This preamble describes how to use the standard eCos copyright assignment form. The rationale behind this assignment is to avoid any possible confusion -over the legal ownership of eCos, and to indemnify Red Hat and all eCos users +over the legal ownership of eCos, and to indemnify all eCos users against copyright or patent claims on contributed code used within eCos. -Red Hat would be especially vulnerable, but all users and their eCos based -applications could be affected.
+The copyright holders (individual maintainers, eCosCentric and Red Hat) +would be especially vulnerable, but all users and their eCos based applications +could be affected.
+ +The eCos maintainers have been in discussions with the +Free Software Foundation to arrange for eCos to become an FSF project. However +these discussions have been taking longer than anticipated, and so purely as a +temporary arrangement, eCosCentric has +offered to accept eCos copyright assignments, subject to an +explicit public guarantee that ensures that this arrangement is only temporary +until the discussions with the FSF are concluded. More details on this, including +a Q&A are available.
-The contribution will remain freely available to all.
- -This agreement gives Red Hat ownership of your changes but promises that you will +The copyright assignment agreement gives eCosCentric ownership of your changes but promises that you will retain the right to use your contributed changes as you see fit. Once this form has been signed, if you wish you may also contribute future changes without requiring a separate assignment form.
-Because employers often can claim ownership over things that employees write, -you may also have to get your employer to sign a disclaimer that says that -they have no claim to the changes you are contributing.
+The contribution will remain freely available to all.
+ +Because employers and colleges often can claim ownership over things +that employees or students write, you may also have to get your +employer/college to sign a disclaimer that says that they have no +claim to the changes you are contributing.
Please read everything, and if you have any questions, email the -eCos +eCos maintainers at <ecos-maintainers@ecos.sourceware.org> for help.
Thanks for your contribution to eCos!
-The way to assign copyright to Red Hat is to sign an assignment -contract. This is what makes Red Hat the legal copyright holder -so that Red Hat can register the copyright on the new version.
+The way to assign copyright to eCosCentric is to sign an assignment +contract. This is what makes eCosCentric the legal copyright holder +so that eCosCentric can register the copyright on the new version.
If you are employed as a programmer (even at a university), or have made an agreement with your employer or school that gives them ownership of the -software you write, then Red Hat needs a signed letter from your employer +software you write, then eCosCentric needs a signed letter from your employer disclaiming rights to the contributed software.
The disclaimer should be printed on the company's headed paper, and signed by an officer of the company, or someone authorized to license the company's intellectual property. Here is an example of wording that can be used for @@ -63,23 +74,25 @@ this purpose:
<INSERT PRINTED NAME OF OFFICER OF COMPANY> <INSERT TITLE OF OFFICER> If your employer says they do have an intellectual property claim that -could conflict with the use of the program, then please contact Red -Hat to discuss possible next steps.
+could conflict with the use of the program, then please contact +the +eCos maintainers to discuss possible next steps.
Below is the usual assignment contract. You need to edit and replace <INSERT NAME OF CONTRIBUTOR> with your full name. Please print a copy, sign, date, and mail it to:
- Legal Department (eCos Assignments)
- Red Hat, Inc.
- 1801 Varsity Drive
- Raleigh
- NC 27606-2072
- USA
+ eCos assignments
+ eCosCentric Limited
+ 47 High Street
+ West Wickham
+ CAMBRIDGE
+ CB1 6RY
+ United Kingdom
Don't forget to include the original signed copy of the employer's disclaimer.
Please try to print the whole first page of the form on a single piece of paper. If it doesn't fit on one printed page, put it on two sides of a single @@ -90,41 +103,45 @@ day/month ordering conventions.
----------------------------------- Cut Here ----------------------------------
eCos ASSIGNMENT
- For good and valuable consideration, receipt of which I acknowledge, I,
-<INSERT NAME OF CONTRIBUTOR>, hereby transfer to Red Hat, Inc.
-my entire right, title, and interest (including all rights under
-copyright) in my changes and enhancements to the eCos Operating System and
-associated software (herein called the "Software"), subject to the conditions
-below. These changes and enhancements are herein called the "Work". The Work
-also includes any future changes and enhancements to the Software hereafter
-made by me which I also hereby assign.
-
- Upon thirty days prior written notice, Red Hat agrees to grant me
-non-exclusive rights to use the Work (i.e. just my changes and enhancements,
-not eCos as a whole) as I see fit; (and Red Hat's rights shall otherwise
-continue unchanged).
-
- I hereby agree that if I have or acquire hereafter any patent or interface
-copyright or other intellectual property interest dominating the software
-enhanced by the Work (or use of that software), such dominating interest will
-not be used to undermine the effect of this assignment, i.e. Red Hat and the
-general public will be licensed to use, in that program and its derivative
-works, without royalty or limitation, the subject matter of the dominating
-interest. This license provision will be binding on my heirs, assignees, or
-other successors to the dominating interest, as well as on me.
