Contributor Agreements
- Contributor License Agreement
- Why is WinSCP requiring Contributor License Agreements?
- Further Reading
Contributor License Agreement
WinSCP has adapted the contributor agreement of the Apache Software Foundation.
WinSCP requires that all project contributors complete a Contributor License Agreement (CLA). The CLA clearly defines the terms under which intellectual property is being contributed.
In all cases, contributors retain full rights to use their original contributions for any other purpose, while providing WinSCP and its projects the right to distribute and extend their contributed work.
Individuals must accept Individual Contributor License Agreement (ICLA) with Martin Prikryl, WinSCP author, before any significant contributions will be accepted and before commit privileges will be granted on WinSCP projects.
Why is WinSCP requiring Contributor License Agreements?
The main reason for requiring CLAs is to provide proper legal protection to the contributors and the users. CLAs protect contributors by explicitly making it clear what the terms and conditions are for properly contributing to a project, thereby avoiding any confusion or misunderstandings between the contributor, the project, and the community. CLAs protect WinSCP users by ensuring that the contributions that make up the project are legitimately and appropriate licensed all the way from the contributor to the user. Furthermore, CLAs give WinSCP better legal standing to defend against violations of the project license, providing protection for both contributors and users.