docs: add Silo trademark & brand policy

Add TRADEMARK.md (canonical brand policy), a brand-asset NOTICE under web/public, and a License & Trademarks section in the README. Documentation only; no application code changes. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-06-21 19:24:49 -04:00
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 cd web && bun run format:check
 ```

-## License
+## License & Trademarks

-Silo is licensed under `AGPL-3.0-or-later`. See [LICENSE](LICENSE).
+Silo's source code is licensed under the **GNU Affero General Public License
+v3.0 or later** (`AGPL-3.0-or-later`) — see [LICENSE](LICENSE).
+
+The **Silo name, logo, and wordmark are trademarks of Silo Media L.L.C.** and
+are **not** covered by the AGPL. You're free to fork and redistribute the code,
+but forks and redistributions must not use the Silo brand as their identity and
+must remove or replace the brand assets. Publishing a Silo-branded app to an app
+store requires written permission. See [TRADEMARK.md](TRADEMARK.md) for what's
+permitted — including referential use like "compatible with Silo."

 ## Configuration

@@ -0,0 +1,85 @@
+# Silo Trademark & Brand Policy
+
+Silo's source code is free and open source under the **GNU Affero General Public
+License v3.0 or later** (`AGPL-3.0-or-later`). You are welcome to use, study,
+modify, and redistribute it under those terms.
+
+**That freedom applies to the code — not to the Silo name and brand.** The Silo
+trademarks identify the official project and its official builds. This policy
+explains how they may and may not be used. It exists for a simple reason:
+anyone should be free to fork the software, while users can still trust that
+something called "Silo" actually comes from us.
+
+## Marks covered
+
+The following are trademarks of **Silo Media L.L.C.** ("Silo Media"), whether or
+not registered:
+
+- the names **Silo** and **Silo Server**
+- the **Silo logo** and **wordmark**
+- Silo **product and component names**, including **SiloRemote**, **SiloMac**,
+  and other "Silo…" names
+- confusingly similar variations of the above
+
+The AGPL license over the source code **does not grant any license to these
+marks.** This reservation is expressly permitted by AGPL-3.0 §7(e).
+
+## Uses that are always fine — no permission needed
+
+- **Referring to Silo truthfully** — "compatible with Silo," "a plugin for
+  Silo," "built on Silo," "a fork of Silo." Use the word to refer to *our*
+  project, not to brand *yours*.
+- **Redistributing official, unmodified builds** under the Silo name, with all
+  notices kept intact.
+- **Running, modifying, and self-hosting** Silo for yourself or your
+  organization.
+- **Editorial and educational** use — articles, tutorials, talks, reviews.
+
+## Uses that require our written permission
+
+- Distributing a **modified version under the Silo name** (see *Forks* below).
+- **Publishing an app to any app store** — Apple App Store, Google Play,
+  F-Droid, or similar — under the Silo name, logo, or a confusingly similar
+  identity.
+- Using the marks in a **company, product, domain, or app name**, or in any way
+  that implies Silo Media operates or endorses your offering.
+- **Merchandise** or other commercial use of the logo or wordmark.
+
+## Forks must rebrand
+
+You may fork Silo — that is your right under the AGPL. But a **distributed** fork
+must not use the Silo name or logo as its identity. Pick your own name and logo,
+remove the Silo brand assets (below), and you may state factually that your
+project "is based on Silo" or "is a fork of Silo." This is the same model used by
+Mozilla, Rust, and many other open-source projects: **open code, protected
+identity.**
+
+## Brand assets are not under the AGPL
+
+The Silo logo, wordmark, and icon files are **© 2026 Silo Media L.L.C., all
+rights reserved**, and are **not** licensed under the AGPL or any other
+open-source license. Any redistribution or fork must **remove or replace** them.
+See the `NOTICE` file in the brand-asset directories.
+
+## Official sources
+
+The only official Silo software comes from:
+
+- the **Silo-Server** organization on GitHub — <https://github.com/Silo-Server>
+- the official website — <https://siloserver.org>
+- official app-store listings published by **Silo Media L.L.C.**
+
+Any app-store listing, download, or "Silo" app that does not originate from the
+above is **not** official and is **not** authorized to use the Silo marks.
+
+## Requesting permission / reporting misuse
+
+Email **trademark@siloserver.org** with the details. We're generally glad to
+grant reasonable requests — the goal of this policy is only to prevent user
+confusion and unauthorized "official-looking" releases.
+
+---
+
+*Silo and the Silo logo are trademarks of Silo Media L.L.C. The **™** symbol is
+used with the Silo wordmark until federal registration issues, after which **®**
+applies.*
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+SILO BRAND ASSETS — NOTICE
+==========================
+
+The files in this directory (and its subdirectories) that constitute Silo brand
+assets — including the Silo logo, wordmark, app icons, and other visual-identity
+files — are:
+
+    Copyright (c) 2026 Silo Media L.L.C. All rights reserved.
+
+These brand assets are TRADEMARKS of Silo Media L.L.C. They are NOT licensed
+under the GNU Affero General Public License (AGPL-3.0-or-later) that covers the
+Silo source code, nor under any other open-source license.
+
+If you redistribute or fork this software, you MUST remove or replace these
+brand assets. You may not use the Silo name or logo as the identity of a
+modified or redistributed version, and you may not publish a Silo-branded app to
+any app store without written permission from Silo Media L.L.C.
+
+See TRADEMARK.md for the full Silo Trademark & Brand Policy, including the
+permitted referential uses (e.g. "compatible with Silo").