Licensing and verification

Draft. This page needs legal review before beta.NEEDS LEGAL REVIEW

Every asset in the MVP is CC0-1.0. CC0-1.0: You can use, change, and ship this asset, including commercially. No attribution required. Credit is appreciated, and each record carries a ready-made attribution_text.

How we check

  1. We only ingest from sources whose site terms we have read and recorded (source_terms_url, plus a snapshot whose SHA-256 is stored). If we can't confirm a source's terms, we leave it out.
  2. For each collection we fetch the license file or public-domain statement, store a snapshot (license.txt, hashed as license_snapshot_sha256), and check it for an explicit CC0 / public-domain dedication and for exclusions.
  3. We validate the PNG strictly, hash it (sha256), and check that the slicing data matches the image.
  4. Assets whose names or content suggest third-party trademarks are held for review.
  5. A maintainer spot-checks a sample, and every asset whose slicing was inferred heuristically.

Where the license fields come from

Each record's license_evidence says what its license fields were derived from: the automated check result, the license signals found, the files they came from, what the statement covers (scope), any corroboration, and known caveats. Nothing is set to "allowed" by default.

  • commercial_use and redistribution_allowed are true only when the license is CC0-1.0, the check passed, and nothing in the evidence (for example a trademark flag) limits it. null means not established: don't assume it's allowed.
  • api_mirroring_allowed is true only after a maintainer signs off on the source's terms. For the GitHub collections, the project owner, Corey Samuelson, signed off in writing on 2026-10-19 at 10:15 AM PT: "I sign off on copying from GitHub, you have my approval." Assets whose own CC0 evidence passed have api_mirroring_allowed: true and api_mirroring_status: "allowed". Assets whose rights aren't established (for example a trademark flag) stay null / "pending_signoff". This is a business sign-off, not a legal review. Deploy is not approved, so the prototype still refuses to serve from anywhere but localhost.

Verification states

ValueLabelMeaning
pendingPendingThe checks haven't finished, or a maintainer must look at it (for example, slicing inferred by a heuristic, or a trademark flag). Not public; maintainer keys only, via ?include=pending.
auto_verifiedAuto-verifiedNEEDS LEGAL REVIEWThe automated license check passed: the source's statement dedicates the work to the public domain under CC0, and nothing excludes this file. No person has looked at this specific asset yet.
reviewedReviewedNEEDS LEGAL REVIEWThe automated checks passed and a human maintainer looked at this asset, its license snapshot, and its slicing data. No asset in the prototype is reviewed yet.
rejectedRejectedWe won't serve it. The page stays as a tombstone, and its file URLs return 410 Gone. Reasons: license, terms, quality, or takedown.

None of these states is legal advice or a warranty. Assets are provided as is, without warranty. Check each license before you ship.

Problems and takedowns

Found a problem or have feedback? Tell us at support@spritefetch.com. Include the asset id and version.