Acceptable use policy
If you've read Art in the Internet Age, you know that LBRY believes we are in a post-scarcity age in terms of the reproduction of content. There are two things that are still scarce; good quality content, and good reputations. We take respecting the rights of creators very seriously, and we expect the same when it comes to our brand name. Here is how we go about protecting that.
Our trademarks include our name, LBRY, and our official logo, which are owned by LBRY, Inc, a Delaware Corporation. We encourage the use of LBRY's trademarked name and official logo while maintaining control of them in order to thwart vandalism, theft, and any future misconduct that offends the collective sensibility of LBRY users creates legal hazards or otherwise inhibits the free expression and open transactions we prize.
Our trademark policy has three objectives:
- We want it to be very easy for anyone creating content or services on the LBRY network to use the official name and logo.
- We want to be clear about how and when you can use the LBRY name and logo, as well as providing examples of uses that are not acceptable.
- We want to make it difficult for anyone to use the LBRY name or logo to confuse or defraud people.
Obtain your license
If you are producing video or other content for LBRY or if you've downloaded our client, you've got a license to use the LBRY name and official logo on your blog or website where you promote your work. That's all there is to it, just stick to the fair use rules if you're sampling or otherwise using copyright content from somewhere else.
If you are a developer, you will need to complete the verification process before you use the LBRY name and official logo to promote your service or site. The creation of fraudulent sites that appear official is a common problem for blockchain projects. This happened to LBRY early in its history, and this process exists to reduce the potential for another such event.
Examples of acceptable uses
- Create brand new content. Entertain, educate, become famous, or change the world.
- Build a service based on LBRY. Help make the internet a better, freer place!
- Staying within the bounds of Fair Use, sample, derive, criticize, or otherwise use someone else's copyright work to make something new.
Examples of unacceptable uses
- Creating any service that uses LBRY and presenting it as an official product, such as an online wallet.
- Presenting yourself or implying that you are a representative or agent of LBRY, Inc.
- Using LBRY in the title or name of your business in a way that could be construed as being a product of LBRY, Inc.
- Uploading someone else's copyrighted work without their permission, either for free or attempting to profit.
- Uploading content that is itself a crime.
LBRY service trademark usage policy
As a statement of principle, you are encouraged to associate your project, product, service, domain, or company name with LBRY, so long as you're a credit to the community.
You should not do anything that causes confusion regarding roles. You can describe your company as "Top Shelf Consulting, providers of LBRY development," but not "The LBRY Development Group." Registering a domain that could be mistaken for part of LBRY's infrastructure would also be inappropriate.
If you are not sure if your use is within bounds or not, please come talk with us about it. We know we can only envision some of the innovation that will happen on the LBRY network and would hate to miss a great opportunity for confusion in this area.
See a mistake? Edit this page on GitHub.