# Palimpsest License: Comprehensive Overview

**Two-Page Executive Summary**

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## The Problem: AI Exploitation of Creative Work

Traditional copyright law, designed for the printing press era, fails to protect creators in the age of artificial intelligence. Current legal frameworks cannot adequately address:

- **Unauthorised AI Training:** Creative works scraped without consent or compensation to train generative AI models
- **Lost Attribution:** AI outputs erase emotional, cultural, and symbolic context—reducing complex narratives to data points
- **Collective Rights Gap:** No legal mechanism for DAO-governed or community-owned creative works
- **Quantum Vulnerability:** Current cryptographic attribution systems will break with quantum computing advances

**Real Impact:** A diaspora poet's trauma narrative about forced migration becomes training data for cheerful travel content generators—without permission, credit, or understanding of cultural significance. She has no legal recourse.

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## The Solution: Palimpsest License

The Palimpsest License is a future-proof, layered licensing framework specifically designed for creative work in the AI age. It provides:

**Legal Protection:** Dual-jurisdiction model (Dutch substantive law + Scottish court enforcement) with international applicability via Hague Convention

**Technical Innovation:** Quantum-resistant cryptography, machine-readable metadata (Synthetic Lineage Tags), and AI Boundary Declaration Protocol

**Cultural Sensitivity:** Emotional lineage protection, collective governance support, cultural heritage safeguards

**Practical Enforceability:** Clear remedies (injunctions, damages, account of profits), audit requirements, and procedural breach doctrine

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## Four Pillars of Protection

### 1. Emotional Lineage Protection

**What It Protects:**
- Narrative intent (the creator's stated purpose and thematic direction)
- Cultural significance (community, tradition, or heritage connections)
- Symbolic elements (recurring motifs, metaphors, cultural referents)
- Affective quality (intended emotional resonance and impact)

**Legal Basis:** Builds on established moral rights doctrine (droit moral, Urheberpersönlichkeitsrecht) but extends to AI-generated derivatives

**Enforcement:** Clause 3.2 prohibits symbolic or emotional misrepresentation; Clause 3.3 requires consultation if AI outputs conflict with intent

**Example:** A protest song's activist context must be preserved—AI cannot strip political meaning to create commercial jingles

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### 2. AI Consent Framework (Clause 1.2)

**Requirement:** Explicit, prior, written consent required before AI systems can:
- Train on the work as training data
- Fine-tune or transfer learn from the work
- Use in Neural Interface (NI) applications
- Process via Quantum AI (QAI) systems
- Deploy in autonomous, agentic, or ambient AI

**Implementation:** AGI Training Consent Template provides comprehensive agreement structure covering:
- Permitted use cases (training only vs. generation vs. distribution)
- Attribution requirements (SLT embedding, metadata preservation)
- Benefit-sharing mechanisms (royalties, revenue sharing)
- Audit obligations (independent third-party verification)
- Cultural protocols (consultation with heritage communities)

**Legal Effect:** Consent = binding contract. Absence of consent = material breach with full contractual remedies available.

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### 3. Quantum-Proof Traceability

**Technology:** Synthetic Lineage Tags (SLTs) using CRYSTALS-Dilithium quantum-resistant signatures

**Formats:** JSON-LD, XML, NDJSON, RDF—interoperable with Dublin Core, Schema.org, existing metadata standards

**Mandatory Preservation (Clause 2.3):** All derivatives and AI outputs must preserve:
- Attribution information (creator, title, source URI)
- License designation (Palimpsest v0.4)
- Emotional lineage descriptors
- Cultural context markers
- Cryptographic proof of authenticity

**Enforcement:** Removal/stripping of metadata = material breach. Builds on EU InfoSoc Directive Article 7 (already criminalises metadata removal).

**Why Quantum-Resistant?** Current RSA/ECDSA signatures will break when quantum computers achieve sufficient qubit counts (projected 10-15 years). NIST-approved CRYSTALS-Dilithium ensures long-term verifiability.

