The Android Open Source Project uses a few open source initiative approved open source licenses to enable availability of source code and to accept contributions from individuals and corporations.

Android Open Source Project license

The preferred license for the Android Open Source Project is Apache 2.0. Apache 2.0 is a commercial and open source friendly open source license. The majority of the Android platform is licensed under the Apache 2.0 license. While the project will strive to adhere to the preferred license, there may be exceptions which will be handled on a case-by-case basis. For example, the Linux kernel patches are under the GPLv2 license with system exceptions, which can be found on kernel.org .

Contributor License Grants

All individual contributors of ideas, code, or documentation to the Android Open Source Project will be required to complete, sign, and submit an Individual Contributor License Grant. The grant can be executed online through the code review tool. The agreement clearly defines the terms under which intellectual property has been contributed to the Android Open Source Project.  This license is for your protection as a contributor as well as the protection of the project; it does not change your rights to use your own contributions for any other purpose.

For a corporation that has assigned employees to work on the Android Open Source Project, a Corporate Contributor License Grant is available. This version of the Grant allows a corporation to authorize contributions submitted by its designated employees and to grant copyright and patent licenses. Note that a Corporate Contributor License Grant does not remove the need for any developer to sign their own Individual Contributor License Grant as an individual, to cover any of their contributions which are not owned by the corporation signing the Corporate Contributor License Grant.