XChain Platform — Contributor License Agreement (CLA)

Why this exists. XChain Platform is dual-licensed: free under the AGPL-3.0, and available under a separate commercial license for companies that need to keep modifications private. For Dankest, LLC to offer that commercial license, it must hold sufficient rights over all contributed code. This CLA grants those rights. Every contributor must agree to it before their contribution can be merged. Without it, contributed code could only ever be AGPL, which would break the dual-license model.

[LAWYER REVIEW REQUIRED] This is a working draft modeled on the Apache Individual CLA plus an explicit relicensing grant. Have counsel finalize before adopting. Decide also: (i) inbound license grant vs. full copyright assignment, (ii) whether to use a CLA-management tool (e.g. CLA Assistant) for GitHub sign-off, (iii) a separate Corporate/Entity CLA for contributions made on behalf of an employer.

Agreement

By submitting a Contribution to Dankest, LLC (“Project Owner”) for inclusion in the XChain Platform (“Project”), You agree to the following terms for Your present and future Contributions.

1. Definitions

“You” / “Your” means the individual or legal entity making a Contribution.
“Contribution” means any original work of authorship — including code, documentation, or other material — that You intentionally submit to the Project (via pull request, patch, or otherwise) for inclusion.

2. Copyright License Grant

You grant to the Project Owner and to recipients of software distributed by the Project Owner a perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, irrevocable copyright license to reproduce, prepare derivative works of, publicly display, publicly perform, sublicense, and distribute Your Contributions and such derivative works.

3. Relicensing / Dual-Licensing Grant

You expressly agree that the Project Owner may license Your Contributions under any license terms, including both the AGPL-3.0 and one or more commercial (proprietary) licenses, and may sublicense and relicense Your Contributions as part of the Project. This grant is what permits the Project’s dual-licensing model.

4. Patent License Grant

You grant to the Project Owner and to recipients of the Project a perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, irrevocable (except as stated below) patent license to make, use, sell, offer to sell, import, and otherwise transfer Your Contribution, where such license applies only to patent claims licensable by You that are necessarily infringed by Your Contribution alone or in combination with the Project. If any entity institutes patent litigation alleging that the Project or a Contribution infringes a patent, any patent licenses granted to that entity under this CLA terminate.

5. Your Representations

You represent that:

a. Each Contribution is Your original creation, and You have the legal right to grant the above licenses.
b. If Your employer has rights to intellectual property You create, You have either received permission to make the Contribution on behalf of that employer, or Your employer has waived such rights, or Your employer has executed a separate Corporate CLA.
c. Your Contribution does not, to Your knowledge, violate any third party’s copyrights, trademarks, patents, or other intellectual property rights.
d. You will notify the Project Owner if any of the above becomes inaccurate.

6. No Obligation

You understand that the decision to include Your Contribution in the Project is entirely at the Project Owner’s discretion, and this CLA does not obligate the Project Owner to use or incorporate Your Contribution.

7. Disclaimer

Unless required by applicable law or agreed in writing, You provide Your Contributions “AS IS”, without warranties or conditions of any kind, either express or implied.

How to sign

[TO FINALIZE] Choose a mechanism, e.g.:

A bot (CLA Assistant / cla-bot) that records agreement on each pull request, or

A signed copy returned to legal@dankest.llc before first contribution.

By submitting a Contribution and indicating agreement through the Project’s chosen mechanism, You accept and agree to the terms of this CLA for Your present and future Contributions to the Project.

Questions: legal@dankest.llc