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1---
2layout: default
3title: Contributions
4nav_order: 4
5parent: Contributors
6---
7<!--
8© 2020 and later: Unicode, Inc. and others.
9License & terms of use: http://www.unicode.org/copyright.html
10-->
11
12# Contributions to the ICU library
13{: .no_toc }
14
15## Contents
16{: .no_toc .text-delta }
17
181. TOC
19{:toc}
20
21---
22
23## Why Contribute?
24
25ICU is an open source library that is a de-facto industry standard for
26internationalization libraries. Our goal is to provide top of the line i18n
27support on all widely used platforms. By contributing your code to the ICU
28library, you will get the benefit of continuing improvement by the ICU team and
29the community, as well as testing and multi-platform portability. In addition,
30it saves you from having to re-merge your own additions into ICU each time you
31upgrade to a new ICU release.
32
33## Current Process
34
35See <https://icu.unicode.org/processes/contribute>.
36
37## Historical
38
39### Legal Issues ICU 1.8.1-57
40
41The following process was in place up to ICU 57, when the old ICU license was
42used.
43
44### Old Process
45
46In order for your code to be contributed, you need to assign to IBM joint
47copyright ownership in the contribution. You retain joint ownership in the
48contribution without restriction. (For the complete set of terms, please see the
49forms mentioned below.)
50
51The sections below describe two processes, for one-time and ongoing
52contributors. In either case, please complete the form(s) electronically and
53send it/them to IBM for review. After review by IBM, please print and sign the
54form(s), send it/them by mail, and send the code. The code will then be
55evaluated.
56
57Please consult a legal representative if you do not understand the implications
58of the copyright assignment.
59
60### One-Time Contributors
61
62If you would like to make a contribution only once or infrequently, please use
63the *Joint Copyright Assignment - One-time Contribution* form.
64(<https://github.com/unicode-org/icu-docs/blob/main/legal/contributions/Copyright_Assignment.rtf>).
65The contribution will be identified by a bug ID which is unique to the
66contribution and entered into the form. Therefore, please make sure that there
67is an appropriate bug (or Request For Enhancement) in the ICU bug database, or
68submit one.
69
70The code contribution will be checked into a special part of the ICU source code
71repository and evaluated. The ICU team may request updates, for example for
72better conformance with the ICU [design](../design.md) principles,
73[coding](codingguidelines.md) and testing guidelines, or performance. (See also
74the Requirements (§) above.) Such updates can be contributed without exchanging
75another form: An ICU team member commits related materials into the ICU source
76code repository using the same bug ID that was entered into the copyright
77assignment form.
78
79### Ongoing Contributors
80
81If you are interested in making frequent contributions to ICU, then the ICU
82Project Management Committee may agree to invite you as an ongoing contributor.
83Ongoing contributors may be individuals but are more typically expected to be
84companies with one or more people ("authors") writing different parts of one or
85more contributions.
86
87In this case, the relationship between the contributor and the ICU team is much
88closer: One or more authors belonging to the contributor will have commit access
89to the ICU source code repository. With this direct access come additional
90responsibilities including an understanding that the contributor will work to
91follow the technical Requirements (§) above for contributions, and agreement to
92adhere to the terms of the copyright assignment forms for all future
93contributions.
94
95The process for ongoing contributors involves two types of forms: Initially, and
96only once, an ongoing contributor submits a *Joint Copyright Assignment by
97Ongoing Contributor* form, agreeing to essentially the same terms as in the
98one-time contributor form, for all future contributions. (See the form at
99<https://github.com/unicode-org/icu-docs/blob/main/legal/contributions/Copyright_Assignment_ongoing.rtf>).
100
101The contributor must also send another form, *Addendum to Joint Copyright
102Assignment by Ongoing Contributor: Authors*, for the initial set and each
103addition of authors to ICU contributions, **before** any contributions from
104these authors are committed into the ICU source code repository. (Only new,
105additional authors need to be listed on each such form.) The contributor agrees
106to ensure that all of these authors agree to adhere to the terms of the
107associated *Joint Copyright Assignment by Ongoing Contributor Agreement*. (See
108the Authors Addendum form at
109<https://github.com/unicode-org/icu-docs/blob/main/legal/contributions/Copyright_Assignment_authors.rtf>).
110
111Some of an ongoing contributor's authors will have commit access to the ICU
112source code repository. Their committer IDs need to be established before
113completing the Authors Addendum form, so that these committer IDs can be entered
114there. (The committer IDs should be activated only after the form is received.)
115
116Committer authors commit materials directly into the appropriate parts of the
117ICU source code repository. Contributions from an ongoing contributor are
118identified by their association with the contributor's committer IDs.
119
120### Previous Contributions
121
122All previous "one-off" contributions from non-IBM sources to ICU are listed on
123the code contributions page in ICU's source code repository. The page contains
124links to the softcopies of the Joint Copyright Assignment forms. See
125<https://htmlpreview.github.io/?https://github.com/unicode-org/icu-docs/blob/main/legal/contributions/code_contributions.html>
126
127In addition, the following non-IBM companies are registered as Ongoing
128Contributors:
129
130*   Apple
131*   Google
132
133See the repository folder that contains the contributions page for the full set
134of softcopies of contributor agreements including one-off contributions,
135ongoing-contributor agreements and author-addendum documents to
136ongoing-contributor agreements:
137<https://github.com/unicode-org/icu-docs/tree/main/legal/contributions>
138