[LightDM] Question about Copyright Assignment

[Jason Warner]

Hi Brian -

Canonical has asked Robert to put LigthDM under the new Harmony
Contributor License Agreement  (CLA). I will be contacting past
contributors to LightDM to gauge interest in signing the Contributor
License Agreement for future contribution.

"With the contributor agreement chosen by Canonical, the Harmony CLA,
the contributor gives Canonical a licence to use their contributions.
The contributor continues to own the copyright in the contribution,
with full rights to re-use, re-distribute, and continue modifying the
contributed code, allowing them to also share that contribution with
other projects."

For more specifics on the license, here is the Canonical link:
http://www.canonical.com/contributors


There is also a FAQ (http://www.canonical.com/contributors/faq ) for
questions, though I think two are worth highlighting.


   1.

   *

   What’s different between the new contributor agreement and the old one?*

   One difference between the two is that the old agreement was a
copyright assignment agreement (where the contributor granted
ownership of the contribution to Canonical), while the new one is a
copyright license agreement (where the contributor grants permission
for Canonical to distribute the contribution). One new element is a
promise back to the contributor to release their contribution under
the license in place when they made the contribution. The new
agreement also features some refinements in the language around
software patents and in how the contributor disclaims warranties.
   2.

   *Who owns the copyright?*

   The existing contribution owner continues to own their copyright.
This is usually yourself, or your employer. Section 2.1(a) states the
following:

   “You retain ownership of the Copyright in Your Contribution and
have the same rights to use or license the Contribution which You
would have had without entering into the Agreement.”

   3.

Thanks,

  Jason


=============Original email==============================

Has a decision been made regarding whether LightDM requires a
contributor agreement like the following to participate in the
project?

   http://harmonyagreements.org/

Considering that LightDM is a FreeDesktop project intended for wide use
across different desktops and distros, I hope there would be an
avoidance of things that would be a barrier for participation.  It
would, for example, make it more complicated for me to participate.

Brian
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