{% extends "base_compliance.html" %}

{% block subtitle %}Copyleft Compliance Projects - {% endblock %}

{% block submenuselection %}AboutCompliance{% endblock %}

{% block content %}

<h1>Conservancy's Copyleft Compliance Projects</h1>

<p>Free and open source software is

        everywhere and in everything; yet our software freedom is constantly

        eroded.  With the help of its volunteers, <a href="/members/current/">member projects</a>, and <a href="/about/staff/">staff</a>,

  Conservancy stands up for users' software freedom via its copyleft compliance work.</p>

<p>Conservancy engages in copyleft compliance work in two different ways: by acting directly

Free and Open Source License compliance efforts, and for

specific, targeted member projects for communities of developers.</p>

<p>Conservancy's Copyleft Compliance Projects are run in a collaborative manner with

the project developers.  All copyright holders involved have the opportunity

to give input and guidance on Conservancy's strategy in dealing with

compliance issues.  Thus, all Conservancy's compliance matter have full

support of relevant copyright holders.</p>

<p>Historically, Conservancy was well-known for its ongoing license

compliance efforts on behalf of its BusyBox member project.  Today, Conservancy

does semi-regular compliance work for its BusyBox, Evergreen, Git, Inkscape, Mercurial,

Samba, Sugar Labs and Wine member projects.  If you are a copyright holder

in any member project of Conservancy, please contact the project's leadership committtee,

via <a href="mailto:PROJECTNAME@sfconservancy.org">&lt;PROJECTNAME@sfconservancy.org&gt;</a>

for more information on getting involved in compliance efforts in that project.

</p>

<h2>GPL Compliance Project For Linux Developers</h2>

<p>In May

2012, <a href="/news/2012/may/29/compliance/">Conservancy

launched</a> the <cite>GPL

Compliance Project for Linux Developers</cite>, which handles compliance and

enforcement activities on behalf of more than a dozen Linux copyright

holders.</p>

<p>The GPL Compliance Project for Linux Developers is comprised of copyright

holders in the kernel, Linux, who have contributed to Linux under its

license, <a href="http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.html">the

GPLv2</a>. These copyright holders have formally asked Conservancy to engage

in compliance efforts for their copyrights in the Linux kernel.  In addition,

some developers have directly assigned their copyrights on Linux to Conservancy,

so Conservancy also enforces the GPL on Linux via its own copyrights in Linux.</p>

<p>Linux copyright holders who wish to assign copyright to or sign an enforcement agreement with

Conservancy should contact <a href="mailto:linux-services@sfconservancy.org">&lt;linux-services@sfconservancy.org&gt;</a>.</p>

<h2>The Debian Copyright Aggregation Project</h2>

<p>In August 2015, <a href="/news/2015/aug/17/debian/">Conservancy announced the Debian Copyright Aggregation

Project</a>.  This project allows Debian contributors to assign copyrights to

Conservancy, or sign enforcement agreements allowing Conservancy to enforce

Free and Open Source (FOSS) licenses on their behalf.  Many Debian contributors

have chosen each of these options already, and more continue to join.</p>

<p>Debian contributors who wish to assign copyright to or sign an enforcement agreement with

Conservancy should contact <a href="mailto:debian-services@sfconservancy.org">&lt;debian-services@sfconservancy.org&gt;</a>.</p>

<h2>Conservancy's Commitment to Copyleft License Compliance</h2>

<p>Conservancy is dedicated to encouraging all users of software to comply

  with Free Software licenses. Toward this goal, in its compliance efforts,

  Conservancy helps distributors of Free Software in a friendly spirit of

  cooperation and participation.  In this spirit, Conservancy has co-published,

  with the Free Software Foundation (FSF), <a href="/linux-compliance/principles.html">the principles that both organizations

  follow in their compliance efforts</a>.

