# Contributor License Agreement (CLA)

**Version 1.0**

## Why This Exists (TL;DR)

We're building MON as **AGPL** (free and open-source), but we also want to offer **commercial licenses** to companies that need proprietary use. This CLA lets us do both while keeping the project community-owned and preventing proprietary SaaS companies from hijacking your work.

**You keep your code.** This just gives us permission to distribute it under multiple licenses.

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## The Legal Part

### 1. What Counts as a "Contribution"?

**"Contribution"** = Code, documentation, or other creative work you intentionally submit to MON.

**"Submit"** = Opening a pull request, committing code, or submitting docs/patches.

**Does NOT include:** Bug reports, feature requests, casual comments in issues, or general discussion.

### 2. What Rights You Grant

When you contribute code or docs, you give the MON Project:

#### Copyright License

- Permission to use, modify, and distribute your code
- Permission to license it under **AGPL** (for the community)
- Permission to license it under **commercial terms** (for companies that need it)

Think of it like: "Here's my code, you can share it with everyone under AGPL, and also sell licenses to companies if needed."

#### Patent License (Limited Scope)

- If your code uses a patent you own, you grant a royalty-free license **only for that specific contribution**
- This does NOT give us rights to your other patents
- This only covers patents "necessarily infringed" by your contribution (industry-standard language)

**Why?** We don't want patent trolls blocking the project. This is normal for FOSS projects.

### 3. You Own Your Code

- **You keep full copyright**, this isn't a copyright assignment
- You can use your code however you want (relicense it, fork it, etc.)
- This CLA just lets us distribute it under AGPL + commercial licenses

### 4. What You Promise

You confirm:

- You wrote this code, or you have permission to contribute it
- It doesn't violate someone else's copyright or patent
- If you're a student/employee and your university/employer might claim ownership, you've cleared it with them

### 5. No Liability

You're contributing "as-is." You're not on the hook for support, warranties, or fixing bugs (though we appreciate it if you do!).

### 6. Governing Law

This agreement is governed by **German law** (where the project is maintained). If any clause is invalid, the rest still applies.

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## How to Sign

When you open your first PR, a bot will ask you to sign. Just click the link or comment:

```
I have read and agree to the CLA
```

That's it. This applies to all your current and future contributions to MON.

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## Questions?

**"Why do you need this?"**  
We want to offer commercial licenses without locking the community out. The CLA makes dual licensing legally possible.

**"Does this mean you'll sell my code?"**  
No. Your code stays AGPL for everyone. We only offer commercial licenses to companies that **can't** use AGPL (e.g., they need proprietary extensions). The FOSS version is always free.

**"What if I change my mind?"**  
Once you sign, you can't revoke past contributions, but you can stop contributing anytime, any problems regarding this can be resolved anytime by opening an issue. (under non-abusive intent)

**"I'm under 18, can I still contribute?"**  
Yes, but check with a parent/guardian if you're unsure about legal agreements.

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**Still worried?** Open an issue and we'll talk it through. We're not here to screw over contributors, we're trying to build sustainable FOSS.

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_This CLA is based on industry-standard agreements (Apache, Rust Foundation) adapted for dual licensing. It's been simplified for readability, but it's still legally binding._
