copyright contract-law software
Agreement for voluntary contribution on a non-open source project
<p>I'm the owner of a free, but non-open source, Android app. I have received many offers by my users to voluntarily contribute by translating the app in other languages.</p>

<p>What does this mean by a legal standpoint? Should they sign some sort of CLA? I'd like to prevent future legal problems if my app becomes commercial or I want to sell it to another company.</p>

<p>Yes, it can be useful to sign a contract with the contributors to make clear that:</p>

<ol>
<li>They offer their services free of charge</li>
<li>They give you permission to use their translation in your project</li>
<li>They won't suddenly retract their permission, no matter what you do with your project (change it, sell it, decide to monetize it in some way, etc.)</li>
<li>They take liability for damages caused by their work, for example when the translation contains inappropriate language and it gets your game censored from the app store.</li>
</ol>

<p>This is of course a wish-list from <em>your</em> perspective. Individual volunteers might want to negotiate some of these points. For example, <em>I</em> would be very wary of accepting a liability clause for work I don't get paid for.</p>

<p>It can be useful to get professional help for drafting the language of these contracts.</p>
