The CLA explained for community members
Before reading further, the most important sentence, quoted from CONTRIBUTING.md:
By signing the CLA and submitting a contribution to the core kernel, you assign (transfer) the copyright in that contribution to the Exponential Foundation and 7x. They become the copyright owners. You give up control: the Exponential Foundation and 7x may use, change, relicense and distribute your contribution in any way, including commercially and under other licenses, without asking you and without paying you. You cannot withdraw it or set conditions on it. Your own custom extensions are not affected.
This page is a summary, not legal advice. Read the agreement itself before you sign it.
Contents
When you need it
"7x and the Exponential Foundation require a signed Contributor Licensing Agreement (CLA) for every code
contribution to the core kernel of Exponential, before that contribution can be merged." The core kernel is the
repository se7enxweb/exponential: kernel/, lib/, bin/, design/, settings/, doc/, the extensions shipped
inside it, "and everything else in this repository" (CONTRIBUTING.md).
- Every form of submission counts: a pull request, a patch, code in an issue, code sent by mail.
- A pull request without a signed CLA "is reviewed, but it is not merged until the CLA has been received".
- "The CLA will be signed once for all your future contributions"; you sign again only for a new legal entity.
When you do not need it
- Your own extensions, site packages, designs and themes that you keep and license yourself, privately or in your own repository.
- A site you build and run. Using, changing and running Exponential is governed by the GPL, not the CLA.
- Anything you mark "Not a Contribution" in writing (CLA, §3).
- Bug reports, questions and forum answers without code.
Source: CONTRIBUTING.md, "What it does not cover".
How to sign
- Read the Contributor Licensing Agreement page and download the agreement (Exponential Foundation and 7x CLA v1.1.0.pdf, version 1.1.0).
- Fill in section 2 and the signature block, and sign.
- Deliver it to the Exponential Foundation and 7x "by regular mail, by emailing a scan of the signed copy, or by fax"; the agreement gives [email protected]. If you send it by e-mail, make sure it arrived.
- Mention in your pull request that your CLA is signed; the template has a checkbox.
Questions people ask
Version 1.1.0 of the agreement (29 October 2026) is the first that assigns the copyright: its section 4.1 assigns it to the Exponential Foundation and 7x jointly, and section 4.3 keeps a license as a fallback where an assignment is not effective. The earlier version 1.0.1 assigned nothing: it granted 7x a perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, irrevocable copyright license (its section 4, derived from the Apache Individual Contributor License Agreement 2.0). Contributions made under a signed 1.0.1 stay licensed to 7x under 1.0.1 (section 12 of 1.1.0). Under section 6 the work is released under the GNU GPL version 2 or later, and the Exponential Foundation and 7x may also license it on other terms.
| Question | Answer, from CONTRIBUTING.md |
|---|---|
| Do I give away my copyright? | Yes, for the contribution: you assign it to the Exponential Foundation and 7x |
| Can I take it back? | No |
| Can the Exponential Foundation and 7x relicense it? | Yes, including in commercial products |
| Is a one-line fix a contribution? | For small fixes "in most cases we do not need you to sign a CLA", but sign anyway for pull requests to the kernel repository: a merge needs a CLA on file |
| I work for a company | The company usually owns the copyright: it signs, or confirms permission or a waiver |
| Does the CLA replace the GPL? | No. The contribution is released under the GPL like the rest; the CLA additionally assigns copyright to the Exponential Foundation and 7x |
The code of conduct adds: "Be honest about authorship. Sign the CLA only for contributions you have the right to
assign, and do not submit someone else's work as your own" (CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md).
Related pages
- Contributing code
- Licenses in the community
- Licensing FAQ
- Contribute extensions back
- Free documentation: this page is free to copy, translate and improve under the GNU FDL 1.3.
Become an Exponential Partner
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Copyright and copyleft
Since 29 October 2026 the copyright of Exponential is held by the Exponential Foundation and 7x together, the Foundation named first: "Exponential Copyright © 1998-2026 Exponential Foundation and 7x", in files "Copyright (C) 1998 - 2026 Exponential Foundation and 7x. All rights reserved." Who holds it and why, what the GPL lets you do, the third-party notices that stay and how to write the notice in new files and extensions: Copyright and copyleft.