Re: Contributor Clauses in Licenses

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I suppose it depends on the text.

For example: https://opensource.org/license/ecl-2-0

(you need to read both definition of Contribution and Sec. 5).

[note it does reference the copyright holder, so presumably would only 
cover copyrightable contributions, but if they aren't copyrightable, as 
you note, you don't need permission to use them]

On 12/8/2025 4:31 PM, Pamela Chestek wrote:
> I don't know if your comment was directed at something Josh said or 
> what I said, but I don't see an inbound=outbound statement in the 
> license as stating "here are the conditions upon which my 
> contributions to the software are accepted," I understand it to be 
> "here is the license I am granting to you to use this contribution" 
> (which isn't one of your options).
>
> Pam
>
> Pamela S. Chestek
> Chestek Legal
> 4641 Post St.
> Unit 4316
> El Dorado Hills, CA 95762
> +1 919-800-8033
> [email protected]
> www.chesteklegal.com
>
> On 12/8/2025 4:25 PM, McCoy Smith wrote:
>> I'm not seeing why there is a difference between a document that says 
>> "here are the conditions upon which any contributions to the software 
>> are accepted" and a document that says "here are the conditions upon 
>> which the software is licensed, and here are also the conditions upon 
>> which any contributions to the software are accepted."
>>
>> If you're concern is manifestation of assent, the act of submitting a 
>> contribution and requesting it be accepted would be the manifestation.
>>
>> On 12/8/2025 4:06 PM, Josh Berkus wrote:
>>> On 12/8/25 3:43 PM, Pamela Chestek wrote:
>>>> As to Josh's comment "No text contained within the license can 
>>>> enforce that my PR is under that license," I disagree. When I 
>>>> created my contribution I necessarily accepted the terms of the 
>>>> outbound license, or at least I am hard-pressed to think of a way 
>>>> that someone made a contribution that matters but would not have 
>>>> taken an action that requires acceptance of the license.
>>>
>>> I can think of lots of ways to make a meaningful contribution 
>>> without having either run or redistributed the software:
>>>
>>> - Someone contributing grammar corrections to the docs or website 
>>> without using the software
>>>
>>> - Someone offering to naturalize the documentation based on a 
>>> translation framework, which also doesn't require using the software
>>>
>>> - Someone building a code contribution based on a differently 
>>> licensed version of the same software (if, for example, it's 
>>> available under a proprietary license as well)
>>>
>>> - Someone submitting 3rd-party dependency version updates without 
>>> running the software (like, for example, DependaBot does, and humans 
>>> do this as well).
>>>
>>> - A graphics designer submitting a change to graphics or UI design 
>>> created entirely with design programs.
>>>
>>> I'm sure there's other situations I haven't thought of.  Are most 
>>> contributions based on the contributor having first downloaded and 
>>> run the software under the license?  Sure.  But definitely not all 
>>> of them.
>>>
>>
>>
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>
>
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