Elthian-NoTrain License v1.0
- Purpose and Intent
This License permits limited AI-enabled discovery of the Content through AI Search, while prohibiting Training and other non-search uses, including Product Use, RAG, dataset construction, and substitutive outputs. The intent is discovery and citation that directs users to the original Content, not stand-alone answers.
- Definitions
Core Definitions
For purposes of this License:
2.1 “Content” means the copyrighted work(s) (text, images, audio, video, data compilations, metadata, markup, and other protectable expression) that reference or incorporate this License.
2.2 “AI System” means any automated system, model, agent, service, crawler, pipeline, or tool that performs or enables any of the following using algorithmic, statistical, machine learning, neural network, or similar techniques: inference, generation, summarization, embedding, clustering, classification, ranking, retrieval augmentation, or training.
2.3 “Automated Access” means access to Content by non-human means, including crawling, scraping, harvesting, downloading, indexing, parsing, copying, screenshotting, transcription, or any programmatic retrieval, whether authenticated or not.
2.4 “Training” means using Content to create, improve, tune, evaluate, benchmark, label, curate datasets for, or otherwise influence the parameters, weights, internal representations, routing, memory, retrieval behavior, safety behavior, preferences, or performance of an AI System, including pretraining, fine-tuning, reinforcement learning, preference learning, supervised learning, self-supervised learning, evaluation, benchmarking, dataset construction, filtering, labeling, and data annotation for model development.
2.5 “Inference” means processing Content at run time to produce outputs, including answers, summaries, classifications, rankings, or generated content, regardless of whether Training occurs.
2.6 “Embedding” means any vector, token sequence, latent representation, hash-derived semantic signature, or other representation computed from Content for storage, retrieval, similarity comparison, clustering, or downstream use.
2.7 “RAG” (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) means any system or workflow in which Content is retrieved, embedded, injected, provided, or otherwise used at inference time to influence, condition, or generate output by an AI System.
2.8 “Product Use” means use of Content by or within an AI-enabled product, feature, agent, workflow, assistant, copilot, or service, whether internal or external, whether public-facing or restricted, and regardless of whether Training occurs.
2.9 “Derivative AI Output” means any output that reproduces, paraphrases, summarizes, translates, imitates, transforms, or otherwise reflects protected expressive elements of the Content, including its protectable selection, coordination, and arrangement, including output that materially substitutes for the Content.
2.10 “Licensee” means any individual or entity that accesses or uses the Content under this License, including any entity that deploys, operates, provides, or controls an AI System.
2.11 “Human Access” means access by a natural person using a standard web browser or comparable interactive user agent, without Automated Access. Human Access does not include a natural person delegating retrieval, parsing, summarization, extraction, or interpretation of the Content to an AI System, OS-level agent, headless browser, automation tool, or synthetic user agent.
2.12 “Incidental Technical Copying” means transient copies made solely as a necessary technical step in ordinary network transmission or browser rendering (for example, caching by a browser, CDN, ISP, or proxy), provided such copying is not used for Automated Access, AI processing, Product Use, RAG, Training, or Embedding, and is not repurposed for any AI System.
2.13 “Attribution” means reasonable credit to the Licensor (and author where provided), including (where a public URL exists) a link to the original Content, and a reference to this License’s canonical URL.
2.14 “Scope” means the Content coverage to which a license notice or policy applies, which may be site-wide, limited to a section or category, defined by a URL pattern, or limited to an individual resource or URL.
2.15 “AI Search” means query-based discovery whose output: (a) includes Attribution and a direct, user-clickable link to the original Content, (b) presents only non-substitutive excerpts or metadata-level signals as permitted by the applicable license, and (c) is designed to direct the user to the source rather than provide a stand-alone answer.
2.16 “AI Indexing” means building, maintaining, or updating an index or retrieval structure over Content for AI Search or other AI System uses, including creating or maintaining inverted indexes, vector indexes, embedding stores, feature stores, or other retrieval artifacts.
Additional Definitions (License-Specific)
2.17 “Permitted Excerpt” means an excerpt of the Content that is: (a) limited in length, (b) non-substitutive, and (c) used solely to support AI Search results. A Permitted Excerpt must not exceed the lesser of: (i) 120 words, or (ii) 10% of the Content’s word count, and must not include any paywalled, members-only, or access-restricted portions of Content.
2.18 “Search Index Artifact” means an artifact produced through AI Indexing solely to enable AI Search, including non-substitutive indexes, ranking features, and Embeddings used for retrieval, provided that such artifacts are not used for Training, Product Use, RAG, dataset construction, or the generation of Derivative AI Output.
