Notice (September 15, 2010): We will allow time for any violations or infringements to be corrected by October 15, 2010. Beyond that date, any violations of these guidelines will result in legal action from Literate Software LLC at our discretion.

Introduction

Literate Software LLC ("Litsoft") actively encourages and promotes the use of its software and other related intellectual property to make online distribution of crosswords easy, flexible and safe for publishers and consumers. As described in various documents including but not limited to contracts with its partners and license agreements in its software, it maintains all rights to its intellectual property, trademarks, proprietary information embedded within its software, documentation and output of its software with limited rights granted for its use. "Fair use laws" as may exist within a legal jurisdiction may also allow certain uses of this intellectual property beyond the rights explicitly granted by these licenses.

To clarify the correct use of Litsoft intellectual property as we get frequent enquiries from authors and publishers and to prevent any abuse of rights retained by Litsoft, this document provides the guidelines for proper uses of Literate Software intellectual property including but not limited to its software, output of its software, patents, trademarks and copyrights for end-users, authors, publishers and software makers.

This is NOT a legal document, does NOT confer any rights to any entity, and is NOT an exhaustive list of all rights maintained by Litsoft but is just an informal document to understand what may be and may not be legal use for some common cases. Please contact Litsoft for any questions or clarifications, if necessary. We cannot provide legal counsel or specific legal determination for your particular situation, you will need to consult your legal counsel for such things based on the applicable laws. It will be your responsibility to be compliant with all applicable laws.

Trademarks

Across, Across Lite, and Across Library are trademarks of Literate Software LLC and any use is protected by trademark laws.

Mention of any or all of these trademarks must indicate that it is a trademark of Literate Software LLC. There is no need to link to Litsoft site for just mentioning these trademarks unless required by other guidelines below for the context of use.

Software

All rights to the software provided by Litsoft are owned by Litsoft and only limited rights are provided by the licensing or contract under which such software is provided.

End-users

Any use of the software for any commercial purpose without the written permission of Litsoft along with payment of any applicable fees is prohibited.
You may not alter, modify, or in any way change the appearance and copyright notices on the software. You may not reverse compile the software or publish any protected intellectual property embedded in the software.
You may not distribute, sell or make copies of the software available to any entities without the explicit written permission of Litsoft along with payment of any applicable fees.

Authors

You may use any Litsoft software to create crosswords and allow such crosswords to be published from any entity as long as they are published via Litsoft software and available free of charge (direct or indirect) for any and all visitors to the site.
You may sell crosswords prepared using Litsoft software to sites for publication via Litsoft software as long as such crosswords are published free for any and all visitors to the site.
If you are selling crosswords created using Litsoft software to a site that charges for access to such crosswords (directly or indirectly), either the publisher must have a written agreement with Litsoft or you should have a written agreement that may or may not involve a fee.
If you use a third party software to create such crosswords for use with Litsoft software, such software must have complied with the guidelines listed below and/or have an explicit written agreement with Litsoft for such software.

Publishers

You may publish crosswords for use via Litsoft software without any written agreement with Litsoft as long as there is no direct or indirect charge for access to use of such crosswords.
You may use Litsoft software available for publication embedded on the web page under a license provided for the software as long as there is no direct or indirect charge for access to use of such crosswords unless explicitly permitted in the license.
You may link to Litsoft for downloadable software for end-users with no permission or agreement necessary as long as there is no direct or indirect charge for access to use of such crosswords and the other guidelines have been satisfied.
You may NOT distribute copies of the downloadable software yourself or link to sites other than Litsoft web site for download of Litsoft software without written consent from Litsoft.
You may use third-party software to publish the crosswords in Litsoft puzzle formats that embed Litsoft intellectual property as long as you also provide those crosswords for use with Litsoft software in the same location.
Any publication of crosswords using Litsoft software or intellectual property embedded within its puzzle formats must mention the use of Litsoft software and indicate the Trademark(s) associated with them.
You may not publish any crosswords accessible only under a fee directly or indirectly to end users using Litsoft software or intellectual property embedded within its puzzle formats without written consent from Litsoft and payment of any applicable fee.

Software Publishers

All Litsoft software is protected by copyright and patent laws. Any infringement of these rights will be liable for prosecution. We encourage innovation for the benefit of consumers but not parasitic or blatant copying of our concepts, designs and intellectual property. We provide selective partnership licenses for use of our intellectual property or brand/trademarks for use in third-party software on any platform. Contact us if interested in partnering.

The puzzle formats of Litsoft embed Litsoft intellectual property and its use is governed by intellectual property laws and any applicable "fair use" laws.

You may not reverse compile or otherwise extract intellectual property from Litsoft software or its puzzle formats except as may be allowed by any applicable "fair use" laws.
You may not use Litsoft's intellectual property illegally obtained from third-parties or obtained illegally by the third-parties.
You may not use any Litsoft Trademarks to promote your software except with written permission of Litsoft.
You may not use any Litsoft software in part or in whole within your software except under written consent from Litsoft and payment of any applicable fees.
If you use Litsoft puzzle formats with embedded Litsoft intellectual property in software (without violating any other rights/laws) that charges, directly or indirectly, for access to crosswords in that format, you MUST acknowledge its use in the software and any and all promotional material and provide links to Litsoft web site for such mention along with trademark notices.
If your software provides crossword content within it using Litsoft puzzle formats with embedded Litsoft intellectual property (without violating any other rights/laws) and you own the content, the publisher guidelines above will also apply to you.
You may not provide crossword content within it using Litsoft puzzle formats with embedded Litsoft intellectual property where the content is owned by third parties if you are in violation of any copyrights under which such content is provided or violate the publication rights of the content owner for their use of the formats.
You may not create any crossword in Litsoft puzzle formats with embedded Litsoft intellectual property and represented as being in Litsoft puzzle format or for use with any Litsoft software without prior written consent from Litsoft and payment of any applicable fees.