Licensed software acceptance procedure

Owned by Bill Branan
Last updated: Feb 21, 2022 by Heather Greer Klein
3 min read

Samvera has provision for accepting code created by third-parties into the Samvera distribution. Ā Such acceptance requires that we exercise due diligence over the quality of the code and the provider's right to offer it. Ā The stages below outline our acceptance procedure.

  1. Third party offers us the code for inclusion in Samvera / the Samvera distribution - usually via by Section B of a Samvera CLA or an email request that the code be incorporated by the project.

  2. If the offer comes from a third party that does not have a Samvera CLA to which it can be attached, they should complete one. Otherwise, we will need to ensure that the email exchanges to go on file have adequate content to define the licensing terms.

  3. If the code is not already well known to us, it should be examined and approved by one or more Samvera committers.

  4. Check with the third-party that they have the rights to offer us the code for further distribution. A Samvera CLA would declare such and require no further action.

  5. Consider the offer of the software; consult with Samvera Partners. Use the Apache model of consensus-based decision making for this, with a round of +1 / +0 Ā / -1 voting from Partners--and the motion being considered to carry with at least 3 +1's and no -1's. Hold the vote open for at least 3 (and comfortably 5) days.

  6. If 2, 3, 4 and 5 complete successfully, the Community Manager will contact the third party to accept the software on behalf of Samvera.Ā 

  7. As necessary, file offer, acceptance and any supplementary material as for other Samvera legal documents;Ā 

    1. emailĀ legal@samvera.orgĀ with the final copy of the offer, vetting and acceptance.Ā 

    2. The Community Manager will put a copy of the email should also go into the project's files.

    3. The Community Manager will register the acceptance at theĀ  Licensed software

  8. Request that the donor(s) or arrange for a Samvera committer to...

    1. copy the code into the Samvera github project in its own repository

    2. ensure the code carries the standard Code Copyright StatementĀ 


Relevant iCLA Text


Relevant iCLA paragraphs

4. You represent that you are legally entitled to grant the above license. [rest of paragraph omitted]

5. You represent that each of Your Contributions is Your original creation (see section 7 for submissionson behalf of others). You represent that Your Contribution submissions include complete details of any third-party license or other restriction (including, but not limited to, related patents and trademarks) of which you are personally aware and which are associated with any part of Your Contributions.

6. You are not expected to provide support for Your Contributions, except to the extent You desire to provide support. You may provide support for free, for a fee, or not at all. Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, You provide Your Contributions on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied, including, without limitation, any warranties or conditions of TITLE, NON- INFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY, or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

7. Should You wish to submit work that is not Your original creation, You may submit it to the Community separately from any Contribution, identifying the complete details of its source and of any license or other restriction (including, but not limited to, related patents, trademarks, and license agreements) of which you are personally aware, and conspicuously marking the work as "Submitted on behalf of a third-party: [named here]".

8. You agree to notify the Community of any facts or circumstances of which you become aware that would make these representations inaccurate in any respect.