| <h1 id="new-eclipse-foundation-committer-and-contributor-agreements">New |
| Eclipse Foundation Committer and Contributor Agreements FAQ</h1> |
| |
| <p>As most are aware, the Eclipse Foundation is now about to start |
| hosting specifications as open source projects. This is very exciting |
| for us, and we think it represents a new opportunity for creating |
| innovative specifications using a vendor neutral process. The first |
| specification projects will be a part of the Jakarta EE initiative, but |
| we expect other specification projects to follow shortly.</p> |
| <p>As a result, we have updated our standard contributor and |
| committer agreements, and all our committers and contributors, as well |
| as those members who have member committer agreements, will need to |
| re-sign their agreement with us.</p> |
| <h2 id="what-agreements-have-changed">What Agreements have Changed?</h2> |
| <ol> |
| <li><a href="https://www.eclipse.org/legal/ECA.php">Eclipse |
| Contributor Agreement</a> (ECA);</li> |
| <li><a |
| href="https://www.eclipse.org/legal/committer_process/EclipseIndividualCommitterAgreementFinal.pdf">Eclipse |
| Individual Committer Agreement</a> (ICA); and</li> |
| <li><a |
| href="https://www.eclipse.org/legal/EclipseMemberCommitterAgreementFinal.pdf">Eclipse |
| Member Committer and Contributor Agreement</a> (MCCA) (Formally <em>Member Committer Agreement</em>).</li> |
| </ol> |
| <h2 id="what-changes-were-made-to-the-agreements">What Changes were |
| made to the Agreements?</h2> |
| <p>The changes to the Agreements are basically:</p> |
| <ol> |
| <li>We added terms to explicitly allow code contributions to |
| Eclipse projects to be used as the basis for specifications. As you |
| may know, the Eclipse Foundation has created a new specification |
| process, largely motivated by the migration of the Java EE |
| specifications from Oracle's Java Community Process (JCP) to the |
| Eclipse Foundation.</li> |
| <li>We added terms to the committer agreements which embed what is |
| covered by the Eclipse Contributor Agreement (ECA). So now committers |
| only have to sign or be covered by one document. This reduces the |
| amount of paperwork required from committers, and eliminates the |
| requirement for employees of member companies with an MCCA to |
| individually sign an ECA.</li> |
| </ol> |
| <p>The links below provide redlined PDFs showing the differences |
| between the previous version of the agreements, and the revisions |
| announced on November 5, 2018. We encourage you to review these with |
| your advisors.</p> |
| <ol> |
| <li><a |
| href="2018-09-26-final-eclipse-contributor-agreement-redline.pdf">Eclipse |
| Contributor Agreement</a> (annotated);</li> |
| <li><a |
| href="2018-10-22-final-individual-committer-agreement-redline.pdf">Individual |
| Committer Agreement</a> (annotated); and</li> |
| <li><a |
| href="2018-11-05-final-member-committer-and-contributor-agreement-redline.pdf">Member |
| Committer and Contributor Agreement</a> (annotated).</li> |
| </ol> |
| <h2 id="how-does-this-re-signing-exercise-affect-me">How does this |
| Re-signing Exercise affect me?</h2> |
| <p>If you are an existing Eclipse Committer or Contributor, staff |
| will be reaching out personally to you in the future requesting you |
| update your agreement.</p> |
| <p>Please note that this effort will take a number of months to |
| complete as this involves hundreds of agreements. We are committed to |
| make this update happen in as smooth a fashion as possible and to have |
| virtually no disruption to the flow of contributions being made. We are |
| hopeful that you will be supportive of the change, and will react |
| quickly and favorably when we do contact you.</p> |
| <h2 |
| id="does-my-employer-still-need-to-complete-the-eclipse-employer-consent-form">Does |
| my employer still need to complete the Eclipse Employer Consent Form?</h2> |
| <p>No, the Eclipse Employer Consent Form is no longer a requirement |
| as that obligation has now been incorporated into the Individual |
| Committer Agreement (see Section 1.4 Committer Representations)</p> |
| <h2 id="what-is-the-difference-between-an-ica-the-mcca-and-the-eca">What |
| is the difference between an ICA, the MCCA and the ECA?</h2> |
| <p>The Eclipse Individual Committer Agreement (ICA) is required by |
| Eclipse Committers who are not employed by an Eclipse Member which has |
| a Member Committer and Contributor Agreement on file.</p> |
| <p>The Eclipse Member Committer and Contributor Agreement (MCCA) can |
| be signed only by Eclipse Members. This agreement covers all |
| employees/contractors/contributors employed by said Member.</p> |
