The Kuali Foundation requires that all contributors sign and submit a Contributor License Agreement (CLA). In those cases where a contributor is employed by an organization such as a company or university, a Corporate Contributor License Agreement (CCLA) is also required. A CCLA may be submitted on behalf of all contributing members of that organization. This page documents the license agreement process.

Contents

1. Contributor License Agreement (CLA)

Individual contributors are required to have a CLA on file before access to the Kuali OLE collaboration resources (Confluence, Subversion, GitHub, etc.) is granted. The following process is used:

The contributor downloads the Contributor License Agreement, prints it, and signs it.
The contributor scans the signed copy and emails it to ole.admin@kuali.org.

If no scanner is available, the contributor needs to mail the signed hard copy to the address on the CLA.
Kuali OLE Operations Manager receives the signed hard copy and scans it, if no scan was made.

Kuali OLE Project Manager reviews the scanned CLA and approves it. Follow up by email if needed.
Kuali OLE Operations Manager posts the scanned copy of CLA to Google Docs.
Kuali OLE Operations Manager registers the contributor in Google Docs Spreadsheet.

2. Corporate Contributor License Agreement (CCLA)

Often, multiple people will contribute to a Kuali project that all work for the same organizations. In such cases, a single Corporate Contributor License Agreement (CCLA) may be submitted on behalf of a named list of contributors in that organizations. Three situations are described below: a new organizations, adding a contributor, updating the list of contributors.

2.1 New Organization

New organizations joining Kuali OLE should submit a CCLA on behalf of people they employ who will be contributing to the Kuali OLE project. The following process is used to submit and process a CCLA:

An authorized representative of the organization downloads the Corporate Contributor License Agreement.
The terms of the CCLA are reviewed by the organization using legal guidance, if necessary.
An authorized representative of the organization signs a printed hard copy of the CCLA.
The authorized representative scans the signed copy and emails it to ole.admin@kuali.org.

If no scanner is available, the authorized representative mails the signed hard copy to the address on the CCLA.
Kuali OLE operations Manager receives the signed hard copy and scans it if no scan was made.

Kuali OLE Project Manager reviews the CCLA for errors or problems. Follows up by email if needed.
Kuali OLE Operations Manager verifies that the organization has completed the joining process (dues paid, etc.) with the Kuali Executive Director.
Kuali OLE Operations Manager posts the scanned copy of CCLA to Google Docs.
Kuali OLE Operations Manager registers the contributor(s) in Google Docs Spreadsheet.

2.2 Adding a Contributor

Two situations arise when adding a new contributor to an existing CCLA. If the request comes from an individual, his employment with the registered organizations is verified by the Kuali OLE Operations Manager with the authorized representative on record. If the request comes from the representative, it is assumed to be valid.

Kuali OLE Operations Manager checks to see if the requested new contributor already has an account.

In the case of a change in employment, the contributor is removed from the old CCLA and added to the new one.

Kuali OLE Operations Manager updates the Schedule A of the CCLA for this organization.
Kuali OLE Operations Manager registers the contributor in Google Docs Spreadsheet.

2.3 Updating the List of Contributors

Over time, people come and go from a company or university department. For legal reasons, it is necessary to keep the Schedule A document associated with a CCLA up to date. As such, organizations that use a Kuali CCLA will be asked to review the list of contributors documented in Schedule A and produce a list of new contributors to add and a list of contributors to remove. The CCLA update process is:

Kuali OLE Operations Manager sends a notice to all active registered organizations with a CCLA asking them to update their list of contributors.
Kuali OLE Operations Manager receives the update notice by email.
Kuali OLE Operations Manager adds new contributors using the process described above.
Kuali OLE Operations Manager removes inactive contributors using the following process:

The inactive contributor is removed from all Kuali OLE access groups and from the Google Docs spreadsheet.

In the event of non-response to the update request, a message is sent to the Kuali OLE Managing Director for further action.

3. Additional Information

When is a CLA/CCLA REQUIRED for “contributions” to a Kuali product?

A Contributor License Agreement (as the name suggests), is required for any contribution for a Kuali product, if it is not covered by some other agreement.

If an OLE user writes about an interesting new extension to OLE on the Kuali Confluence site, this does NOT require a CLA, because submissions to the wiki are covered by a Creative Commons agreement. All code changes, regardless of how they are made (patches, source file changes, etc.) require a CLA/CCLA. Ideas suggested in email or list exchanges should be carefully considered, especially if any code or pseudo code is included in the email. If the suggestion is used, it is best to get a CLA/CCLA.

If I am a developer and I am attaching a “patch” that may, or may not be harvested by the product team do I and my institution need a CLA/CCLA?

A CLA/CCLA is needed from the original author of the patch. It is new intellectual property and rights must be transferred via the CLA/CCLA. This is true even if another developer applies the patch to source code. It is best to be on the safe side of these matters. Yeah, it's a bit tiresome, but once the CLA/CCLA is on record, no further work is needed unless the contributor changes employment.

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