  Also in collaboration with the FSF, Conservancy also sponsors

  the <a href="https://copyleft.org/guide/"><cite>Copyleft and the GNU

  General Public License:A Comprehensive Tutorial and Guide</cite></a>,

  which <a href="/news/2014/nov/07/copyleft-org/">formally

  launched in fall 2014</a>.  The Guide includes tutorial materials about

  copyleft and compliance with copyleft licenses,

  including <a href="https://copyleft.org/guide/comprehensive-gpl-guidepa2.html"><cite>A

  Practical Guide to GPL Compliance</cite></a>.  The materials

  on <a href="https://copyleft.org/">copyleft.org</a> have been developed and

  improved since 2002, and are themselves copylefted, and developed

  collaboratively in public.</p>

<p>However, the Guide is admittedly a large document, so for those who are

  interested in a short summary of describing how Conservancy handles GPL

  enforcement and compliance

  work, <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/blog/2012/feb/01/gpl-enforcement/">this

  blog post outlining the compliance process</a> is likely the best source.</p>

<h2>Reporting GPL Violations To Us</h2>

<p>If you are aware of a license violation or compliance issue regarding

  Debian, Linux, or

  any <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/members/current/">Conservancy member

  project</a> (&mdash; in particular BusyBox, Evergreen, Inkscape, Mercurial,

  Samba, Sugar Labs, or Wine),

  please <a href="mailto:compliance@sfconservancy.org">contact us by email at

    &lt;compliance@sfconservancy.org&gt;</a>.</p>

<p>If you think you've found a GPL violation, we encourage you to

   read <a href="http://ebb.org/bkuhn/blog/2009/11/08/gpl-enforcement.html">this

   personal blog post by our Distinguished Technologist, Bradley M. Kuhn</a>,

   about good practices in discovering and reporting GPL violations.  (We'd

   also like someone to convert the text of that blog post into a patch for

   <a href="http://compliance.guide">The Compliance Guide on

   copyleft.org</a>; submit it

   via <a href="https://k.copyleft.org/guide/">k.copyleft.org</a>.)</p>

<h2>Donate to Support This Work</h2>

<p>Finally, Conservancy welcomes <a href="#donate-box"

  class="donate-now">donations</a> in support of our GPL Compliance Projects,

  and we encourage you to become a <a href="/supporter/">an official

  Supporter of Software Freedom Conservancy</a>. </p>

</div>

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{% extends "base_conservancy.html" %}

{% block subtitle %}Donations - {% endblock %}

{% block category %}donate{% endblock %}

{% block content %}

<h1>Donate to Conservancy!</h1>

<p>As a not-for-profit charity, Conservancy relies on support from the

  public to continue its work.  Please give generously to support

  Conservancy's work.</p>

<h3>Become <a href="/supporter/#annual">a Supporter</a> Now!</h3>

<p>The best way to <a href="/supporter/#annual">donate to Conservancy is via

our official Supporter program</a>, which earns a t-shirt and other

  surprise Supporter-only perks throughout the year.</p>

<p>But, there are many other great ways to donate to Conservancy as

well, listed below:</p>

<h3>Donate by paper check</h3>

<p>Send paper check donations, drawn in USD, to:</p>

<p>Software Freedom Conservancy<br />

137 MONTAGUE ST  STE 380<br/>

Brooklyn, NY 11201-3548<br/>

USA

</p>

<br/>

<h3>Donate monthly via PayPal (including Visa, Mastercard, AMEX or ACH)</h3>

<form action="https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr" method="post" target="_top">

<input type="hidden" name="cmd" value="_s-xclick">

<input type="hidden" name="hosted_button_id" value="XCZS3F7V957LS">

<table>

<tr><td><input type="hidden" name="on0" value="Monthly Donation Amount">Monthly Donation Amount</td></tr><tr><td><select name="os0">

	<option value="Fifty Dollar Monthly Donation">Fifty Dollar Monthly Donation : $50.00 USD - monthly</option>

	<option value="Forty Dollar Monthly Donation">Forty Dollar Monthly Donation : $40.00 USD - monthly</option>

	<option value="Thirty Dollar Monthly Donation">Thirty Dollar Monthly Donation : $30.00 USD - monthly</option>

	<option value="Twenty-Five Dollar Monthly Donation">Twenty-Five Dollar Monthly Donation : $25.00 USD - monthly</option>

	<option value="Twenty Dollar Monthly Donation">Twenty Dollar Monthly Donation : $20.00 USD - monthly</option>

	<option value="Ten Dollar Monthly Donation">Ten Dollar Monthly Donation : $10.00 USD - monthly</option>

</select> </td></tr>

</table>

<input type="hidden" name="currency_code" value="USD">

<input type="image" src="https://www.paypalobjects.com/en_US/i/btn/btn_subscribeCC_LG.gif" style="border:0" name="submit" alt="PayPal - The safer, easier way to pay online!">