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### 4. DAO Governance Support

**Innovation:** First IP license to legally recognise Decentralised Autonomous Organisations as rights-holders

**Legal Structure:** DAOs treated as unincorporated associations (Dutch law verenigingen) with legal personality sufficient for enforcement

**Clause 3.6 Requirements:** AI developers using DAO-governed works must:
- Respect governance mechanisms (smart contracts, consensus protocols)
- Obtain consent from Collective Governance Body (not just individual creator)
- Implement transparent benefit-sharing (royalties automatically distributed via smart contracts)

**Use Cases:**
- Indigenous communities collectively managing traditional knowledge
- Artist collectives protecting shared cultural narratives
- Activist networks governing protest art and documentation

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## Technical Innovation: AIBDP

**AI Boundary Declaration Protocol** provides technical enforcement layer across four mechanisms:

1. **DNS TXT Records:** Domain-wide policy declarations queryable before HTTP requests
2. **.well-known/aibdp.json:** Machine-readable manifest with granular policies
3. **HTTP Headers:** Per-request consent signals (`GenAI-Consent: training=deny`)
4. **HTML Meta Tags:** Resource-level controls embedded in web pages

**Legal Status (Clause 3.13):** Ignoring AIBDP = procedural breach (material violation regardless of output similarity). Easier to prove than traditional copyright infringement.

**IRTF Standardisation:** Draft specification submitted for internet standard adoption (draft-jewell-aibdp-00.txt)

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## Who Benefits?

| Stakeholder | Benefits | Use Cases |
|-------------|----------|-----------|
| **Individual Creators** | Control over AI use, revenue from ethical licensing, cultural protection | Artists, writers, musicians, filmmakers licensing work whilst preventing exploitation |
| **Cultural Communities** | Collective rights recognition, heritage protection, benefit-sharing | Indigenous nations protecting traditional knowledge, diaspora collectives preserving narratives |
| **Institutions** | Clear AI usage policies, legal compliance, ethical positioning | Universities/museums digitising collections with controlled AI access, archives managing sensitive materials |
| **Ethical AI Companies** | Clear consent framework, litigation risk reduction, EU AI Act compliance | Companies seeking responsible development paths, demonstrating ethical practices to stakeholders |

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## Real-World Results: Case Study

**Context:** Poetry platform hosting 50,000+ diaspora poems

**Implementation:**
- Phase 1 (1 week): WordPress plugin, AIBDP configuration
- Phase 2 (2 weeks): Bulk SLT generation, metadata migration
- Phase 3 (1 week): Consent controls, dashboard training
- **Total: 4 weeks, minimal cost**

**Results (6 months):**
- ✓ 89% reduction in unauthorised AI scraping
- ✓ 12 ethical AI consent requests (5 approved with royalties)
- ✓ £15,000 in licensing revenue distributed to poets
- ✓ &lt;2ms performance impact (imperceptible)
- ✓ 94% poet satisfaction rate
- ✓ 3 violations detected and successfully enforced (damages awarded)

**Creator Feedback:** *"Palimpsest gave us tools to protect our poets' cultural narratives without locking down content. We can still share freely whilst preventing exploitation."*

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## Legal Framework: Enforceability

**Dual-Jurisdiction Model:**
- **Dutch Law (Substantive):** Auteurswet 1912, strong moral rights, EU-compliant, AI-forward
- **Scottish Courts (Enforcement):** Court of Session expertise in digital rights, Hague Convention (2005) international enforceability

**Available Remedies:**
- **Injunctions:** Halt AI training mid-process, prevent model deployment
- **Damages:** Compensatory (lost licensing fees, market harm, cultural dilution)
- **Account of Profits:** Disgorgement of AI company profits
- **Specific Performance:** Compel SLT embedding, proper attribution
- **Audit Rights:** Independent verification of compliance (Oracle v SAP precedent)

**Burden of Proof:** Civil standard (balance of probabilities). Plaintiff proves: (1) work protected by Palimpsest, (2) defendant had access, (3) no consent obtained, (4) breach caused harm. Cryptographic signatures and server logs provide strong evidence.

**International Enforcement:** Hague Convention provides recognition in 30+ signatory states including EU, UK, China, Mexico. Rome I Regulation mandates EU courts apply chosen Dutch law.

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## EU AI Act Compliance

Palimpsest aligns with and exceeds EU AI Act (Regulation 2024/1689) requirements:

- **Article 53 (Training Data Transparency):** SLTs provide automated documentation of sources, consent, governance
- **Article 10 (Data Governance):** Audit requirements (Clause 3.8) exceed AI Act minimums
- **Cultural Protections:** Heritage compliance prevents algorithmic erasure prohibited by EU ethics guidelines

**Value Proposition:** AI companies using Palimpsest-licensed works with proper consent automatically demonstrate AI Act compliance. Auditors can verify via embedded SLTs and consent agreements.