2.19 “Answer Engine Output” means output that provides a user with the principal facts, reasoning, structure, or expressive substance of the Content such that a reasonable user would not need to access the original Content.
- License Grant (Limited to AI Search)
3.1 Grant. Subject to full compliance with this License, Licensor grants Licensee a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to perform Automated Access of the Content solely for AI Search.
3.2 Scope Limitation. The grant includes only the minimum rights necessary to: (a) perform AI Indexing to support AI Search, and (b) present a Permitted Excerpt and metadata-level signals in connection with an AI Search result that links to the original Content.
3.3 No Other Rights. No rights are granted for Training, Product Use, RAG, dataset construction, republishing the Content, or generating Derivative AI Output other than Permitted Excerpts strictly as allowed by this License.
3.4 Public Availability Not Expanded Consent. Public availability of the Content does not expand the scope of rights granted by this License.
- Permitted Uses (AI Search Requirements)
AI Systems may, solely for AI Search:
4.1 AI Indexing for Discovery. Retrieve and index Content for query-based discovery, retrieval, and ranking.
4.2 Display Permitted Excerpts. Display a Permitted Excerpt only as necessary to contextualize a search result.
4.3 Attribution and Linking. Each result must include Attribution and a direct, user-clickable link to the original Content.
4.4 Non-Substitution. AI Search outputs must be referential and must not function as a substitute for reading the original Content.
4.5 Search Index Artifacts Allowed Only for Search. Licensee may create and maintain Search Index Artifacts only to enable AI Search, and only if those artifacts are not used for Training, Product Use, RAG, dataset construction, or to generate Answer Engine Output.
- Prohibited Uses (Not Exhaustive)
Licensee must not, and must not enable any third party to:
5.1 Train. Use the Content for Training of any AI System.
5.2 Product Use. Use the Content in any AI-enabled product, assistant, agent, copilot, workflow, or enterprise tool, other than strictly AI Search as defined in this License.
5.3 RAG and Context Injection. Use the Content in RAG pipelines, prompt stuffing, context injection, memory stores, agent toolchains, or any retrieval system designed to influence generative outputs.
5.4 Dataset Construction. Include the Content, or any substantial portion of it, in any dataset, corpus, benchmark, evaluation set, prompt library, or curated collection intended for AI development or product scaling.
5.5 Answer Engines and Substitutive Outputs. Provide Answer Engine Output, including stand-alone answers, briefs, summaries, explanations, or other substitutive outputs, whether derived from one source or multiple sources.
5.6 Derivative AI Output Beyond Permitted Excerpts. Generate Derivative AI Output beyond Permitted Excerpts, including paraphrase, translation, rewriting, stylistic imitation, or structural imitation.
5.7 Circumvention by Aggregation. Aggregate multiple Permitted Excerpts or results across time, users, or sessions to reconstruct or approximate the Content.
5.8 Cross-Use of Search Index Artifacts. Use Search Index Artifacts for any purpose other than AI Search, including Training, Product Use, RAG, or dataset construction.
5.9 Proxy Laundering. Obtain Content through intermediaries, scraping brokers, research partners, or third-party aggregators as a means to circumvent this License.
- Anti-Circumvention and Evasion
6.1 No Fragmentation Evasion. Licensee may not fragment retrieval across multiple requests, IPs, accounts, regions, vendors, or agents to evade excerpt limits, non-substitution requirements, or detection.
6.2 No Aggregation to Reconstruct. Repeated excerpts, stitching, or other aggregation intended to reconstruct or approximate the Content is prohibited.
6.3 No Proxy Laundering. Licensee may not use intermediaries to obtain the Content in violation of this License.
- Human Access and Incidental Technical Copying
7.1 Human Access Allowed. Human Access remains unaffected.
7.2 Incidental Technical Copying Allowed. Incidental Technical Copying is permitted only where it does not enable prohibited AI use.
- General Conditions
8.1 No Removal of Notices. Licensee must not remove, obscure, or falsify copyright notices, authorship information, or embedded licensing metadata.
8.2 No Endorsement. Licensee must not imply that the Licensor endorses Licensee, Licensee’s AI System, or any outputs, products, or services, unless separately agreed in writing.
- Notice, Metadata, and Technical Signals
9.1 Signals Are Complementary. The Content may provide notice of this License through robots.txt, llms.txt, HTTP headers, meta tags, structured data, sitemaps, or other machine-readable signals. Absence of one signal does not waive the License where other notice exists.
