Spine Trademark and Contributor Policy

Status

This document defines the intended trademark and contribution policy for Spine as a Foundation-governed public platform with commercial value-added products.

Trademark Principle

Copyright licensing and trademark control serve different purposes.

The code may be broadly licensed under Apache License 2.0 while the Spine name, logos, certification marks, and Foundation branding remain controlled.

That separation is intentional.

Trademark Ownership

The preferred long-term structure is:

• the Spine Foundation owns the Spine trademark and related marks,
• the commercial entity uses those marks only under license,
• the Foundation determines what may accurately be called Spine Community,
• certification or conformance branding is governed by Foundation policy.

Until such a Foundation exists, repository maintainers should treat the marks as reserved and should not imply any broad trademark license.

Permitted Nominative Use

The following uses should generally be allowed as nominative fair use, subject to ordinary trademark law and future published brand rules:

• truthful statements that software is compatible with Spine,
• truthful statements that a person or company provides services for Spine,
• truthful statements that a product is built for Spine or works with Spine,
• truthful statements that a registry, marketplace, or hosting offering serves Spine users,
• references to Spine for comparison, integration, or migration,
• identification of this repository as the origin of the public code,
• truthful identification of a fork as a fork of Spine, so long as official status is not implied.

Such use must not imply Foundation endorsement, certification, sponsorship, or official marketplace status unless that status has actually been granted.

These safe harbors exist to protect legitimate ecosystem participation, including commercial participation by third parties.

Reserved Uses

The following should require explicit permission or published Foundation rules:

• using Spine as the primary product name of a fork,
• using Foundation logos or badges,
• claiming official Spine certification,
• claiming official Spine marketplace status,
• branding a hosted offering in a way that implies it is the canonical public Spine service.

Trademark policy must not be used to block truthful commercial activity merely because it competes with the initial commercial entity.

Contributor Model

The preferred contribution model is simple:

• inbound equals outbound under Apache License 2.0,
• commit sign-off under the Developer Certificate of Origin model,
• no mandatory CLA unless future governance creates a specific need.

This keeps contribution friction low while preserving a clean licensing record.

Why DCO Instead of CLA

The DCO model is a better fit for Spine at this stage because it:

• keeps contribution overhead low,
• fits a Foundation-governed public core,
• avoids sending a signal that the project expects broad relicensing capture,
• works well with Apache License 2.0 contribution flows.

A CLA should be introduced only if there is a concrete governance need, not as default ceremony.

Contribution Expectations

Contributors should assume:

• source contributions become part of the Apache License 2.0 codebase,
• documentation and specifications follow repository licensing unless marked otherwise,
• contribution does not grant governance power,
• contribution does not grant trademark rights,
• contribution does not guarantee inclusion in any commercial marketplace.

Marketplace Distinction

Being open source and being commercially listed are distinct states.

A model, package, or tool may be compatible with Spine without being an official or commercially listed marketplace offering. Marketplace curation, billing, support, provenance scoring, and reputation systems may remain under commercial control so long as the underlying formats and interoperability rules remain open.

The same principle applies to commercial participation more broadly: a third party may build a business around Spine-compatible tooling, hosting, integration, training, support, models, or registries without requiring permission from the commercial entity, provided it follows public rules and does not misrepresent endorsement.

The commercial entity may be the first provider in these markets. It must not gain exclusive rights to them by governance design.

Summary Rules

1. License the code openly.
2. Reserve the marks.
3. Accept contributions under Apache License 2.0 with DCO sign-off.
4. Do not confuse contribution rights with branding or certification rights.
5. Protect truthful third-party commercial participation.
6. Keep conformance and naming legitimacy under Foundation stewardship.