Open Sourced Licensing Agreement & Legal Standard for Cardano Digital Collectibles

[GENERAL] Name and surname of main applicant

Nicolas Caridi

[GENERAL] Are you delivering this project as an individual or as an entity (whether formally incorporated or not)

Entity (Incorporated)

[GENERAL] Please specify how many months you expect your project to last (from 2-12 months)

4

[GENERAL] Please indicate if your proposal has been auto-translated into English from another language.

No

[GENERAL] Summarize your solution to the problem (200-character limit including spaces)

Establish open-source standards for digital collectible licensing with a clear terms & conditions agreement by working with a legal team to clarify usage & commercial rights for projects and holders.

[GENERAL] Does your project have any dependencies on other organizations, technical or otherwise?

Yes

[GENERAL] If YES, please describe what the dependency is and why you believe it is essential for your project’s delivery. If NO, please write “No dependencies.”

Legal Team - Hans Hertell and Hogan Lovells

[GENERAL] Will your project’s output/s be fully open source?

Yes

[GENERAL] Please provide here more information on the open source status of your project outputs

Legal Framework will be fully open sourced.

[SOLUTION] Please describe your proposed solution.

We have identified a fundamental issue within the Cardano digital asset ecosystem: the lack of a standardized licensing agreement for digital assets. As the digital collectibles market on Cardano grows, collectors and projects alike are often left in the dark regarding the usage rights of the digital characters they own or create. As this market grows, there will be an increase in enterprise level partnerships, and every project and collector will need clarity on the rights and usage of each collectible, especially if holders have commercial rights. 

We aim to remedy this by collaborating with a proficient legal team, who have experience with major players in the industry and licensing, to create a universal digital licensing standard. This will provide much-needed clarity and a common ground for all Cardano digital asset projects, benefiting creators, collectors, and the overall Cardano ecosystem.

Through this standard, we will:

1. Save individual projects money on legal expenses to create their own IP agreements.
2. Allow individual holders to maximize co-branded output for personal gain and/or project gain.
3. Provide clarity on holder rights, commercial rights, and revenue split as it pertains to personal branding growth, small business partnerships, and enterprise level partnerships.

[IMPACT] Please define the positive impact your project will have on the wider Cardano community.

Licensing of digital assets for commercial usage is unclear for projects and holders. Smaller projects do not have the budget or legal understanding to create their own licensing agreements that thoroughly outline rights.

Our proposal provides legal clarity to anyone involved in the creation, ownership, and collection of digital assets and the IP rights for all involved parties. By establishing a standard digital licensing agreement, we enable clearer understanding of asset usage rights, promoting confidence and transparency in the ecosystem. Moreover, this enables all projects that use this agreement to collaborate with brands outside Cardano and even Web3. This legal clarity can shape how digital collectibles can be leveraged and simplify the process of these projects to build long-term relationships with holders and their work with personal brands, small businesses, and enterprises.

The standardized agreement also paves the way for more robust legal infrastructure for Cardano-based projects, a fundamental aspect of any thriving blockchain ecosystem.

[CAPABILITY & FEASIBILITY] What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability? How do you intend to validate if your approach is feasible?

We have worked closely with this legal team before and they’re extremely capable and motivated to further the Web3 space. We have an amicable rapport with this legal team and their previous case work in the industry is second to none. We will act as stewards to best serve the Cardano community and the projects within to ensure there is a clear and fair licensing understanding that can act as the standard.

Budget Planning and Allocation: We’ve created a comprehensive budget and cost breakdown for this proposal, which has been reviewed by the legal team we’ve worked closely with alongside our team. This budget includes legal consultation fees, market research, overhead expenses, and promotions for community feedback.

Financial Reporting: We are committed to full transparency and will provide regular financial reports. These reports will include detailed breakdowns of all expenses, progress towards milestones, and any alterations to the budget.

We are committed to self-funding any other portion ($25k USD) to complete the digital asset license agreement and open source it. We are asking for slightly less than the proposed budget because we feel confident in our ability to self fund the rest.

[Project Milestones] What are the key milestones you need to achieve in order to complete your project successfully?

Milestone 1: Legal Research and Market Analysis (Month 1, Cost: $25,000)

Tasks:

Hire or assign legal experts to conduct research into existing legal frameworks around digital assets.

Conduct market analysis to understand current needs and gaps.

Develop a list of key requirements for a digital asset licensing agreement.

Timeline: 1 month

Success Criteria: A comprehensive report detailing legal frameworks, market needs, and key requirements for the licensing agreement.

Milestone 2: Drafting the Digital Licensing Agreement (Month 2, Cost: $40,000)

Tasks:

Draft the initial licensing agreement based on the findings from the research phase.

Create an explanatory document outlining the terms and conditions of the agreement.

Develop a FAQ document addressing potential questions from projects and users.

Timeline: 2 months

Success Criteria: Completion of the draft agreement, explanatory document, and FAQ, and approval by legal experts.

