFBiz into
products that they deliver.
Having your client sued for IP infringement for using the ERP that you
provided, will not be fun.

Ron

On 22/11/2014 5:41 AM, Pierre Smits wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> In general that is a good idea. Contributing has implications, not only for
> contributors, but also every one else (including the ASF itself) who
> touches the contribution. Everybody must be aware of those implications and
> the means to deal with these. The iCLA helps in that respect.
>
> Regards,
>
> Pierre Smits
>
> *ORRTIZ.COM <http://www.orrtiz.com>*
> Services & Solutions for Cloud-
> Based Manufacturing, Professional
> Services and Retail & Trade
> http://www.orrtiz.com
>

--
Ron Wheeler
President
Artifact Software Inc
email: [hidden email]
skype: ronaldmwheeler
phone: [phone], ext 102

[Ron Wheeler]

It also reminds contributors to verify that they do not have any terms
in your employment agreement that gives the employer the rights to any
IP that you create while working for the company.
If a potential contributor is bound by this type of agreement, they can
not give away IP without their employers express consent.
Apache has a Corporate CLA that gets the employers waiver of the rights
in the case of contributions to Apache.

Current contributors who are employed should check with their HR
department or supervisor to see if they can contribute to Apache
projects while at work and on their own time.
All contributions are made as individuals but if your employer is paying
for the work, you still need to be sure that you can legally contribute
the IP that you are creating.

This may not have been a concern prior to OFBiz joining Apache but
Apache has made it easy to specifically address this situation.

Ron

On 22/11/2014 4:54 AM, Sharan-F wrote:

> Hi All
>
> I'd like to suggest that we implement a policy that all project contributors
> of ideas, code and documentation (so this includes people updating the wiki)
> to have signed Individual Contributor Licence Agreements (ICLA)
>
> *What it means?*
> Signing an ICLA means that you understand that what you have contributed (or
> want to contribute) is subject to the Apache Licence and that you are happy
> to do this.
>
> The ICLA is not tied to any employer you may have.
>
> Details of the Apache Licences and Contributor Licence Agreements can be
> found at the link below:
>
> http://www.apache.org/licenses/#clas <http://www.apache.org/licenses/#clas>
> *
> Future Contributor Process*
> The future process could be as follows:
>
> 1. Anyone requesting to become a contributor will need to have completed an
> ICLA
> 2. We will check the official list of filed ICLAs before granting
> contributor permissions (e.g. on the wiki)
>
>
> If the community is happy to implement this policy then I will
>
> 1. Take a look at our current list of wiki contributors and see if any do
> not have an ICLA on file
> 2. Contact them with the details of how to file one
>
> Thanks
> Sharan
>
>
>
>
> --
> View this message in context: http://ofbiz.135035.n4.nabble.com/Proposal-All-Contributors-to-have-a-signed-Apache-ICLA-tp4658761.html
> Sent from the OFBiz - User mailing list archive at Nabble.com.
>

--
Ron Wheeler
President
Artifact Software Inc
email: [hidden email]
skype: ronaldmwheeler
phone: [phone], ext 102

[anahita goljahani]

Hi Sharan,

     I think this is a good point, thank you for having raised it. I have
just signed and sent my iCLA to the Apache secretary.

Anahita



2014-11-22 10:54 GMT+01:00 Sharan-F <[hidden email]>:

> Hi All
>
> I'd like to suggest that we implement a policy that all project
> contributors
> of ideas, code and documentation (so this includes people updating the
> wiki)
> to have signed Individual Contributor Licence Agreements (ICLA)
>
> *What it means?*
> Signing an ICLA means that you understand that what you have contributed
> (or
> want to contribute) is subject to the Apache Licence and that you are happy
> to do this.
>
> The ICLA is not tied to any employer you may have.
>
> Details of the Apache Licences and Contributor Licence Agreements can be
> found at the link below:
>
> http://www.apache.org/licenses/#clas <http://www.apache.org/licenses/#clas
> >
> *
> Future Contributor Process*
> The future process could be as follows:
>
> 1. Anyone requesting to become a contributor will need to have completed an
> ICLA
> 2. We will check the official list of filed ICLAs before granting
> contributor permissions (e.g. on the wiki)
>
>
> If the community is happy to implement this policy then I will
>
> 1. Take a look at our current list of wiki contributors and see if any do
> not have an ICLA on file
> 2. Contact them with the details of how to file one
>
> Thanks
> Sharan
>
>
>
>
> --
> View this message in context:
> http://ofbiz.135035.n4.nabble.com/Proposal-All-Contributors-to-have-a-signed-Apache-ICLA-tp4658761.html
> Sent from the OFBiz - User mailing list archive at Nabble.com.
>

[Sharan-F]

Hi All

As no-one has come out against this proposal - I will interpret this as a lazy consensus from the community. (Meaning you are pretty much happy for me to introduce it).

I will start implementing this new policy and also update any related documentation about becoming a contributor.

Thanks
Sharan

[Nicolas Malin-2]

I'm agree with this proposal.

The problem will be informe historical contributor.

Nicolas
Le 25/11/2014 11:23, Sharan-F a écrit :

> Hi All
>
> As no-one has come out against this proposal - I will interpret this as a
> lazy consensus from the community. (Meaning you are pretty much happy for me
> to introduce it).
>
> I will start implementing this new policy and also update any related
> documentation about becoming a contributor.
>
> Thanks
> Sharan
>
>
>
> --
> View this message in context: http://ofbiz.135035.n4.nabble.com/Proposal-All-Contributors-to-have-a-signed-Apache-ICLA-tp4658761p4658937.html
> Sent from the OFBiz - User mailing list archive at Nabble.com.

[Sharan-F]

Hi Everyone

Any contributor that doesn't have an ICLA filed with the ASF will have received an email from me requesting you to file one. Please can you take the time to complete and send the form back to the ASF. (Hopefully it shouldnt take very long!)

One thing to note that even if there is a Corporate Contributor Licence Agreement (CCLA) in place for your company, an Individual Contributor Licence Agreement (ICLA) for each developer or contributor is required too!

See below for an extract of from the Apache Licences Page (http://www.apache.org/licenses/#clas)
For a corporation that has assigned employees to work on an Apache project, a Corporate CLA (CCLA) is available for contributing intellectual property via the corporation, that may have been assigned as part of an employment agreement. Note that a Corporate CLA does not remove the need for every developer to sign their own CLA as an individual, to cover any of their contributions which are not owned by the corporation signing the CCLA.

Thanks in advance for your co-operation.
Sharan