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Artemis Society International Board of Directors
In the abscence of other contracts, Artemis Society International assumes it has perpetual publication rights, limited to ASI non-profit publications (such as this web site) and use in other ASI non-profit activities, for any work submitted by its owner to the Society for publication. The creator (or other owner, if rights have been transferred) retains all other rights to any intellectual property submitted to the Society or created by its members as part of their activities in the Society.
No commercial company assumes any rights to work contributed to the Society. If a someone, in the course of work done for the Society, creates something which can be produced as a commercial product, then the company involved must contact the creator to negotiate a license fee or other form of payment, just as they would with any use of creative work in a commercial product. It doesn't matter whether the member is writing a document for the Artemis Data Book, creating new algorithms for presentation of documents on the World Wide Web, designing spaceship parts or toys based on them, creating artwork to illustrate documents about the Artemis Project, or designing ladies' intimate apparel, the contributor retains all rights to the work unless (or until) he signs a contract granting specified rights to someone else.
Artemis Society International does not participate in any form of commercial business, and does not engage in any activity which would use volunteer labor as an unfair advantage in competing with commercial business. So ASI will never use a member's work in a commercial product.
ASI might, however, provide the means whereby members and commercial companies can contact each other, in the event that someone wants to use a member's work in a commercial product; or ASI members may decide to produce a commercial product themselves. Anyone wanting to use the "Artemis Project" trademark in a commercial effort must contact The Lunar Resources Company to arrange for a license to use the trademark.
For more information about why ASI never engages in any form of commercial business, see the ASI corporate documents and discussion about them in section 6.2 of the Artemis Data Book. Also see the essay about Royalties for Volunteer Labor in section 6.
This policy assures that anyone who produces something with commercial value will be rewarded from its commercial use. Besides being the most fair thing to do, it's also best for the long-term success of the project because it encourages private enterprise involvement in the Artemis Project.
This policy also defines what rights the Society assumes it has when you do something for the Society, and strictly limits the rights you grant in workin on ASI projects. Many organizations demand that contributors sign over all rights to technical papers submitted for publication; Artemis Society International most emphatically does not do this. The really key point in all this is that the Society assumes only the right to publish your stuff in non-profit publications, and nothing else.
We would have this policy in any case, but note that since you retain all rights to anything you create in work done for the Society, the statement about no commercial company assuming any rights to something you create is really just a restatement of United States federal law regarding intellectual property. U.S. law is very clear on this point: if you create it, you own it.
We can't presume to practice law here, and your legal rights might be different in other countries, so if you have any question about your intellectual property rights, consult with your attorney.
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