<img alt="" style="border:0" src="https://www.paypalobjects.com/en_US/i/scr/pixel.gif" width="1" height="1">

</form>

<br/>

<h3>Donate via Paypal (including Visa, Mastercard, AMEX or ACH)</h3>

<form action="https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr" method="post">

<input type="hidden" name="cmd" value="_s-xclick">

<input type="hidden" name="hosted_button_id" value="ZMQKSPUYQLWZW">

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<img alt="" style="border:0" src="https://www.paypalobjects.com/en_US/i/scr/pixel.gif" width="1" height="1">

</form>

<h3>Donate via Flattr</h3>

<p>

<a href="https://www.flattr.com">Flattr</a> is a social micro-payment system that allows users to make donations via the web.  Flattr does not charge any processing fees on donations to Conservancy.  If you are a Flattr user and you would like to "flattr" Conservancy with a donation, click on the button below:

</p>

<a href="https://flattr.com/thing/922714/Donate-to-Software-Freedom-Conservancy" target="_blank">

<img src="https://api.flattr.com/button/flattr-badge-large.png" alt="Flattr us!" title="Flattr us!" style="border:0" /></a>

<h3>Donate a Portion of your eBay Sales</h3>

<p>Through the eBay/PayPal Giving Fund program, you can <a href="http://givingworks.ebay.com/charity-auctions/charity/software-freedom-conservancy-inc/57449/">donate a portion of your eBay sale proceeds to Software Freedom Conservancy</a>!  You can also <a href="https://www.paypal.com/webapps/mpp/search-cause?charityId=57449">donate directly through the PayPal Giving fund</a>.</p>

<br/>

<h3>Donate a Portion of your Amazon Purchases</h3>

<p>Through <a href="https://smile.amazon.com/ch/41-2203632">Amazon's Smile program, Amazon will donate to Conservancy for your purchases there</a>.  Just sign up through the <a href="https://smile.amazon.com/ch/41-2203632">following this link</a>.</p>

<h3>Donate by wire transfer (or bank transfer)</h3>

<p>Donations are accepted by wire transfer.  Please

contact <a href="mailto:accounting@sfconservancy.org">&lt;accounting@sfconservancy.org&gt;</a>

    for wire transfer instructions, and include in your email the following

  information:</p>

<ul>

<li>The country of origin of your wire transfer.</li>

<li>The native currency of your donation.</li>

</ul>

<p>Note that Conservancy can accept donations by wire in USD, CAD, EUR, GBP

  natively.  (We keep them in the native currency and use it for expenses in

  those currencies, so we lose nothing in currency conversion).</p>

<p>Finally, note that while this method is called &ldquo;wire transfer&rdquo;

  in the USA, the method is usually compatible with most online banking forms

  that people use in Europe and elsewhere to send funds.  Please just contact us

  if you need to donate in native currency from your country and we'll

  discuss it!</p>

<br/>

<h3>Donate stock</h3>

<p>Conservancy can accept donation of stocks!   Please

contact <a href="mailto:accounting@sfconservancy.org">&lt;accounting@sfconservancy.org&gt;</a>

  for details.</p>

<p>Finally, Conservancy also maintains directed donation programs for

for these directed donation programs are typically found on the

individual websites of our members.</p>

<h3>Donations Are Usually Tax-Deductible!</h3>

<p>Software Freedom Conservancy, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) organization

  incorporated in New York, and donations made to it are fully tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.</p>

{% endblock %}

{% block submenuselection %}Applying{% endblock %}

{% block content %}

<h1> Applying to Join Conservancy as a Member Project</h1>

<p>Conservancy's Evaluation Committee considers  applications monthly on a

  rolling basis.  Currently, Conservancy has dozens of projects in

  various stages of the application process.</p>

<p>The application process is somewhat informal.  New applicants should

  write an initial inquiry email

  to <a href="mailto:apply@sfconservancy.org">&lt;apply@sfconservancy.org&gt;</a>

  with a very brief description of their project and a URL to their

  project's website.  We'll send back initial questions (if any), and

  after those questions are answered, we'll send the full application

  materials.  Applications should be submitted in plain ASCII text via

  email.</p>

<p>Projects are reviewed by Conservancy's Evaluation Committee, which is

  chartered by Conservancy's <a href="/about/board/">Board of

  Directors</a>.</p>

<h1>Project Membership Application FAQs</h1>

<p>The following are various questions that we typically get from project

  leaders that wish to apply to Conservancy.</p>

<h2>I sent in my inquiry letter and/or application a long time ago.  Why haven't you replied?</h2>

