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.

How does your proposed solution address the challenge and what benefits will this bring to the Cardano ecosystem?

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.

How do you intend to measure the success of your project?

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.

Please describe your plans to share the outputs and results of your project?

Sharing Outputs: We plan to share the digital asset licensing agreement with a small number of established projects until we create a finalized agreement. Then, we will open source the agreement to the whole community. This way, the broader Cardano community can benefit from our work. It also allows others to review, provide feedback, and even enhance the agreement before we fully open source the agreement. We will share the results on various platforms such as Cardano's official website and forums, and any applicable digital collectible project’s socials.

Spreading the Project’s Outputs: To ensure widespread adoption, we will disseminate information about the digital asset licensing agreement through a range of channels. These include blog posts, videos, and social platforms popular with the Cardano community. We aim to start these activities immediately after the completion of each project milestone.

Sharing Opportunities:. We plan to collaborate with Cardano-based digital asset creators and users, along with other stakeholders such as legal professionals specialized in digital property rights. Post-launch, every project creator on Cardano can have access to the licensing agreement.

Use of Project Results for Future R&D: The project outputs and their performance metrics will feed into our ongoing research and development activities. We will use the results to identify areas of improvement, potential enhancements, and new capabilities to be added to the licensing agreement.

What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability?

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.

What are the main goals for the project and how will you validate if your approach is feasible?

Goal 1: Develop a Comprehensive Digital Asset IP Licensing Agreement

The first objective is to develop a comprehensive agreement that adheres to current legal standards around intellectual property and addresses the unique needs of digital asset owners and users. We will validate this by consulting with legal experts in the digital asset field and by conducting thorough market research to ensure our agreement aligns with current needs and gaps. Moreover, this agreement will provide necessary clarity regarding intellectual property rights for creators, owners, and partners.

Goal 2: Obtain Community Approval and Feedback

We aim to draft an agreement that is accepted by the Cardano community. This will be validated through the community consultation process. If the community feedback is predominantly positive and constructive, we will consider this goal achieved. If the feedback suggests significant changes are needed, we will iterate on the agreement until we reach a version that satisfies the community and provides clear guidelines for all stakeholders.

Goal 3: Increase Adoption of the Licensing Agreement

Post-launch, our objective is to have a significant number of digital asset creators adopt our licensing agreement. While it might be hard to quantify this goal at this stage, we aim to see an increase in the adoption of our licensing agreement as this market grows. This will be tracked by monitoring how many digital asset creators adopt our agreement for their projects and how many collaborations they use it for.

We plan to start with a thorough research phase, followed by drafting and iterating on the agreement based on the legal review and community feedback, and finally promoting and monitoring its adoption post-launch. Adjustments will be made as needed throughout the project based on ongoing monitoring and feedback.

Please provide a detailed breakdown of your project’s milestones and each of the main tasks or activities to reach the milestone plus the expected timeline for the delivery.

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.

Please describe the deliverables, outputs and intended outcomes of each milestone.

Milestone 1: Legal Research and Market Analysis (Month 1)

Deliverables: Detailed report on existing legal frameworks applicable to digital assets, understanding of market needs and gaps, list of key requirements for a digital asset licensing agreement.

Intended outcomes: Enhanced understanding of the legal and market landscape, and a clear direction for the drafting of the licensing agreement.

Measurement: Completion of report, list of requirements, and receipt of positive feedback from experts and market participants who review the research.

Milestone 2: Drafting the Digital Licensing Agreement (Month 2)

Deliverables: Initial draft of the digital licensing agreement, explanatory document outlining the terms and conditions, and a FAQ document addressing potential questions from projects and users.

Intended outcomes: Creation of a comprehensive and legally sound agreement that addresses the needs identified in the research phase.

Measurement: Completion and internal approval of the draft agreement, explanatory document, and FAQ.

Milestone 3: Community Feedback and Iterations (Month 3)

Deliverables: A public consultation document and community feedback report.

Intended outcomes: An inclusive process that ensures the agreement is fit for purpose and has broad acceptance within the Cardano community.

Measurement: Number of community members engaged, quality of feedback received, and improvements made to the agreement based on this feedback.

Milestone 4: Final Release and Promotion (Month 4)

Deliverables: Final version of the digital licensing agreement, a suite of promotional materials to facilitate adoption (including promotional video, blog posts, and social media campaigns).

Intended outcomes: Widespread awareness and understanding of the licensing agreement, leading to adoption by digital asset projects within the Cardano ecosystem.

Measurement: Number of projects that adopt the licensing agreement, engagement with promotional materials, and positive feedback from the community.

Milestone 5: Post-launch Review and Update (3 months after launch)

Deliverables: Post-launch review report, updates to the licensing agreement (if necessary), and updated promotional materials.

Intended outcomes: Ensuring the licensing agreement remains relevant and useful, based on feedback and experiences from those who have used it.

Measurement: Feedback from users, number of updates required, ongoing adoption of the agreement.

Each of these milestones aligns with our goals, which are to provide a clear, robust, and community-based digital asset licensing agreement for the Cardano ecosystem.

Please provide a detailed budget breakdown of the proposed work and resources.

1. Legal Consultation (85%): 255,000 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 177 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.

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/>

<https://www.uniscroll.io/>

<http://angelbabyhitsquad.com/>

<https://twitter.com/fettuccineNFT>

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/>

<https://twitter.com/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://twitter.com/ordinalsgateway>

<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>

How does the cost of the project represent value for money for the Cardano ecosystem?

The cost of the digital asset licensing agreement project represents excellent value for money for the Cardano ecosystem, taking into account its far-reaching implications for the entire digital collectibles space. The entirety of the budget is dedicated to creating a robust legal framework for digital asset licensing, which requires a deep and meticulous exploration of the intersection between blockchain technology, intellectual property law, contract law, and many other aspects.

Here are some of the reasons why the budget allocation provides value for money:

Unlocking New Revenue Streams: The digital asset licensing framework we aim to develop will help unlock new revenue streams for digital collectibles projects on the Cardano ecosystem. By enabling these projects to build partnerships with small businesses, influencers, and enterprise-level businesses, we are facilitating a new, legally sound way of increasing their revenues.

Preventing Unfair Outcomes: Without a proper legal framework, projects run the risk of getting into disadvantageous agreements with large brands. By investing in the creation of this framework, we are providing them with a tool that allows them to negotiate and build partnerships on an even footing, protecting their interests.

Increasing Ecosystem Awareness: By offering a reliable legal framework, we expect to draw more attention and credibility to the Cardano ecosystem. It becomes an attractive platform for businesses of all sizes to launch their digital collectibles projects, thereby enhancing the overall value and recognition of Cardano.

Cost Justification: The costs associated with this project have been determined based on the average professional service rates in the legal field, especially those related to intellectual property and digital law. The legal experts we engage with have specific knowledge in the field of digital assets, which is a highly specialized area of law, justifying the cost.