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IP & Copyright Compliance Policy

Purpose. Ensures Soon respects the intellectual property rights of others — especially software licences — and protects its own IP, primarily its source code and product.

1. Scope

Applies to all Soon employees and contractors. Covers third-party software and open-source dependencies, commercial software and SaaS subscriptions, third-party content (images, documents, fonts, media), and Soon's own IP (source code, product, brand, documentation).

2. Policy

2.1 Open-source dependencies

  • Open-source components used in Soon's product must have licences compatible with commercial SaaS use. Copyleft licences that would impose obligations on Soon's proprietary code (e.g. AGPL) must not be introduced without explicit approval.
  • Licence compatibility must be checked when adding or updating dependencies, as part of the dependency review in the development workflow. Licence and dependency checking is performed by Aikido and GitHub Dependabot, which run continuously against the product repositories. (Formerly asked to confirm the tooling, e.g. GitHub dependency review, a licence scanner in CI) and who approves exceptions.
  • Licence obligations that do apply (e.g. attribution notices) must be met.

2.2 Commercial software and SaaS

  • Commercial software and SaaS must be properly licensed/subscribed before use; use must stay within the licence or subscription terms (including seat counts).
  • Software must be obtained from the vendor or an authorised source; pirated or unlicensed software is prohibited on any device used for Soon work.
  • New tools follow the approval flow in the Cloud Services Policy.

2.3 Third-party content

Images, fonts, media and text used in Soon's product, website or marketing must be appropriately licensed (or Soon-created), and used within the licence terms with attribution where required.

2.4 Protecting Soon's IP

  • Soon's source code and infrastructure code are kept in private GitHub repositories; access follows the Access Control Policy.
  • Work produced by employees and contractors for Soon belongs to Soon; contracts must contain IP assignment and confidentiality clauses (see the HR Security Policy).
  • Source code and other Confidential material must not be shared outside approved systems, including consumer AI tools (see the Acceptable Use Policy).
  • Suspected infringement of Soon's IP must be reported to the policy owner.

3. Roles & responsibilities

  • Engineers — check licences when adding dependencies; keep code in private repositories.
  • Engineering lead (Thomas Picauly) — approves licence exceptions and maintains the dependency licence check.
  • Policy owner (Olaf Jacobson, ISM) — maintains this policy and handles suspected infringements.

Change log

Version Date Author Comments
0.1 2023-10-23 Olaf Jacobson First draft document
0.2 2026-07-18 Andrea Cardinali Rewritten lean and Soon-specific (ISMS overhaul) — dropped UK statute and penalties chapters, focused on OSS licence compliance and protection of Soon source code