<p>Conservancy receives an overwhelming level of interest and we have very few

  <a href="/about/staff/">staff positions</a> to

  meet the interest and demand

  for <a href="/members/services/">Conservancy's

  services</a> to its member projects.  Meanwhile, Conservancy always

  prioritizes needs of

  its <a href="/members/current/">existing member

  projects</a> over new inquiries and applications.  Therefore, it

  sometimes can take quite a while to finish the application process and

  be offered membership, but please note that such delays mean that should

  your project ultimately become a member project, your project will then

  be a beneficiary of this policy.</p>

<h2>What are the key criteria our project must meet to join?</h2>

<p>In order to join, projects need to meet certain criteria.  A rough

  outline of those criteria are as follows:</p>

<ul><li>The project must be a software development or documentation

    project.  Non-software projects to advance the cause of software

    freedom, while important and useful, are beyond the scope of

    Conservancy.</li>

    <li>The project must be exclusively devoted to the development and

    documentation of FLOSS.  The project's goals must be consistent with

    Conservancy's tax-exempt purposes, and other requirements imposed

    on Conservancy by the IRS' 501(c)(3) rules.  Namely, the goal of the

    project must to develop and document the software in a not-for-profit

    way to advance the public good, and must develop the software in

    public.</li>

    <li>The project must be licensed in a way fitting with software

      freedom principles.  Specifically, all software of the project

      should be licensed under a license that is listed both as

      a <a href="http://www.gnu.org/licenses/license-list.html">Free

      Software license by the Free Software Foundation</a> and as

      an <a href="http://www.opensource.org/licenses/alphabetical">Open

      Source license by the Open Source Initiative</a>.  All software

      documentation for the project should be licensed under a license on

      the preceding lists, or under Creative

      Commons' <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/">CC-By-SA</a>

      or <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/">CC-By</a>

      or

        <a href="https://creativecommons.org/choose/zero/">CC-0</a>.</li>

   <li>The project should have an existing, vibrant, diverse community

      that develops and documents the software.  For example, projects

      that have been under development for less than a year or only a

      “proof of concept” implementation are generally not

      eligible.</li>

</ul>

<p>While any project meeting the criteria above can apply, meeting these

  criteria doesn't guarantee acceptance of your project.  Conservancy

  favors projects that are well-established and have some track record of

  substantial contributions from a community of volunteer developers.

  Furthermore, Conservancy does give higher priority to projects that

  have an established userbase and interest, but also tries to accept some

  smaller projects with strong potential.</p>

<h2>Is our project required to accept membership if offered?</h2>

<p>Not at all.  Many projects apply and subsequently decide not to join a

  non-profit, or decide to join a different non-profit entity.  Don't

  worry about “wasting our time” if your project's developers

  aren't completely sure yet if they want to join Conservancy.  If

  membership in Conservancy is currently a legitimate consideration for

  your project, we encourage you to apply.  We'd rather that you apply and

  turn down an offer for membership than fail to apply and have to wait

  until the next application round when you're sure.</p>

<h2>What benefits does our project get from joining?</h2>

<p>We maintain a <a href="/members/services">detailed list of services

    that Conservancy provides to member projects</a>.  If you have

    detailed questions about any of the benefits, please

    ask <a href="mailto:apply@sfconservancy.org">&lt;apply@sfconservancy.org&gt;</a>.</p>

<h2>Conservancy seems to be called a &ldquo;fiscal sponsor&rdquo; to its

  member projects.  Does that mean you give our project money if we join?</h2>

<p>It's true that we would love to fund our member projects if it were

  possible, because we believe they deserve to be funded.  However, that's

  not typically what a fiscal sponsor does.  The term “fiscal

  sponsor“ is often used in non-profit settings and has a standard

  meaning there.  But, to those not familiar with non-profit operations,

  it comes across as a bit of a misnomer.</p>

<p>In this context, a fiscal sponsor is a non-profit organization that,

  rather than fund a project directly, provides the required

  infrastructure and facilitates the project's ability to raise its own

  funds.  Conservancy therefore assists your project in raising funds, and

  allows your project to hold those funds and spend them on activities

  that simultaneously advance Conservancy's non-profit mission

  and the FLOSS development and documentation goals of the project.</p>

<h2>What will the project leaders have to agree to if our project joins?</h2>

<p>Once you're offered membership, Conservancy will send you a draft

  fiscal sponsorship agreement (FSA).  A template

  of <a href="/docs/sponsorship-agreement-template.pdf">Conservancy's FSA

  is available in PDF</a> (and

  in <a href="/docs/sponsorship-agreement-template.odt">ODT</a>).

