EasyCLA FAQs

Who do I contact to enable my Linux Foundation-hosted project to use EasyCLA?

Submit the form describing your requirements, and import your existing CLAs.

Why does The Linux Foundation ask contributors of some projects to sign CLAs?

Some project communities have elected to use CLAs as a required step for code contributions. The Linux Foundation wants to ensure that contributions comply with the IP (Intellectual Property) policies of that project.

What is the difference between Corporate CLA and Individual CLA?

A Corporate CLA needs to be in place if you are contributing code on behalf of your employer. A Corporate CLA should be signed by an individual who is authorized to enter into legal agreement on behalf of the company. After the Corporate CLA is signed, your email address needs to be included in an approved list for the project. A CCLA manager for your company is responsible for managing the approved list.

An Individual CLA is signed by an individual for contributions that they contribute on their own behalf, as opposed to contributions on behalf of their employer or another entity.

Which Corporate CLA approved-list option has the lowest maintenance overhead?

Using the Domain Approval Criteria requires less overhead because CCLA signatories and CCLA managers do not need to add and manage numerous employee email addresses.

I contribute to an open source project as an employee for a company. Do I need to complete, sign, and submit a DocuSign document?

Probably not. If your company's CCLA signatory has signed a Corporate CLA, and if you are included in the approved list under that company's CLA, then you simply confirm your association to the company during your code submission process.

However, if you are the first one from your company to contribute to a project, then your company's CCLA signatory will need to sign a Corporate CLA as part of the EasyCLA setup process. Depending on the company, you might be an authorized CCLA signatory (please check with legal counsel of your company to be sure).

Otherwise, if your company has already signed a Corporate CLA, but you are not yet on your company's approved list, then you must be included in the approved list by your company's CCLA manager as part of the EasyCLA process.

What should I do if my company is not listed while signing CLA?

You must create a company as described here.

If my project community has elected to use CLAs as a required step for contributions to their code, do I need to be authorized under a CLA for each project to which I contribute?

Yes, provided that the project has a CLA.

• If you are contributing as an individual—you must sign an Individual CLA for each project to which you contribute.

• If you are contributing as an employee of a company, your company's CCLA signatory must sign a Corporate CLA.

Do I have to sign a CLA every time I contribute code?

Signing a CLA for a project covers all code contributions to that project. You may, however, need to sign additional CLAs if you choose to contribute to other projects that require CLAs.

What is the acceptable email format?

A valid email address with an email prefix and an email domain, for example [e-mail]

The allowed characters for email prefix are letters (a-z), numbers, underscores, periods, and dashes, and an underscore, period, or dash must be followed by one or more letter or number, for example: [e-mail]/[e-mail]/[e-mail]/[e-mail]

The allowed characters for email domain are letters, numbers, dashes, and the last portion of the domain must be at least two characters, for example: .com, .org, .cc