Contributor License Agreement

The ACP project requires contributors to sign a Contributor License Agreement (CLA) before their contributions can be accepted. This page covers both the Individual CLA and the Corporate CLA. Version 1.0, effective April 9, 2026.

Individual Contributor License Agreement

This Agreement documents the rights granted by individual contributors to the ACP (Axiom Consensus Protocol) project, maintained by ACP Research Initiative ("We", "Us", "the Project"). This is a legally binding document.

1. Definitions

"Contribution" means any original work of authorship, including any modifications or additions to an existing work, that is intentionally submitted by You to the Project for inclusion in, or documentation of, the Project. "Submitted" means any form of electronic, verbal, or written communication sent to the Project, including but not limited to pull requests, issues, patches, and comments on project repositories.

"You" (or "Your") means the individual who submits a Contribution to the Project.

2. Grant of Copyright License

You hereby grant to the Project and to recipients of software distributed by the Project a perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive, no-charge, royalty-free, irrevocable copyright license to reproduce, prepare derivative works of, publicly display, publicly perform, sublicense, and distribute Your Contributions and such derivative works.

3. Grant of Patent License

You hereby grant to the Project and to recipients of software distributed by the Project a perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive, no-charge, royalty-free, irrevocable patent license to make, have made, use, offer to sell, sell, import, and otherwise transfer the Contribution, where such license applies only to those patent claims licensable by You that are necessarily infringed by Your Contribution alone or by combination of Your Contribution with the Project to which such Contribution was submitted.

4. Representations

You represent that:

1. Each of Your Contributions is Your original creation.
2. You have the legal authority to enter into this Agreement.
3. Your Contribution does not violate any agreement you have with your employer or any other third party. If your employer has rights to intellectual property that you create, you represent that you have received permission to make Contributions on behalf of that employer, or that your employer has waived such rights for your Contributions to the Project.
4. Your Contribution includes 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 Contribution.

5. No Obligation

You understand that the decision to include Your Contribution in the Project is entirely at the discretion of the Project maintainers. You are not expected to provide support for Your Contribution, unless You choose to do so.

6. Disclaimer

7. Agreement

By submitting a Contribution to the Project, you indicate your acceptance of this Agreement. If you are contributing on behalf of your employer, you additionally represent that you are authorized to sign this Agreement on your employer's behalf.

This CLA is based on the Apache Individual Contributor License Agreement and adapted for the ACP Protocol project.

Corporate Contributor License Agreement

This Corporate Contributor License Agreement is entered into by the signing organization ("Corporation") and the ACP Research Initiative ("the Project").

1. Purpose

This Agreement allows the Corporation to authorize its employees to submit Contributions to the ACP project under the terms of this Agreement, without each employee needing to sign an Individual CLA.

2. Definitions

"Contribution" has the same meaning as in the Individual CLA.

"Designated Employees" means employees of the Corporation who are authorized to submit Contributions on behalf of the Corporation.

3. Grant of Rights

The Corporation grants the same copyright and patent licenses as described in the Individual CLA (Sections 2 and 3), applicable to all Contributions submitted by its Designated Employees.

4. Representations

The Corporation represents that:

1. It has the legal authority to enter into this Agreement.
2. Each Contribution submitted by a Designated Employee is either the original creation of the employee or the Corporation has sufficient rights to submit it.
3. The Corporation has informed each Designated Employee of the terms of this Agreement.

5. Designated Employees

The Corporation will maintain a list of Designated Employees authorized to submit Contributions. Changes to this list may be communicated by email to enterprise@axiomprotocol.org.

6. Signatures

The Corporate CLA requires signatures from an authorized representative of the Corporation, including organization name, address, representative name, title, email, date, and signature.

This CCLA is based on the Apache Software Foundation Corporate CLA and adapted for the ACP Protocol project.

How to Sign