Trademark and Copyright Policy

August 3, 2026 · View on GitHub

Copyright © 2026 MalwareJake LLC. All rights reserved.

Every part of this project — the CUSTODY framework document, this repository's supporting files, and any accompanying materials — is copyright 2026 MalwareJake LLC. The work is licensed to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0.

Apache 2.0 is a permissive license, but it is a license and not a transfer. Copyright remains with MalwareJake LLC. You may copy, modify, distribute, and use the work commercially, subject to the license terms, including the requirements to retain the copyright notice and to state significant changes you make.

Trademarks

CUSTODY™ and MalwareJake™, together with the MalwareJake logo and any associated word marks and designs (the "Marks"), are unregistered trademarks of MalwareJake LLC. MalwareJake LLC asserts common-law rights in the Marks. No federal registration is claimed.

The license does not grant trademark rights

This is the point of this document. Section 6 of the Apache License 2.0 states:

This License does not grant permission to use the trade names, trademarks, service marks, or product names of the Licensor, except as required for reasonable and customary use in describing the origin of the Work and reproducing the content of the NOTICE file.

So: the Apache 2.0 grant covers the copyrighted work, not the name. You have broad rights to the text of the framework. You do not have rights to call your version CUSTODY.

The reason is not proprietary. A containment framework is only useful if a stated profile means the same thing to everyone reading it. If L4/Operational/R2 can mean whatever a given fork decides it means, the classification model stops being a shared reference and the framework loses the property that makes it worth adopting.

Permitted uses

You do not need permission for any of the following.

Nominative reference. Naming CUSTODY to refer to this framework — in documentation, blog posts, talks, papers, standards work, audit reports, policy documents, procurement language, or training material. Comparative and critical commentary included.

Stating conformance. Describing your program, product, or agent deployment as aligned with, based on, implementing, or assessed against CUSTODY. For example:

  • "Our agent platform implements the CUSTODY seven-pillar model at maturity 2."
  • "Agents are classified using CUSTODY profiles."
  • "This assessment evaluates the deployment against CUSTODY v1.0."

Redistribution. Distributing the framework unmodified, with copyright notice and license intact, under the name CUSTODY.

Internal use. Any use inside your own organization: forking, adapting, extending, or renaming the framework for internal policy, provided the result is not distributed publicly.

Uses requiring permission

Written permission from MalwareJake LLC is required for:

Naming a modified version CUSTODY. If you fork the framework and change its substance — the level definitions, the mandate categories, the reach scale, the pillars, or the delegation algebra — give it a different name. You must not present a modified version as CUSTODY, as a version of CUSTODY, or under a confusingly similar name.

Product, service, or company names. Using CUSTODY or MalwareJake in the name of a product, service, company, domain, application, repository, or social media account. "CustodyGuard," "CUSTODY Pro," and "custody-framework.com" all require permission. Descriptive use in marketing copy does not: "CUSTODY-aligned agent containment platform" is fine, naming the platform "CUSTODY" is not.

Certification or endorsement. Offering CUSTODY certification, accreditation, or credentialing, or implying that MalwareJake LLC has endorsed, approved, reviewed, or sponsored your product, service, assessment, or organization. MalwareJake LLC does not currently operate any certification program, and no third party is authorized to represent one.

Logo use. Reproducing the MalwareJake logo or any CUSTODY design mark outside of unmodified redistribution of this project.

Attribution

When referencing the framework, please include:

CUSTODY: A Containment Framework for Autonomous Agents. Copyright © 2026 MalwareJake LLC. Licensed under Apache 2.0.

Cite the version you are referencing. The framework will change, and "CUSTODY" without a version number will become ambiguous.

Guidelines for use

  • Use the Marks to refer to the framework, not to identify your own goods or services.
  • Do not modify, abbreviate, hyphenate, translate, or incorporate the Marks into a compound term or logo.
  • Do not use the Marks in a way that suggests affiliation, partnership, sponsorship, or endorsement where none exists.
  • Do not register the Marks, or any confusingly similar mark, as a trademark, domain name, or business name in any jurisdiction.
  • Make clear which content is yours and which is MalwareJake LLC's when the two appear together.

Reserved rights

MalwareJake LLC reserves all rights in the Marks not expressly granted here. This policy may be updated; the version in the repository at github.com/malwarejake/CUSTODY-framework controls. Nothing in this document limits the rights granted to you under the Apache License 2.0, and nothing in it should be read as expanding that license to cover trademark rights.

Nothing here is legal advice. If your intended use is unclear, ask.

Contact

Requests for permission, and questions about this policy, go to MalwareJake LLC via the project repository.