9.2 Technical Signals Do Not Expand Rights. Technical directives are complementary signals and do not expand the scope of rights granted by this License.
- Termination
10.1 Immediate Termination on Breach. Any violation of this License terminates the rights granted under Section 3 immediately.
10.2 Cessation and Deletion. Upon termination, Licensee must cease Automated Access for AI Search and, to the extent feasible and subject to applicable law, delete retained copies and derived representations that would otherwise enable continued use, including Search Index Artifacts.
10.3 No Rights by Cure. Curing a breach does not reinstate rights or grant rights not expressly granted.
- Remedies
11.1 Injunctive Relief. Unauthorized use may cause irreparable harm. Licensor may seek injunctive or equitable relief in addition to other remedies.
11.2 Statutory Rights Preserved. This License does not limit any rights or remedies available under copyright law, including statutory damages where applicable.
- Compliance Evidence and Cooperation (Privacy-Safe)
12.1 Preservation Duty After Notice. Upon written notice of suspected breach, Licensee must preserve records reasonably necessary to verify compliance to the extent permitted by applicable law, and should provide such records in aggregated, anonymized, or redacted form where feasible.
12.2 Written Attestation. Upon reasonable request, Licensee must provide a written attestation describing safeguards used to prevent Training, Product Use, RAG, dataset construction, and prohibited substitutive outputs. The attestation must not require disclosure of personal data or confidential security details beyond what is reasonably necessary to evidence compliance.
12.3 Refusal as Evidence. Refusal to provide reasonable cooperation after credible notice may be treated as evidence supporting an inference of unauthorized use, to the extent permitted by law.
- No Trademark Rights
This License does not grant any rights in the Licensor’s trademarks, service marks, trade names, or branding.
- Disclaimer
THE CONTENT IS PROVIDED “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE.” LICENSOR DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT, TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.
- Limitation of Liability
TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, IN NO EVENT WILL LICENSOR BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR ANY LOSS OF PROFITS, REVENUE, DATA, OR GOODWILL, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO THIS LICENSE OR THE CONTENT, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
- Governing Law and Venue
This License is governed by the laws of the State of Delaware, without regard to conflict-of-law rules.
To the extent enforceable, the parties consent to exclusive venue and jurisdiction in the state or federal courts located in Delaware for disputes arising from or relating to this License.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Licensor may seek injunctive or equitable relief, or bring claims for unauthorized use, in any court of competent jurisdiction where the alleged conduct occurs or where a defendant is located, and nothing in this License limits the Licensor’s ability to do so.
If a court determines the Delaware venue provision is unenforceable as to a particular party or claim, venue and jurisdiction will lie in any court of competent jurisdiction that has a reasonable connection to the dispute.
- Severability
If any provision of this License is held invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions remain in full force, and the invalid provision will be interpreted to best effectuate the original intent to the maximum extent permitted by law.
- No Waiver
Failure by Licensor to enforce any provision does not constitute a waiver of future enforcement of that or any other provision.
- Acceptance by Conduct
By engaging in Automated Access or otherwise using the Content for AI Search where this License provides notice, Licensee accepts the limitations and conditions of this License to the maximum extent permitted by law.
- Interpretation
Headings are for convenience only and do not affect interpretation.
Machine-Readable Metadata (Reference Example)
Illustrative example aligned to the Elthian Policy Declaration schema:
{
"version": "1.0",
"site_id": "2f3c7d9a6b1e2a9d4c0b8f1a7e6d5c4b3a2f1e0d9c8b7a6f5e4d3c2b1a0f9e8d",
"timestamp": "2026-01-01T12:00:00Z",
"default_policy": {
"license": "elthian-notrain",
"capabilities": {
"allow_training": false,
"allow_inference": true,
"allow_rag": false,
"allow_embedding": true,
"allow_indexing": true,
"allow_search": true,
"allow_product_use": false,
"attribution_required": true,
"embedding_persistence": "permitted",
"rag_mode": "none",
"output_substitution": "non_substitutive_only",
"search_citations_required": true,
"snippet_max_chars": 1200,
"dataset_construction": "prohibited",
"evaluation_benchmarking": "prohibited",
"commercial_use": "restricted",
"personal_data_training": "prohibited",
"derivative_output": "no_derivative_output"
}
},
"scopes": [],
"url_overrides": [],
"metadata": {
"plugin_version": "1.0.0",
"wp_version": "6.4.2",
"php_version": "8.2.12",
"site_timezone": "America/New_York",
"total_posts": 0,
"confidence": "unverified"
}
}