| <p>The Eclipse Contributor Agreement (ECA) is required by all other |
| non Eclipse Committers in order to contribute to Eclipse projects.</p> |
| <h2 |
| id="the-member-committer-agreement-is-now-the-member-committer-and-contributor-agreement.-why-the-change">The |
| Member Committer Agreement is now the Member Committer and Contributor |
| Agreement. Why the change?</h2> |
| <p>This agreement has been updated to include not only those |
| committers in a Member’s employ, but contributors as well. We leveraged |
| this opportunity to incorporate this feature into the former Member |
| Committer Agreement. We plan on providing quarterly updates to members |
| identifying those covered under this agreement.</p> |
| <h2 |
| id="do-i-need-to-re-sign-the-eca-if-ive-already-signed-the-updated-ica">Do |
| I need to re-sign the ECA if I’ve already signed the updated ICA?</h2> |
| <p>By re-signing the Individual Committer Agreement (dated Oct/18), |
| you will no longer be required to sign the Eclipse Contributor |
| Agreement.</p> |
| <h2 |
| id="how-do-i-know-if-i-am-already-covered-by-a-member-committer-agreement">How |
| do I know if I am already covered by a Member Committer Agreement?</h2> |
| <p> |
| Your Eclipse Company Representative should know the answer to this |
| question. If they do not or there is uncertainty, please email <a |
| href="mailto:emo-records@eclipse.org">emo-records@eclipse.org</a> |
| requesting this information. |
| </p> |
| <h2 id="how-do-i-re-sign-my-agreement">How do I Re-sign my |
| Agreement?</h2> |
| <p>You will receive a personal email providing you with instructions |
| on how to complete the revised agreement.</p> |
| <h2 |
| id="i-am-a-committer-employed-by-a-member-company---do-i-have-to-do-anything">I |
| am a Committer employed by a Member Company - Do I have to do anything? |
| </h2> |
| <p>If your employer is an Eclipse Member with a Member Committer |
| Agreement on file, we will be working with those Members to arrange for |
| them to sign the updated agreement. You will receive email |
| communication identifying when your employer has signed the new |
| agreement and will confirm you do not need do anything else.</p> |
| <p>If your employer is an Eclipse Member which does not have a |
| Member Committer Agreement on file, they will have the opportunity to |
| sign the new agreement. However, at this time, we would ask you to |
| re-sign the Individual Committer Agreement only. Please note the Eclipse |
| Employer Consent Form is no longer a requirement.</p> |
| <h2 id="how-will-i-know-if-i-re-signed-successfully">How will I |
| know if I Re-signed Successfully?</h2> |
| <p>You will receive a copy of the executed agreement via email. If |
| you re-signed the ECA, when you log into eclipse.accounts.org, the |
| system will indicate you have signed The Eclipse Contributor Agreement |
| version 3.0.0.</p> |
| <h2 id="are-there-any-legal-obligations-requiring-me-to-resign">Are |
| there any legal obligations requiring me to re-sign?</h2> |
| <p>No, there are no legal obligations requiring you to re-sign.</p> |
| <h2 id="what-happens-if-i-do-not-resign-my-committer-agreement">What |
| Happens If I do not Re-sign My Committer Agreement?</h2> |
| <p>Unfortunately, Individual Committers who do not re-sign will have |
| their committer accounts revoked at the end of the exercise.</p> |
| <h2 id="what-happens-if-i-do-not-resign-my-contributor-agreement">What |
| Happens If I do not Re-sign My Contributor Agreement?</h2> |
| <p>Unfortunately, Eclipse Contributors will lose their ability to |
| contribute to Eclipse projects.</p> |
| <h2 id="how-can-i-opt-out-of-this-re-signing-exercise">How can I |
| opt out of this Re-signing Exercise?</h2> |
| <p> |
| Should you decide to opt out, you must relinquish your |
| committer/contributor status. To opt out, send an email to <a |
| href="mailto:emo-records@eclipse.org">emo-records@eclipse.org</a>. |
| </p> |
| <h2 |
| id="i-believe-my-employer-information-is-incorrect-in-your-systems.-what-do-i-do">I |
| believe my Employer Information is incorrect in your systems. What do I |
| do?</h2> |
| <p> |
| Please log into <a href="https://accounts.eclipse.org/">accounts.eclipse.org</a> |
| and update your employer information. It is your responsibility as a |
| committer to ensure we have accurate employer information and the |
| necessary legal paperwork on file to cover your committer account. |
| </p> |
| <h2 id="i-have-questions-not-listed-here-who-do-i-contact">I have |
| questions not listed here, who do I contact?</h2> |
| <p> |
| Please send an email to <a href="mailto:license@eclipse.org">license@eclipse.org</a> |
| </p> |