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The ASF’s structure provides a legal umbrella for its projects, protecting individual volunteers by ensuring that releases, trademarks, and distributions are owned and managed by the Foundation itself, not by individuals or companies.
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Key Legal Principles
1. ASF Stewardship
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- The ASF does not automatically own all contributed code.
- Contributors (or their employers) retain copyright in their work.
- The ASF receives a broad license to use, modify, and redistribute contributions through contributor agreements and licensing.
- Software Grants enable the ASF to host and manage an existing codebase, but do not transfer copyright ownership.
- The ASF owns project trademarks, domains, and other shared assets.
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- Help the podling understand ASF contributor agreements, trademarks, and license obligations.
- Review LICENSE/NOTICE files and dependency compatibility before graduation.
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Common Legal Topics
| Topic | What It Covers | Resource |
|---|---|---|
| Contributor License Agreements | Required for committers; defines rights granted to ASF | https://www.apache.org/licenses/contributor-agreements.html#clas |
| Software Grants | Donating an existing codebase for ASF stewardship (no copyright transfer) | https://www.apache.org/licenses/contributor-agreements.html#grants |
| License Compatibility | Which licenses can be redistributed or depended on | https://www.apache.org/legal/resolved.html |
| Trademarks | ASF ownership and correct usage | https://www.apache.org/foundation/marks/ |
| Export Control | Compliance for cryptographic software | https://www.apache.org/licenses/exports/ |
| Release Policy | Legal checks for ASF releases | https://www.apache.org/legal/release-policy.html |
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Handling Legal Questions
When in doubt:
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