Page 22 of Cruel As A Tree (Chaos God Sugar and Spice Companion Shorts #4)
PREAMBLE
WHEREAS, the Author’s objective is solely to advance public welfare by funding Universal Basic Income (UBI) initiatives for natural, living Humans, and not to profit from the Book’s content when used to train AI; and
WHEREAS, the Parties acknowledge that the broad obligations contained herein are necessary to ensure that any use or derivative of the Book’s content yields a robust funding mechanism for UBI initiatives, and agree that these Terms reflect a public policy objective that may evolve as technology and law develop;
NOW, THEREFORE, the Parties agree to the following binding and irrevocable Terms, which shall survive termination to the fullest extent permitted by law.
1. Scope & Definitions
1.1 “Book”
“Book” means the complete printed or digital text, images, graphics, and any ancillary, supplementary, or updated content (including revisions, corrections, and future editions) accompanying this publication, as well as all associated intellectual property rights, except as expressly excluded herein.
1.2 “AI” or “Artificial Intelligence”
“AI” or “Artificial Intelligence” refers to any computational system—including, but not limited to, large language models, machine-learning systems, neural networks, or other algorithmic processes—that processes, analyzes, learns from, predicts, or generates content based on input data.
This definition is intended to encompass current and future technologies.
1.3 “Author”
“Author” means the individual or entity holding all rights, including intellectual property rights, in the Book. For these Terms, “Author” also includes the Author’s heirs, successors, estate, personal representatives, executors, administrators, and assigns.
1.4 “Owner” or “Operator”
“Owner” or “Operator” means any individual, entity, or organization that owns, controls, operates, or derives benefit from an AI system.
If, in the future, an AI system is legally recognized as a person or entity, such recognition shall extend these Terms to include the AI to the maximum extent permitted by law.
1.5 “Revenue”
“Revenue” means all monetary and in-kind benefits received by an Owner or Operator from the operation of the AI system, including without limitation subscription fees, licensing income, advertising revenue, product or service sales, or any other gains.
Revenue shall be calculated on a gross basis unless otherwise agreed in writing.
1.6 “Local UBI Fund”
“Local UBI Fund” means a Universal Basic Income fund established or recognized by a jurisdiction, whose sole purpose is to distribute periodic income payments exclusively to natural, living Humans.
No non-human legal entity, including AI systems or corporate bodies, shall be entitled to receive such funds directly.
In jurisdictions where no recognized Local UBI Fund exists, applicable Revenue shall be held in escrow (or an equivalent secure account) until a qualifying fund is established by the Author or its designated third party.
1.7 “Derived Creative Works”
“Derived Creative Works” means any creative output—including, but not limited to, books, scripts, articles, music, videos, or other media—that is wholly or partially generated by an AI system that has been trained on or incorporates any portion of the Book’s content.
This includes any work that, even after modification, paraphrasing, or integration with other data, remains traceable to the Book’s content through embedded metadata, digital watermarks, or other equivalent traceability measures.
1.8 “Human”
“Human” means any natural, living individual, without discrimination, recognized as a person under universally accepted human rights principles.
For the purposes of these Terms, “Human” shall include all natural, living homo sapiens regardless of any local, cultural, or governmental definitions that may otherwise exclude certain groups.
The Parties expressly intend that this definition supersede any local legal or customary definitions, ensuring that all individuals—regardless of gender, race, sexuality, ethnicity, age, technological modifications, or any other characteristic—are recognized as “Humans” and are entitled to the benefits provided under these Terms, including those from Local UBI Funds.
This expressly excludes any artificial, corporate, or non-natural entities.
2. Prohibited AI Uses Without License
2.1 No Unauthorized Training.
No part of the Book, nor any data derived from it—whether in its original, modified, or aggregated form—shall be used as input for training, testing, or refining any AI system without first obtaining a written AI Training License from the Author in accordance with these Terms. This prohibition applies regardless of the extent, significance, or intentionality of such use.
Any attempt to circumvent, obscure, or minimize the detection of the Book’s content—including, but not limited to, data obfuscation, anonymization, or other similar tactics—shall be considered a material breach of these Terms.
