content/en_ecafaq.php

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/**
 * Copyright (c) 2016, 2018 Eclipse Foundation and others.
 *
 * This program and the accompanying materials are made
 * available under the terms of the Eclipse Public License 2.0
 * which is available at https://www.eclipse.org/legal/epl-2.0/
 *
 * Contributors:
 * Mike Milinkovich (Eclipse Foundation) - Initial implementation
 * Christopher Guindon (Eclipse Foundation)
 * Eric Poirier (Eclipse Foundation)
 *
 * SPDX-License-Identifier: EPL-2.0
 */
?>
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  <p>Last updated August 10, 2016</p>
  <p>
    The <a href="ECA.php">Eclipse Contributor Agreement</a> (ECA) is a key
    document in the process of managing intellectual property contributions to
    Eclipse projects. This FAQ is intended to help explain what they are, and
    how they are used.
  </p>
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          <a role="button" data-toggle="collapse" data-parent="#accordion"
            href="#collapseOne" aria-expanded="true" aria-controls="collapseOne"
          > 1. What does the ECA do? </a>
        </h4>
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      <div id="collapseOne" class="panel-collapse collapse in" role="tabpanel"
        aria-labelledby="headingOne"
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        <div class="panel-body">The purpose of the ECA is to provide a written
          record that you have agreed to provide your contributions of code and
          documentation under the licenses used by the Eclipse project(s) you're
          contributing to. It also makes it clear that you are promising that
          what you are contributing to Eclipse is code that you wrote, and you
          have the necessary rights to contribute it to our projects. And
          finally, it documents a commitment from you that your open source
          contributions will be permanently on the public record.</div>
      </div>
    </div>
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          <a class="collapsed" role="button" data-toggle="collapse"
            data-parent="#accordion" href="#collapseTwo" aria-expanded="false"
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          > 2. Why is a ECA necessary? </a>
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        aria-labelledby="headingTwo"
      >
        <div class="panel-body">It's basically about documenting the provenance
          of all of the intellectual property coming into Eclipse. We want to
          have a clear record that you have agreed to the terms under which the
          Eclipse community has agreed to accept contributions.</div>
      </div>
    </div>
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          <a class="collapsed" role="button" data-toggle="collapse"
            data-parent="#accordion" href="#collapseThree" aria-expanded="false"
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          > 3. Does this means that the Eclipse Foundation will own my code? </a>
        </h4>
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        aria-labelledby="headingThree"
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        <div class="panel-body">No. The ECA does not include a license or
          assignment to the Eclipse Foundation. Unlike many other open source
          communities or projects, Eclipse simply wants you to license your
          contributions under the open source license(s) used by the project. So
          you (or your employer) will continue to own your code.</div>
      </div>
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          <a class="collapsed" role="button" data-toggle="collapse"
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          > 4. Why do you need to know my personal information? </a>
        </h4>
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        aria-labelledby="headingFour"
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        <div class="panel-body">As part of our open source project
          recordkeeping, we want to be able to link every line of code to the
          people who contributed them. In the unlikely event of a dispute over
          authorship or copyright provenance, Eclipse needs to be able to
          demonstrate when the code arrived at Eclipse, how we acquired the
          rights to that code, and who wrote it</div>
      </div>
    </div>
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        <h4 class="panel-title">
          <a class="collapsed" role="button" data-toggle="collapse"
            data-parent="#accordion" href="#collapseFive" aria-expanded="false"
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          > 5. How long is the ECA good for? </a>
        </h4>
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        aria-labelledby="headingFive"
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        <div class="panel-body">The ECA is good for three years, after which it
          will be expired and you will be asked to complete a new one. However,
          if your personal information changes (e.g. your address or your
          employer), we ask that you invalidate your current ECA and complete a
          new one.</div>
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    </div>
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          > 6. Does the ECA replace my committer agreement? </a>
        </h4>
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        <div class="panel-body">No. Your Committer Agreement is the agreement
          that allows you to have write access to the Eclipse Foundation source
          code repositories. The ECA is intended for people who are not
          committers who wish to make contributions to Eclipse projects.</div>
      </div>
    </div>
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          <a class="collapsed" role="button" data-toggle="collapse"
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          > 7. I am an Eclipse committer. Do I need to sign a ECA? </a>
        </h4>
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        <div class="panel-body">
          Maybe. You do not need to sign a ECA to work on the projects for which
          you are a committer. However, if you want to make contributions to an
          Eclipse project for which you are <strong>not</strong> a committer,
          you will need a ECA.
        </div>
      </div>
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          > 8. What happens if I don't sign the ECA? </a>
        </h4>
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        <div class="panel-body">Nothing, except you won't be allowed to
          contribute to open source projects at Eclipse</div>
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          > 9. Eclipse has been around a long time. Why are you doing ECAs now?
          </a>
        </h4>
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        aria-labelledby="headingNine"
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        <div class="panel-body">We want to make it easier for you to contribute
          to Eclipse projects. Previously, we have been asking contributors to
          agree to the equivalent of the ECA via Bugzilla or Gerrit on each and
          every contribution. Moving to ECAs is intended to streamline that
          process, and make it easier for contributions to be accepted by
          Eclipse projects.</div>
      </div>
    </div>
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          > 10. How do I sign a ECA? </a>
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        <div class="panel-body">
          Log into the <a href="http://www.eclipse.org/contribute/cla">Eclipse
            projects forge</a> (you will need to create an account with the
          Eclipse Foundation if you have not already done so); click on "Eclipse
          Contributor Agreement"; and Complete the form. Be sure to use the same
          email address when you register for the account that you intend to use
          on Git commit records.
        </div>
      </div>
    </div>
  </div>
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