We require contributors to our open-source projects to sign a Seven Bridges Contributor Agreement (SBCA). The SBCA doesn’t require you to lose rights to your work, but only to share the copyright with Seven Bridges jointly, and when applicable to grant Seven Bridges and other collaborators and users of the project a patent license.
This is a common arrangement in larger open source projects, and provides several benefits to both the project and its contributors. The SBCA allows Seven Bridges to defend the project from hostile intellectual property litigation--for example, if a contributor or their employer attempted to assert control of the project, or rescind their contribution. Seven Bridges could not do this without the consolidated ownership of the copyright that the SBCA provides. Since the Agreement establishes joint ownership of copyright, you and any other contributor will have the right to whatever you want to with your contribution, including contribute it to other open source projects or distribute it under proprietary licenses. If we distribute your contribution in any way, the SBCA obliges us to also make it available under an open source license approved by the Free Software Foundation (FSF) or Open Source Initiative (OSI).
If you’re contributing on behalf of your employer, make sure that anyone signing the agreement is authorized to do so by your employer.
The full text of the agreement is here and can be signed electronically there. If you have any concerns please message kghosesbg or tag in an issue.