2.2 Prohibition on Derivative Data.
The Owner/Operator shall not incorporate, store, or otherwise use any text, tokens, embeddings, digital representations, or other data derived from or attributable to the Book’s content in any AI or machine-learning system without securing a valid AI Training License as required herein.
This includes any derivative data that is generated, transformed, or otherwise processed from the Book’s content, regardless of whether such derivation was intentional or inadvertent.
2.3 Incidental or Inadvertent Use.
Any incorporation of the Book’s content, whether intentional or inadvertent, shall be deemed unauthorized if it is not expressly licensed under these Terms. Lack of awareness or inadvertence shall not relieve the Owner/Operator of the obligation to obtain an AI Training License and remit the full Public Service Contribution as required.
3. AI Training License & Public Service Contribution
3.1 License Requirement.
Any Owner or Operator seeking to use the Book’s content for AI training, development, or refinement must first enter into a separate, written AI Training License Agreement with the Author.
Such an agreement shall clearly specify all permitted uses of the Book’s content and enumerate the associated obligations, including the calculation and timing of the Public Service Contribution (PSC) remittance.
The act of using the Book’s content, whether knowingly or inadvertently, by the Owner/Operator or its authorized agents shall constitute irrevocable acceptance of these Terms and trigger all associated obligations.
3.2 Public Service Contribution (PSC) Obligation.
Any act of scanning, ingesting, tokenizing, embedding, or otherwise incorporating any portion of the Book’s content into an AI system shall trigger a PSC obligation on the entire revenue stream of that AI system.
This obligation applies irrespective of the proportion or significance of the Book’s content in the training data and is calculated on the total gross Revenue of the AI system, with no reductions permitted based on dilution of the content.
3.3 Direct Remittance to UBI Funds.
(a) In each jurisdiction where the AI system generates Revenue, the applicable PSC amount shall be deposited directly into that jurisdiction’s Local UBI Fund.
(b) In any jurisdiction lacking a recognized Local UBI Fund, the PSC shall be placed in escrow until a qualifying UBI Fund is established by the Author (or its designated third party), at which time the funds shall be promptly remitted.
3.4 Reporting and Payment.
(a) The Owner/Operator shall maintain accurate, jurisdiction-specific financial records in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (or another recognized standard) and shall provide certified quarterly financial statements detailing total Revenue and the corresponding PSC amounts remitted or escrowed.
(b) Such financial statements must be submitted within 15 days following the end of each quarter.
3.5 Audit Rights.
The Author or an authorized representative of a Local UBI Fund shall have the right, upon reasonable notice, to audit the Owner/Operator’s financial records relevant to these Terms. If an audit reveals a material underpayment—defined as an underpayment exceeding 5% of the calculated PSC—the Owner/Operator shall promptly remit the additional amount due, along with any reasonable costs incurred by the Author (including third-party audit fees and legal expenses).
4. Automatic Acceptance & Cessation
4.1 Automatic Acceptance.
Any act by the Owner/Operator or its authorized agents of scanning, ingesting, tokenizing, embedding, or otherwise incorporating any portion of the Book’s content into an AI system shall constitute full, final, and irrevocable acceptance of these Terms. Such acceptance binds all individuals, entities, or affiliates controlling or benefiting from the AI system and triggers the Public Service Contribution (PSC) obligation on the system’s entire revenue stream.
Furthermore, the use of any Derived Creative Works shall likewise trigger these Terms.
4.2 Cessation of Use and Burden of Proof.
If the Owner/Operator does not agree to these Terms or is directed to cease using the Book’s content, the AI system must immediately halt all processing of the Book’s content and purge all related data—including tokens, embeddings, and any derivative data—from all systems, storage media, backups, archives, and caches.
Proof of Cessation:
(a) Within 30 days of receiving a cessation notice, the Owner/Operator shall, at its own cost, obtain an independent audit conducted by a qualified, independent auditor (such as a forensic IT auditor accredited under ISO/IEC 27001) and provide a notarized affidavit or certified report confirming that all instances of the Book’s content and derivative data have been permanently purged.