Independence
Governance
Draft v0.1. These are intended commitments. Nothing here describes a body that already exists, and the page has not been reviewed.
Where things stand
| Stage | Founder-led pilot |
| Board | None seated yet |
| Legal entity | Not yet formed |
| Funding | None. Domain names and hosting costs are covered personally by the founder. |
Principles
- Neutral. No author, publisher, AI company or funder can buy a label, a classification or influence over an individual record.
- Open. Records are CC0. Definitions and marks are CC BY 4.0. The code and the full history of every change are public.
- Free to register. Registration will stay free for authors and publishers.
- Accountable. Declarations carry a date and a history, and anyone can challenge one.
- Continuous. The data can be exported and mirrored by anyone. If the registry ever stops, a complete public copy and an archived copy will be left behind.
Intended oversight
The founder intends to hand the registry to an independent steward. The first step is an interim advisory council of five to seven people, then a formal board of a legal entity or a fiscal sponsor. The intended make-up draws on:
- the AI and technology world
- a publisher
- an established author
- the book industry and its metadata standards
- a librarian or archivist
- a self-published author
- an intellectual property lawyer
- an author who does not use AI
Rules the board is intended to adopt
- No single category holds more than one third of the seats.
- The founder holds one seat, does not chair, and steps back after the hand-over.
- Fixed terms, recusal on conflicts of interest, and published minutes and funders.
- Funders do not get seats and have no say in classifications or individual records.
- Definitions change only through a public, versioned process.
Funding
See support the registry for what funding would pay for and the principles that apply to it.