A License Template is a legal framework, written in code (“programmable”), that defines various licensing terms for an IP. Such as:
  • “Is commercial use allowed?” - true/false (bool)
  • “Is the license transferrable?” - true/false (bool)
  • “If commercial, what % of royalty do I receive?” - number
These terms and values differ per License Template. The first (and currently only) example of a License Template was developed by the Story team directly, and is called the Programmable IP License (PIL :pill:).

Programmable IP License (PIL)

Learn about the first implementation of a License Template

PIL Smart Contract

View the smart contract for the PIL.

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License Template Requirements

License Templates are responsible for:
  • Providing a link to the actual, off-chain, legal contract template, with all the parameters, their possible values, and the correspondent legalese, in licenseTextUrl.
    • For a licensing framework to be compatible with Story, the legal text must be clear and parametrized, with each licensing parameter establishing the possible outcomes of each value.
    • The parameter values in each License Template (called “License Template terms”) drive the legal text for each license agreement.
  • Defining a struct with the particular definitions of the parameters in accordance, which must be encoded into the License Terms struct (described below).
  • Providing registration methods for the License Terms, and getters.
  • Verifying that both the minter and the address linking a derivative are allowed by the License Template terms to perform those actions.
    • These conditions could be enforced by the License Template itself or through hooks. They can range from limitations on the derivative creations, token-gating LNFT holders, creative control from licensors, KYC, etc. It’s up to the implementation of each License Template.
  • Verifying that the License Terms are compatible if a derivative has or will have multiple parents

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Create Your Own Template

You can create your own License Template (like the PIL), but it must be approved by the Story team to be fully embedded into the protocol.