FCL-CERTIFICATION-RULES-0.1

Certification Program Rules

Rules governing certification, certification-mark use, economic transparency, audits, suspension, and appeals within the FCL standards ecosystem.

Contents

1. Status of This Document

2. 1. Purpose

3. 2. Core conformance and certification are different

4. 3. Certification classes

5. 4. What certification means

6. 5. Eligibility

7. 6. Open implementation and vendor neutrality

Status of This Document

This document defines the proposed certification program associated with the FCL family of standards.

It is separate from FCL-CORE.

An implementation may conform to FCL-CORE without participating in this certification program.

Implementation of the open specification does not confer permission to use an FCL certification mark.

Certification-mark use requires authorization under these rules and any applicable trademark or certification-mark requirements.

This document does not grant intellectual-property rights in any fictional world, catalog, performance, likeness, or creative work.

It governs certification of implementations and uses of the FCL standards.

1. Purpose

FCL-CORE defines a common language for permission.

The certification program answers a different question:

When may someone publicly claim that a profile, registry, verifier, operator, or work meets the FCL Standard Foundation's requirements?

Certification exists to make that claim meaningful.

The program is designed to provide confidence that a certified participant:

• implements the standard faithfully;

• does not silently rewrite permissions;

• preserves historical reliance;

• makes material terms visible before commitment;

• respects authority boundaries;

• maintains portability;

• follows mark discipline;

• protects sensitive information;

• applies commercial terms transparently; and

• remains accountable to an auditable certification process.

Certification is not an endorsement of creative content.

It is a statement of conformance and program eligibility.

2. Core conformance and certification are different

An implementation may be:

1. non-conforming;

2. FCL-CORE conforming; or

3. FCL Certified.

Only the third state authorizes use of the applicable certification mark.

A conforming implementation does not become certified merely because it correctly implements the open specification.

Certification requires compliance with both:

• the relevant technical specification; and

• these certification-program rules.

The Foundation MUST clearly distinguish these states in public materials.

3. Certification classes

Certification MAY be issued in the following classes.

3.1 Certified Profile

A permission profile certified as structurally conforming to the applicable FCL-family instrument.

Certification confirms that:

• required fields are present;

• the profile resolves through a conforming registry;

• publisher identity has been verified;

• an Authority Claim exists;

• the applicable terms can be resolved;

• versioning requirements are satisfied; and

• applicable certification-program requirements have been met.

Certified Profile status does not constitute a judicial determination of ownership.

3.2 Certified Registry

A registry implementation certified to publish, preserve, resolve, and federate FCL-family records according to FCL-CORE and FCL-REGISTRY-MARK.

3.3 Certified Verifier

A platform, marketplace, service, or node certified to resolve applicable FCL permissions and evaluate conformance correctly.

3.4 Certified Routing Operator

An implementation certified to execute licensed revenue routing or related commercial instructions.

A Routing Operator may also be a Certified Registry or Certified Verifier.

3.5 Certified Work

A work may display an applicable certification mark when a Certified Verifier determines that the work has standing under an eligible profile and satisfies the requirements applicable to mark issuance.

Certified Work status is derived from the governing records.

It is not a separate grant of rights from the Foundation.

4. What certification means

Certification means only that the certified subject satisfied the applicable certification criteria at the relevant time.

Certification does not mean that the Foundation:

• owns the underlying rights;

• guarantees the publisher's title;

• endorses the creative work;

• approves its message;

• declares it official canon;

• guarantees commercial success;

• warrants that no third party has conflicting rights;

• provides legal advice;

• insures the participant against claims; or

• assumes the participant's legal obligations.

The certification mark MUST NOT be presented in a manner likely to imply any of those meanings.

5. Eligibility

Certification MUST be available on objective, published terms.

Eligibility MUST NOT depend on:

• Foundation membership;

• commercial relationship with a preferred vendor;

• use of a Foundation-operated registry;

• use of a particular payment processor;

• creator popularity;

• franchise size;

• viewpoint;

• favorable review of a rights holder's work; or

• willingness to adopt commercial terms not required by the applicable certification class.

Certification MAY be denied or limited where:

• required technical criteria are not met;

• an applicant makes materially false representations;

• an applicant cannot demonstrate authority required for the requested certification;

• required security controls are absent;

• certification marks have been misused;

• applicable certification fees remain unpaid;

• prohibited conflicts of interest have not been addressed; or

• another published eligibility requirement is not satisfied.

6. Open implementation and vendor neutrality

The FCL specifications are intended to support multiple independent implementations.

Certification MUST NOT require an applicant to use:

• a Foundation-hosted registry;

• a Foundation-affiliated commercial service;

• FCL-as-a-Service;

• a specific cloud provider;

• a specific payment processor; or

• another designated vendor

where an interoperable conforming alternative exists.

Self-hosted and third-party implementations MUST be eligible for certification under the same substantive requirements.

The Foundation MAY operate services of its own.

Where it does, those services MUST be evaluated under the same published certification requirements.

Except where otherwise noted, FCL-CERTIFICATION-RULES-0.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).

Copyright © 2026 FCL Standard Foundation.

Implementation of the FCL standards does not confer permission to use any FCL certification mark.

The FCL certification marks are not licensed under CC BY 4.0 and are governed separately by the applicable certification program and mark-use rules.