Changes

Contribution agreements are one area where we can look to get an idea of standard practices among larger foundations and FOSS projects. Essentially, the client is the foundation, and the developer may be an individual or a member of a corporation. The OpenID Foundation (OIDF) develops specifications, so it's a good example of where standards development and software development meet. There is a [http://openid.net/executed-contribution-agreements/ long list of contributors to the OpenID Foundation]. The OIDF has both a formal Process to develop their specifications, as well as an <abbr title="Intellectual Property Rights">IPR</abbr> Policy <ref>http://openid.net/ipr/OpenID_IPR_Policy_(Final_Clean_20071221).pdf</ref>. The Policy classifies contributors as "unaffiliated" (an individual), "affiliated" (anyone who work for a company), and "representative" (third-party).  Here is the language in section 5.1 of the IPR:<blockquote>Copyright License. Some Contributions may not be subject to copyright. To the extent, however, that a Contribution is or may be subject to copyright, the Contributor hereby grants a perpetual, irrevocable (except in case of breach of this license), non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide license in such copyright to the OpenID Foundation, to other Contributors, and to Implementers, to reproduce, prepare derivative works from, distribute, perform, and display the Contribution and derivative works thereof solely for purposes of developing draft Specifications and implementing Implementers Drafts and Final Specifications</blockquote> Section 6 of the IPR addresses patents, with essentially a promise not to assert. Here are some others to look at.