  Please note that the preceding documents are <strong>only

  templates</strong>.  Please do not try to fill one out and send it to

  Conservancy.  The final FSA between Conservancy and your project needs

  to be negotiated between us, and as can been seen in the template, the

  Representation section needs substantial work.  If your project is

  offered membership, Conservancy will work with you adapt the FSA

  template to suit the needs and specific circumstances of your project.

  This is painstaking work, and it's better to complete that work after

  both Conservancy and the project are quite sure that they both want the

  project to join Conservancy.</p>

<h2>If my project joins Conservancy, how will it change?</h2>

<p>Substantively, member projects continue to operate in the same way as

they did before joining Conservancy.  So long as the project remains

devoted to software freedom and operates consistently with the

Conservancy's tax-exempt status, Conservancy does not intervene in the

project's development other than to provide administrative assistance.

For example, Conservancy keeps and maintains books and records for the

project and assists with the logistics of receiving donations, but does

not involve itself with technical or artistic decision making.  Projects

are asked, however, to keep Conservancy up to date on their

activities.</p>

<h2>Once our project joins, who holds its assets (money, copyrights, trademarks, etc.)?</h2>

<p>Conservancy holds assets on behalf of its member projects and

manages and disburses those assets in accordance with the wishes of the

project's leadership.  Funds received by Conservancy on behalf of a

project are kept track of separately for each specific project and the

management of those funds is directed by the project.  For example, if a

donor wanted to contribute $100 to Project Foo, they would formally make

the donation to Conservancy and identify Project Foo as the desired

project to support.  Conservancy would then deposit the check and

earmark the funds for use by Project Foo.  Project Foo would then tell the

Conservancy how that money should be spent.  As long as that expense is a

legitimate non-profit expense fitting with Conservancy's non-profit

  mission, Conservancy pays the expense on the Project's behalf.</p>

<p>Similarly, any copyrights, trademarks, domain name or other assets

transferred to a project can also be held by Conservancy on behalf of

the project.  A significant service that Conservancy provides its

members is a vehicle through which copyright ownership in the project can

be unified.  There are several advantages to having a consolidated

copyright structure, including that it makes enforcement activity easier

and more effective.  However, copyright, trademark, and domain name

assignment is not a requirement in order to join Conservancy, rather,

it is an option for those projects that ask for it.</p>

<h2>If our project joins, must it be a member project of Conservancy forever?</h2>

<p>All agreements between member projects and Conservancy stipulate

clearly that the member project can leave Conservancy with a few

months' notice.  Federal tax exemption law, though, states that projects

must transfer their assets from Conservancy in a way that is

consistent with Conservancy's not-for-profit tax status —

meaning the assets cannot be transferred to an individual or a for-profit

entity.  Generally, a project would either find another fiscal sponsor or

{% block submenuselection %}Current{% endblock %}

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<p>Conservancy is currently home to thirty-nine member projects.</p>

<h2><a href="http://argouml.tigris.org/">ArgoUML</a></h2>

<p>ArgoUML is the leading open source UML modeling tool and includes

support for all standard UML 1.4 diagrams. It runs on any Java platform

and is available in ten languages. See the feature list for more details.</p>

<h2><a href="http://bongo-project.org/">Bongo</a></h2>

<p>The Bongo Project is creating fun and simple mail, calendaring and

contacts software: on top of a standards-based server stack; we're

innovating fresh and interesting web user interfaces for managing

personal communications. Bongo is providing an entirely free software

solution which is less concerned with the corporate mail scenario and

much more focused on how people want to organize their lives.</p>

<h2><a href="http://www.boost.org/">Boost</a></h2>

<p>Boost provides free peer-reviewed portable C++ source libraries.</p>

<p>Boost emphasizes libraries that work well with the C++ Standard

  Library.  Boost libraries are intended to be widely useful, and usable

  across a broad spectrum of applications.  The Boost license encourages

  both commercial and non-commercial use.</p>