-
- I hereby represent and warrant that I am the sole copyright holder for the
-Work and that I have the right and power to enter into this contract. I hereby
-indemnify and hold harmless Red Hat, its officers, employees, and agents
-against any and all claims, actions or damages (including attorney's
-reasonable fees) asserted by or paid to any party on account of a breach or
-alleged breach of the foregoing warranty. I make no other express or implied
-warranty (including without limitation, in this disclaimer of warranty, any
-warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE).
+ For good and valuable consideration, receipt of which I acknowledge,
+I, <INSERT NAME OF CONTRIBUTOR>, hereby transfer to eCosCentric
+Limited my entire right, title, and interest (including all rights
+under copyright) in my changes and enhancements to the eCos Operating
+System and associated software (herein called the "Software"), subject
+to the conditions below. These changes and enhancements are herein
+called the "Work". The Work also includes any future changes and
+enhancements to the Software hereafter made by me which I also hereby
+assign.
+
+ Upon thirty days prior written notice, eCosCentric Limited agrees to
+grant me non-exclusive rights to use the Work (i.e. just my changes
+and enhancements, not eCos as a whole) as I see fit; (and
+eCosCentric's rights shall otherwise continue unchanged).
+
+ I hereby agree that if I have or acquire hereafter any patent or
+interface copyright or other intellectual property interest dominating
+the software enhanced by the Work (or use of that software), such
+dominating interest will not be used to undermine the effect of this
+assignment, i.e. eCosCentric, Red Hat and the general public will be
+licensed to use, in that program and its derivative works, without
+royalty or limitation, the subject matter of the dominating
+interest. This license provision will be binding on my heirs,
+assignees, or other successors to the dominating interest, as well as
+on me.
+
+ I hereby represent and warrant that I am the sole copyright holder for
+the Work and that I have the right and power to enter into this
+contract. I hereby indemnify and hold harmless eCosCentric, its
+officers, employees, and agents against any and all claims, actions or
+damages (including attorney's reasonable fees) asserted by or paid to
+any party on account of a breach or alleged breach of the foregoing
+warranty. I make no other express or implied warranty (including
+without limitation, in this disclaimer of warranty, any warranty of
+MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE).
Agreed:
[signature]
@@ -133,11 +150,11 @@ Agreed:
Date:
[Please write using letters]
-For Red Hat:
+For eCosCentric:
Date:
Index: contrib.html
===================================================================
RCS file: /cvs/ecos/htdocs/contrib.html,v
retrieving revision 1.72
diff -u -5 -p -r1.72 contrib.html
--- contrib.html 3 Nov 2003 03:29:31 -0000 1.72
+++ contrib.html 27 Nov 2003 22:53:39 -0000
@@ -21,11 +21,11 @@ on how to contribute is contained within
The following external projects are known to the eCos maintainers. If you are
working on an eCos-based project that others could benefit from or contribute
to, please let the eCos maintainers
know and it will be added to this page. Sources are provided as is and are
-not supported by Red Hat at this time.
+not supported at this time.
OpenSSL
Index: patches-assignment.html
===================================================================
RCS file: /cvs/ecos/htdocs/patches-assignment.html,v
retrieving revision 1.1
diff -u -5 -p -r1.1 patches-assignment.html
--- patches-assignment.html 2 Sep 2003 08:09:09 -0000 1.1
+++ patches-assignment.html 27 Nov 2003 22:53:39 -0000
@@ -8,23 +8,26 @@
Assigning copyright
Revision 1.0
Any patch greater than a few lines (around 10 as a general rule)
-needs to be accompanied by an assignment of copyright to Red Hat.
+needs to be accompanied by an assignment of copyright to eCosCentric
+Limited. This is a temporary
+arrangement while discussions with the Free Software Foundation are still
+ongoing concerning the adoption of eCos as an FSF project.
The rationale behind this assignment is to avoid any
possible confusion over the legal ownership of eCos, and to ensure
that the contributor's employer assents to the work being
contributed. It also allows the the copyright to be vested centrally
so that eCos's license may be enforced - something which only
copyright holders may do. If there are multiple authors of a
copyrighted work, successful enforcement depends on having the
cooperation of all authors.
-Generally two documents are required to be posted to Red Hat. One
+
Generally two documents are required to be posted to eCosCentric. One
is the copyright assignment itself, and the other is a disclaimer of any
work-for-hire ownership claims by the contributor's employer - many
employment contracts include clauses that automatically assign all work
by employees to the employer.
@@ -33,16 +36,16 @@ necessary. If it is, then go to and follow the instructions there. Once you have
one assignment, you are covered for all future patches, so you only
need to do this once.
If an assignment is needed it is best to get the process moving
-as soon as possible; Red Hat may take a while to process
-it. It is probably best to send the assignment forms off as soon as
+as soon as possible; eCosCentric may take a while to receive and
+process it. It is probably best to send the assignment forms off as soon as
you know what new or changed files the patch incorporates. The maintainers
will be notified independently when the assignment has been
processed. Patches will not be applied to the development repository
-until Red Hat confirms the assignment.
+until eCosCentric confirms the assignment.
If your employer does not consent to the disclaimer, or you do not hold
copyright for all the contributed code, then a copyright assignment is not
possible. In that case, provided the license for the code permits
redistribution (which may also required your employer's consent if