| //Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); |
| //you may not use this file except in compliance with the License. |
| //You may obtain a copy of the License at |
| // |
| //http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0 |
| // |
| //Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software |
| //distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, |
| //WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. |
| //See the License for the specific language governing permissions and |
| //limitations under the License. |
| = Podling IP Clearance |
| Apache Incubator PMC |
| 2002-10-16 |
| :jbake-type: guide |
| :jbake-status: published |
| :idprefix: |
| :toc: |
| :imagesdir: ../images/ |
| |
| == Podling IP Clearance |
| |
| === Background |
| |
| Podlings need to import existing codebases through the standard IP clearance |
| process. This means that all copyright owners need to submit a Software Grant Agreement |
| (link:http://www.apache.org/licenses/#grants[SGA]) |
| or Contributor License Agreement |
| (link:http://www.apache.org/licenses/#clas[CLA]). This process may take a while so it is best to |
| start as soon as the Incubator accepts the podling. |
| |
| The IPMC (Incubator Product Management Committee) approves the initial codebase as part of the acceptance motion. So, no vote is required by the |
| PPMC. Otherwise, follow the standard IP clearance process for podlings. |
| |
| === Establishing Provenance |
| |
| The podling needs to submit paperwork to Apache that grants a legal license on the code |
| to the Apache Software Foundation. |
| Generally, if all the material contributors to the code |
| are joining the podling as initial contributors, then CLAs (individual or corporate) |
| are all you need. The individuals must submit the 'individual' CLA (ICLA). |
| If there are employers involved who might claim |
| rights in the code, they need to provide corporate CLAs (CCLAs). |
| |
| If, on the other hand, there are material contributors who are *not* |
| joining the podling as initial contributors, or if there |
| are additional corporate entities who can claim rights in the code, |
| the podling must obtain SGAs from those individuals or corporations. |
| |
| The foregoing is only a summary. The mentors of a new project |
| will need to consult with general@incubator.apache.org or the Apache legal team |
| about the circumstances of a specific podling. |
| |
| It may take some time to track down all contributors. It is not necessary to |
| have paperwork on file for all contributions before importing the code. |
| It may be necessary to reverse some patches and rewrite areas of code if you cannot find copyright owners, or they are not happy about giving Apache written |
| permission to use their code. |
| |
| No releases are possible until the podling has clearly established the provenance of all the code to be released and the relevant paperwork ahs been filed with Apache. It is |
| therefore important to keep the status updated. |
| |
| The ASF Secretary records receipt of ICLAs, CCLAs, and SGAs in |
| the private foundation repository. Reading is restricted to members and officers |
| of the foundation. If there is no officer or member available to check whether the secretary has received all relevant documents, ask for help on the |
| general list. |
| |
| === IPMC Responsibility around IP Clearance |
| |
| The board has charged the Incubator project with management of IP clearance for Apache. |
| Instructions are link:http://incubator.apache.org/ip-clearance/index.html[here]. |
| |
| These instructions also apply to podlings. The Incubator project is responsible for all podlings |
| and so is the receiving PMC. So, when a podling requests IP clearance, the |
| IPMC wears link:http://www.apache.org/foundation/how-it-works.html#hats[two hats]. |
| This may be a little confusing at first. |
| |
| The Incubator PMC must approve the clearance. This indicates that the project is |
| happy to receive the code donated. When a new podling is created, the IPMC approves the clearance of existing codebases identified in the proposal. Otherwise, the |
| IPMC delegates this decision to the PPMC. |
| |
| As usual, three binding votes are required. Mentors need to be involved in |
| IP clearance for podlings. If too few binding VOTEs are posted on the list, |
| the VOTE will need to be posted to the general list for ratification. |
| |
| The second hat is technical IP clearance. Here, the IPMC needs to check that the |
| paperwork is in order. Once the IPMC approves the acceptance vote, an officer |
| or member need to complete the process. For a podling, this will typically |
| involve a Mentor. |