Milestone 3: Community Feedback and Iterations (Month 3, Cost: $15,000)

Tasks:

Launch a public consultation process to gather community feedback.

Analyze the feedback and make necessary revisions to the agreement.

Timeline: 1 month

Success Criteria: A feedback report demonstrating community engagement and showing how feedback was incorporated into revisions of the agreement.

Milestone 4: Final Release and Promotion (Month 3, Cost: $20,000)

Tasks:

Finalize the licensing agreement based on community feedback.

Create and launch promotional materials such as a webinar, video, blog posts, and social media campaigns.

Timeline: 1 month.

Success Criteria: Final version of the licensing agreement made publicly available and promotional materials published and shared.

Milestone 5: Post-launch Review and Update (6 months after launch, Cost: $5,000)

Tasks:

Collect and analyze feedback from users of the agreement.

Make updates to the agreement based on user feedback.

Update promotional materials to reflect any changes.

Timeline: 3 months after launch.

Success Criteria: Review report published, updates (if any) made to the agreement, and updated promotional materials published.

Our team will hold regular meetings to monitor progress, discuss challenges, and adapt our strategy as necessary.

[RESOURCES] Who is in the project team and what are their roles?

Nicolas Caridi: 

Nicolas has an extensive background in business development, marketing, and blockchain project management. His previous work experience encapsulates multiple industries ranging from CPG, Payment Processing, Events, Telecommunications, and more. His involvement in the Cardano Ecosystem includes creating the first Ethereum digital collectible with Cardano utility, a decentralized collectible marketplace, an innovative disruptor to the subscription industry, and more. He goes by Fettuccine online. 

Nicolas will be in charge of the coordination and delegation of tasks with the legal team. 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolas-caridi-4bb931b8/

https://www.plutus.art/

http://angelbabyhitsquad.com/

https://twitter.com/fettuccine_nic

Viviek Patel: Viviek has a strong background in product marketing, go to market launches, and project management at tech startups. His previous experience has been in tech startups spanning Agricultural tech, Blockchain, Internet of Things, Fintech, and more. He was a product marketer at Unstoppable Domains where facilitated the go to market launch of various products. Most notably, the marketing for digital avatars which integrated with 6 blockchains. In recent months, he’s worked with 7 Cardano based businesses to scale their marketing efforts. He currently leads the marketing for DEMU Protocol and Cherubim.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/thedegencreator/

Prev companies: 

https://unstoppabledomains.com/

https://bluerivertechnology.com/

https://www.jetsonsmarthomes.com/

https://www.tillful.com/

Viviek Patel will be in charge of collaboration of legal document with other teams. 

Marcus Lee: 

Marcus is a developer extraordinaire who has been responsible for xcsLabs, OrdinalsGateway, a Cardano minting service, and much more. He has pioneered solutions used by many across the blockchain today. He is the lead developer on our activations. 

https://twitter.com/xcslabsxyz

https://ordinalsgateway.io/

Marcus Lee and his team at XCSLabs will be in charge of implementing T+C on websites.

Campurean Alexandru:

A Romanian crypto lover who is community manager and liaison. He dropped out of an industrial economic engineering college to complete a psychology degree. He’s worked in a military base in Cluj-Napoca, followed by working for a year at the Romanian Intelligence Service. He’s been in crypto full-time for two years and has worked with multiple Web3 brands and a blockchain development company. He’s well-known in the Web3 community and keeps the community and team connected with one another.

Campurean Alexandru will act as liaison with community and coordinate feedback.

https://twitter.com/Sic2336

https://twitter.com/YeppleInc

[BUDGET & COSTS] Please provide a cost breakdown of the proposed work and resources.

1. Legal Consultation (85%): 155,000 ADA

It is crucial that we operate within the legal framework. This cost covers legal advice, consultation, and creation to ensure that our digital asset licensing is compliant with laws and regulations. At an Estimated average of $378 USD per hour and an assumed 100 hours of work including iterations.

1. Project Management (5%): 15,000 ADA

This covers the cost of our project manager, who will oversee the entire project, ensuring that it is completed on time and within budget.

1. Marketing and Community Engagement (10%): 30,000 ADA

This involves creating awareness about the digital asset licensing agreement project. It will cover costs for FAQs, documentation, social media campaigns, blog posts, graphics, community forums, AMA, and time commitment of marketing manager.

[VALUE FOR MONEY] How does the cost of the project represent value for money for the Cardano ecosystem?

The project will establish a clear and standardized licensing agreement for digital assets within the Cardano ecosystem. This will lead to less ambiguity and disputes over asset usage rights. This also makes it easier for individuals to build their personal brands, work with projects, and work with enterprises. To quantify this, we can use metrics such as the numbers of digital asset creators adopting the licensing agreement and number of partnerships built using this framework. We can also conduct qualitative surveys to understand benefits and struggles creators face to understand the agreement’s impact.

[IMPORTANT NOTE] The Applicant agrees to Fund Rules and also that data in the submission form and other data provided by the project team during the course of the project will be publicly available.

I Accept