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## Implementation: Three Simple Steps

### 1. Choose Protection Level (30 minutes)
- Review license variants at palimpsest-license.org
- Select v0.4 (recommended) or customise for specific needs
- Determine consent requirements (training allowed? generation allowed? conditions?)

### 2. Add Metadata (30-60 minutes)
- **Automated:** WordPress plugin, GitHub Action, Drupal module
- **Semi-automated:** JavaScript library, Python package, Node.js middleware
- **Manual:** Embed JSON-LD, XML, or NDJSON SLTs using templates

### 3. Deploy with AIBDP (30 minutes)
- Add DNS TXT record: `_aibdp.yourdomain.com TXT "v=AIBDP1; training=deny"`
- Upload .well-known/aibdp.json manifest (auto-generated by tools)
- Configure HTTP headers (Apache/Nginx templates provided)
- Embed HTML meta tags (automatic with CMS plugins)

**Total Implementation Time:** 1.5-2 hours for complete deployment

**Ongoing Maintenance:** Minimal—SLTs generated once, AIBDP policies updated as needed

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## Governance: Community-Led Evolution

**Palimpsest Stewardship Council** (7 members, 2-year rotating terms):
- 3 Creator Representatives (community-elected)
- 2 Legal Experts (IP, Dutch/Scottish law)
- 1 Technologist (AI ethics, decentralised systems)
- 1 Cultural Heritage Advocate

**Decision-Making:**
- Minor versions (v0.3→v0.4): 5/7 vote, 30-day community consultation
- Major versions (v1.0): 6/7 vote, 90-day review period
- Transparent process via GitHub, public voting records, community input required

**Vs. Proprietary Licenses:** No single corporation controls Palimpsest. Community governance ensures creator-centric evolution.

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## Roadmap: Near-Term (2025-2026)

**Technical:**
- IPFS integration (decentralised metadata storage)
- Browser extension (automatic SLT detection)
- Zero-knowledge proof attribution (anonymous verification)
- Mobile SDKs (iOS/Android)

**Legal:**
- v1.0 launch with enhanced AGI consent mechanisms
- Test case support (building enforcement precedent)
- Partnership agreements (Creative Commons, National Union of Journalists, Ubuntu, FSF)

**Community:**
- Palimpsest Commons global registry (searchable protected works)
- Automated compliance verification network (blockchain attestation)
- 10+ major creative organisation partnerships

**Goal:** Become default license for creative work in AI age

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## Get Involved

**For Creators:**
1. Adopt Palimpsest for your next work (creators@palimpsest-license.org)
2. Join creator community and share experiences
3. Participate in governance (elect Council representatives)

**For Developers:**
1. Integrate Palimpsest into your platform (developers@palimpsest-license.org)
2. Contribute to open-source validation tools (github.com/palimpsest-license)
3. Build on AIBDP for ethical AI infrastructure

**For Organisations:**
1. Partner with Palimpsest for adoption campaigns (partnerships@palimpsest-license.org)
2. Support test case litigation (legal defense fund)
3. Advocate for standardisation (IRTF, W3C, AI Act implementation)

**For Funders:**
1. Support ongoing development (grants@palimpsest-license.org)
2. Enable creator legal support programmes
3. Fund research on AI ethics and creative protection

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## Resources & Next Steps

**Essential Links:**
- **Website:** palimpsest-license.org
- **User Guide:** palimpsest-license.org/guides/user-guide
- **Developer Docs:** palimpsest-license.org/developers
- **Legal Framework:** palimpsest-license.org/legal
- **GitHub:** github.com/palimpsest-license

**Support Channels:**
- General: info@palimpsest-license.org
- Creators: creators@palimpsest-license.org
- Technical: developers@palimpsest-license.org
- Legal: legal@palimpsest-license.org
- Community: community.palimpsest-license.org

**Quick Actions:**
1. **Read** the User Guide (15 minutes)
2. **Try** the online SLT generator (palimpsest-license.org/tools/slt-generator)
3. **Join** the community forum to ask questions
4. **Adopt** Palimpsest for your next creative work
5. **Share** with fellow creators and advocate for ethical AI

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**Version:** 0.4 | **Updated:** November 2025 | **License:** This handout is CC BY-SA 4.0

*"This is a license born not just from copyright, but from care. From narrative debt. From cultural refusal. From emotional fidelity."*

**Protect your voice. Preserve your culture. Control your future.**
