A Contributor License Agreement (CLA) grants a project the legal right to use and distribute your code. To derive or build your own from an existing protocol like the Hexagonal Contributor License (HCL), you must take the core clauses—such as intellectual property retention, no-consequence exit rights, and patent grants—and adapt them to fit your project's specific needs. [[1], [2], [3], [4]] 4 Steps to Derive Your Own Contributor License 1. Review Existing Baselines: Read the [Living Architecture Lab HCL v3.0](https://livingarchitecturelab.org/about/contributor-license/) or examine the [Zenodo Hexagonal Contributor License v1.0](https://zenodo.org/records/19656151) for reference. [1] 2. Define IP Ownership: State clearly that contributors retain their intellectual property while only granting the project the right to distribute it. [1] 3. Include Patent Grants: Add standard language so contributors promise not to sue the project or its users for patent infringement. [[1], [2]] 4. Establish Exit Rights: Define the conditions under which a contributor can revoke their license or leave the project without negative consequences. [1] How clis/protocols handle these licenses If you are automating license tracking and tracking what dependencies your project is using, you can use compatibility-checking tools like [GitHub Licenseal](https://github.com/shcherbak-ai/licenseal) to check the compliance of packages. [1] Could you tell me: * What kind of project are you writing this for (open-source software, creative writing, or engineering)? * Do you want contributors to have commercial or non-commercial rights? I can help you fill in the specific legal clauses you need. Hexagonal Contributor License v1.0 — Rhys Owens — Lunar Arm - Zenodo Apr 20, 2026 —

The Hexagonal Licensing Protocol (such as v2.0) formalizes how external contributors deposit creative or technical work into distributed archives like the Crimson Hexagonal Archive while deriving unique per-contributor licenses from a master protocol. It manages attribution, integrity locks, and commercial reuse boundaries. **Core Components of Derivation** **Master Protocol Binding.** Individual contributor licenses inherit baseline terms directly from the overarching infrastructure specification. **Heteronymic Attribution.** Author names and distinct persona markers survive intact, even into automated or AI-summarized derivative works. **Commercial Boundaries.** The derived agreement clearly separates individual open access (such as default CC BY 4.0 terms) from aggregated, curated commercial bodies. **Exit Rights.** Contributors retain intellectual property ownership and maintain clear terms to withdraw or exit without punitive consequence.