# Legal Standing and Rights Posture **Copyright © 2026 Stellar Aqua LLC. All rights reserved.** --- This document summarizes the current legal and IP posture for the Sundog repository and public website. It is a factual project record, not legal advice. ## Current Position Sundog Research Lab is a public-facing applied research program sponsored by Stellar Aqua LLC. Stellar Aqua LLC currently owns or controls the Sundog-authored copyrightable materials unless a file clearly states otherwise. The current repository posture is guarded: - Copyright © 2026 Stellar Aqua LLC. All rights reserved. - The root `LICENSE` file is a rights notice, not a new open-source grant. - No patent, trademark, commercial, hosting, training-data, or derivative-work permission is implied by public availability. - Third-party dependencies and materials remain governed by their own notices. - Historical copies may have carried an earlier MIT notice; those copies are governed by the notice that accompanied them. The present repository snapshot does not grant a new MIT license. ## What Was Established ### 1. Copyright Inventory **File:** `COPYRIGHT.md` The copyright inventory: - Catalogs copyrightable works across website copy, documentation, source code, visual assets, media, application writeups, experimental data, and contractor work. - Names Stellar Aqua LLC as the current owner/controller for Sundog-authored materials. - Separates copyright from patent, trademark, trade-secret, and contract rights. - Establishes contractor and contributor assignment requirements. - Keeps future entity transfer options open. ### 2. Rights Notice **File:** `LICENSE` The current root rights notice: - Reserves rights to Stellar Aqua LLC. - States that repository access does not create an implied license. - Reserves patent, trademark, trade-secret, data, and commercial rights. - Preserves third-party notices. - Acknowledges that earlier public copies may have carried an earlier MIT notice without making a new MIT grant for the current snapshot. ### 3. Website Footer **Files:** public root HTML pages and the browsable docs index. Recommended public footer: ```text © 2026 Stellar Aqua LLC. All rights reserved. Sundog Research Lab is an independent applied research program sponsored by Stellar Aqua LLC. ``` ### 4. Public Identity Page **File:** `about.html` The About page carries the current Sundog Research Lab framing: - Independent applied research program for systems that act without full sight. - Sponsored by Stellar Aqua LLC. - Evidence-tiered research posture, not universal theorem posture. - Explicit disambiguation from SunDog: Frozen Legacy, crypto projects, and unrelated Sundog entities. ### 5. Package and Citation Metadata **Files:** `package.json`, `package-lock.json`, `CITATION.cff` The package metadata now uses `UNLICENSED` for the root private site package. Citation metadata identifies Stellar Aqua LLC and points to the repository and website without making an open-source license claim. ## Why This Posture Exists ### Value Preservation The repository contains research expression, public copy, evaluation harnesses, data surfaces, visual systems, and potential patent/trademark candidates. Public readability should not be mistaken for a grant to commercialize, scrape, host, train on, or repackage those assets. ### Entity Flexibility Stellar Aqua LLC may, depending on the next serious external response, choose to keep Sundog as a sponsored program, form a dedicated LLC, pursue a 501(c)(3) or fiscal-sponsor path, file patent or trademark applications, license selected rights, or sell/transfer assets. ### Claim Discipline The guarded posture complements the scientific posture: public claims remain bounded, but the underlying materials are treated as valuable IP. ## Patent and Trademark Direction Potentially protectable areas are under evaluation, including: - Shadow/indirect-signal control apparatus and workbench mechanisms. - Trace-conditioned claim-boundary and safety-gating systems. - Photometric, pressure-field, structural-boundary, and hidden-state evaluation harnesses. - Sundog Research Lab marks, visual identity, names, and page identities. Use guarded language such as "IP rights reserved" or "patent filing candidate" where appropriate. Do not use "patent pending" unless a patent application has actually been filed and that language has been approved by the owner. ## Recommended Next Steps ### 1. Counsel Review Have an attorney review the root rights notice, historical MIT-transition language, publication strategy, and patent/trademark posture before major partner calls. ### 2. Copyright Registration Register works in batches when the scope is stable: - Core website and documentation as literary works. - Source code as computer programs. - Visual systems, diagrams, and generated public media as visual works. ### 3. Trademark Search and Filing Search and evaluate: - "Sundog Research Lab" - "Alignment Without Sight" - "Ask Sundog" - Page/product names and visual marks ### 4. Patent Triage Before broad technical publication or partner disclosure, decide which apparatus or method surfaces need provisional filing, defensive publication, or trade- secret treatment. ### 5. Contractor and Contributor Agreements Create or update: - Contractor agreement template - IP assignment ledger - Contributor agreement or PR intake requirement - Confidentiality language for non-public materials ### 6. Future Entity Decision When there is enough signal from funders, partners, buyers, counsel, or institutional sponsors, choose the entity path and document the transfer or license-back terms. ## Contact For copyright, trademark, licensing, acquisition, patent, or IP assignment questions regarding Sundog materials, contact Stellar Aqua LLC through the repository maintainer. --- **Last Updated:** May 26, 2026