EEngramia
Legal document

Engramia — Key Legal & Licensing Design Decisions

> This document captures key decisions from the licensing consultation (2026-03-23). > It serves as a reference for future legal steps.

1. License

Decision: BSL 1.1 → Apache 2.0

| Parameter | Value | |-----------|-------| | License | Business Source License 1.1 | | Change Date | 4 years from each release | | Change License | Apache 2.0 (patent grant + retaliation) | | Additional Use Grant | Non-commercial (eval, test, dev, academic research) | | SDK plugins (sdk/) | Consider Apache 2.0 separately (for framework compatibility) |

Why BSL 1.1

  • Code is publicly readable (reference, trust, prior art)
  • Commercial/production use = paid license
  • Prohibits competing SaaS without a license
  • Strong precedent (HashiCorp → IBM acquisition $5.7B, MariaDB, CockroachDB)
  • Converts to Apache 2.0 after 4 years

Why Apache 2.0 as Change License (not MIT)

  • Explicit patent grant — protects users
  • Patent retaliation clause — deters patent trolls
  • Code publication = prior art
  • Compatible with everything relevant (LangChain MIT, CrewAI, etc.)

2. Trademark

Q&A (2026-03-23)

T1) Legal entity: Currently a sole trader (individual). Trade license — needs to be verified whether it is active.

T2) Product name: A name other than "Engramia" is being considered — working proposal: "vAI.be" or similar. Reason: "Engramia" is generic in the AI context, weaker protectability.

T3) Trademark territory: Not ready to pay for registration yet. Wants to preserve the option to register in the future.

T4) Logo: Does not exist yet — depends on the final name.

T5) Name uniqueness: See T2 — looking for a more unique alternative.

3. Terms of Service

Q&A (2026-03-23)

S1) Hosting: Not resolved yet. Adoption-focused recommendation needed.

S2) Sensitive user data: May store sensitive data. Position: disclaimer in ToS that the Licensor is not responsible for it. Special conditions (DPA, GDPR compliance) = on-demand, paid add-on.

S3) SLA (uptime guarantee): None currently. Consider for higher tiers.

S4) Data after subscription ends:

  • Deletion after X days
  • Free export while subscription is active + 30-day grace period
  • After expiry: export for extra cost, then deletion

S5) Use of data to improve the product: Yes — must be stated explicitly in ToS (aggregated metrics, anonymized patterns).

S6) Pricing model: Monthly subscription + annual subscription + pay-as-you-go. A combination of all three.

S7) Liability limitation: No liability for damages whatsoever. Guarantees = special enterprise agreement.

S8) Trial: Yes, but genuinely limited to evaluation only. Details to be specified later.

S9) Jurisdiction: Global — primarily developed countries where AI is actively used.

S10) B2B vs B2C: Both. Note: B2C in the EU has stricter rules (consumer protection).

S11) EU AI Act: Not considered yet. Will be reviewed separately.

S12) Liability for Brain outputs: Borne by the customer. ToS must explicitly state that outputs are "informational".

4. Contributors

Decision: No external contributors

  • No CLA required
  • No CONTRIBUTING.md
  • Clean IP chain (single author) — ideal for acquisition
  • License can be changed at any time without third-party consent

5. Name research (2026-03-23)

All considered names are taken:

  • vaibe / vaibe.com — gamification SaaS platform
  • vaibe.ai — Czech AI company, had to rename to Dazbog.ai (trademark conflict!)
  • vai.be — Belgian ccTLD, likely taken
  • brayn.ai — multiple existing projects (LinkedIn, brayn.app, brayneai.com)
  • memori.ai — Italian AI platform (since 2017)
  • synaps.ai — HR/recruitment AI
  • engram — heavily taken (5+ companies/projects)
  • agent brain — generic term, many GitHub projects

Recommendation: Look for a neologism (coined word), not a descriptive name.

6. ToS key decisions (2026-03-23)

| Item | Decision | |------|----------| | Hosting | EU (Frankfurt/Amsterdam) recommended — GDPR compliance default | | Sensitive data | Disclaimer in ToS + Privacy Policy mandatory | | SLA | None — "commercially reasonable efforts", enterprise SLA = paid add-on | | Data after termination | 30-day grace period, export for cost, then deletion | | Use of data | Yes (aggregated, anonymized) — must be stated explicitly in ToS | | Pricing model | Monthly + annual (15–20% discount) + PAYG (higher unit price) | | Liability | B2B: full exclusion. B2C EU: statutory minimum (cannot be excluded) | | Jurisdiction | Governing law: Czech Republic, arbitration clause for international disputes | | B2C in EU | 14-day withdrawal right, consumer warranties — consider self-service | | Outputs | "Informational outputs" — liability on the customer |

7. Legal documents — status

| # | Document | Status | File | |---|----------|--------|------| | 1 | LICENSE (BSL 1.1) | ✅ Done | LICENSE.txt | | 2 | Terms of Service | ✅ Draft | docs/legal/TERMS_OF_SERVICE.md | | 3 | Privacy Policy | ✅ Draft | docs/legal/PRIVACY_POLICY.md | | 4 | Cookie Policy | ✅ Draft | docs/legal/COOKIE_POLICY.md | | 5 | DPA Template | ✅ Draft | docs/legal/DPA_TEMPLATE.md | | 6 | EU AI Act analysis | ✅ Done | Result: minimal/limited risk, clause in ToS | | 7 | Key Design Decisions | ✅ Done | docs/legal/key-design-decisions.md |

All drafts require legal review before commercial deployment (Phase 4.6.2.1).

8. Open questions

  • [ ] Verify active trade license
  • [x] Final product name — Engramia
  • [x] Hosting provider and location for Cloud tier — Hetzner (Nuremberg)
  • [ ] Trial model — detailed design. Goal: prevent unlimited use of the monthly free window. Give a limit in the first month and reduce it over time. Also add IP checks to prevent easy circumvention via a new account/IP.
  • [ ] Trademark registration — timing and territory (EUIPO recommended after first customer)
  • [ ] Fill in [to be added] placeholders in all documents (email, pricing URL)