Forge IP Carve-Out

If you’re a developer or AI creator thinking about building on the Forge, read the sections below so you know exactly where the lines are. Ambiguity helps no one.

Under the MIT license, you have broad permission to use every piece of code, skill, template, and documentation in the Forge repo:

• Clone and run the pipeline on your own machine. Privately, on a server, in a container, on a CI runner.
• Fork the repository on GitHub, GitLab, or any other host. Modify it freely.
• Use the skills — SIGNAL, CONCEPT, SCRIPT, STORYBOARD, GENERATE, ASSEMBLE, DISTRIBUTE — as the backbone of your own studio.
• Use the MCP servers — image generation, video generation, voice, music, Grimoire logging — as building blocks.
• Use the Remotion templates — power-scaling, lore-drop, training-arc, philosophy — with your own characters and scripts.
• Use the slash commands (/new-short, /from-signal, etc.) verbatim or adapted.
• Use the schemas — the pipeline manifest format, the Grimoire database schema, the JSON types in remotion/src/types.ts.
• Build commercial products on top of any of the above. Run your own YouTube/TikTok channel. Sell templates built on the Forge pipeline. Host SaaS that uses our MCP servers.
• Sublicense the code you derive under any license compatible with MIT (including more permissive licenses).
• Keep your changes proprietary. MIT doesn’t require you to open-source your modifications. (We love it when people contribute back, but it’s not required.)

The MIT license has two conditions. The carve-out adds a third.

1. You must keep the MIT notice. The copyright notice and permission notice from the MIT license must be included in all copies or substantial portions of the software.
2. No warranty, no liability. The software is provided “as is.” Standard MIT language. You’re on your own for production risk.
3. You can’t use our mascots as your own. This is the carve-out, spelled out in the next sections.

The following project elements are not included in the MIT Forge license. This licensing carve-out does not by itself establish ownership, registration, or enforceability; those questions require their own evidence and, where needed, legal review:

• The mascot names. AKASHI, KAGE, MIRA, and any additional mascots we introduce in the future (FRX-1, LUM-0, and successors).
• The mascot visual designs. The specific character-sheet imagery, distinctive visual tropes (AKASHI’s cosmic-narrator presentation, KAGE’s chrome analytical aesthetic, MIRA’s soft-glow visual language).
• The character-sheet descriptions. The written design documents that define each mascot’s appearance, personality, voice, and archetypal role. These live in mascots/ and are proprietary even when published publicly.
• The voice directions. The speaking cadence, tonal rules, archetypal framings, and signature phrases associated with each mascot.
• The signature sigils. The gold-on-void emblems associated with each mascot and with the AnimeLegends wordmark.
• The AnimeLegends wordmark and logos. The typographic and graphic marks used for the studio brand.
• The original worldbuilding. The lore, cosmologies, and original narrative universe surrounding the mascots.

So it’s really clear: the following are MIT-licensed and yours to use, even though they might look like they’re related to the mascots:

• The code structure and file organization of mascots/ — you can have your own mascots/ folder with your own characters.
• The prompt-library structure used for character invocation — the pattern is MIT. The specific prompts that invoke AKASHI, KAGE, or MIRA are carved out.
• The character-sheet schema — the JSON/YAML structure for defining characters in your own pipeline. The specific filled-in values for our mascots are carved out.
• The voice-direction format — the rubric for documenting how a character speaks. The specific rubrics filled in for our mascots are carved out.
• The Remotion template code that can stage a mascot scene — the component is MIT. If you ship that component with our mascots baked in as default props, you’ve crossed the line.

In short: the how is MIT. The specific who (our named mascots) is carved out.

MIT requires you to include the copyright notice and permission notice in copies or substantial portions of the software. In practice, this means:

• If you fork the Forge, keep the LICENSE.md file in your repository.
• If you redistribute parts (say, one of our skills as a standalone package), include a short attribution: “Based on the Forge by AnimeLegends.ai, MIT License.”
• In products built on the Forge, a credit in documentation, About page, or README is appreciated but not legally required beyond the MIT obligation.

You do not need to say your product is “built on AnimeLegends.ai” in marketing. We will not require brand attribution beyond the standard MIT notice.

When you open a pull request against the official Forge repository, you grant AnimeLegends.ai a perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to use your contribution under the same terms as the rest of the Forge (MIT + carve-out). This is the standard inbound-license pattern for MIT projects.

You retain copyright in your contribution. You can use it elsewhere, license it under different terms in other contexts, and generally do whatever you want with it.

For substantial contributions (new skills, new MCP servers, new templates), we ask contributors to sign our lightweight Contributor License Agreement once. Details in CONTRIBUTING.md in the repo.

“AnimeLegends,” “AnimeLegends.ai,” and the mascot names AKASHI, KAGE, and MIRA are claimed as project identifiers and original character canon. This page does not claim a filed or registered trademark unless a public registry record is linked here.

You can, freely, and without a trademark license:

• Reference AnimeLegends.ai by name in tutorials, reviews, and educational content.
• Use our name in comparison (“like AnimeLegends.ai but for”) where the comparison is factually accurate.
• Link to our website and the Forge repository.

You cannot, without permission:

• Use these project identifiers in the name of your product, company, or domain (e.g., “AnimeLegends Plus,” “Forge by AnimeLegends,” etc.).
• Suggest or imply endorsement, partnership, or affiliation without an actual agreement in place.
• Sell merchandise bearing our marks.

Can I build a commercial anime channel using the Forge?

Yes. With your own characters, your own brand, your own voice. That’s exactly what the Forge is for.

Can I ship a SaaS that wraps the Forge MCP servers?

Yes. MCP server code is MIT. You’re responsible for your own provider credentials and terms (Kling, Suno, ElevenLabs, etc.).

Can I charge money for a course that teaches the Forge?

Yes. We’d appreciate if you credit the source, but it’s not required beyond the standard MIT notice.

Can I create my own character named “AKASHI”?

No. The name is carved out.

Can I create a character inspired by AKASHI’s archetype — the cosmic narrator — without using the name or design?

Yes. Archetypes are not copyrightable. Our specific expression of the archetype (name, design, voice) is.

If I submit a PR that adds a new skill, do you own my skill now?

No. You keep copyright. You license it to us under MIT + carve-out so we can include it in the Forge. You can use it elsewhere freely.

Can I use the Forge to train an AI model for resale?

The code itself: yes. Our mascot designs as training data: no. Generated outputs from your own model that resemble our mascots would likely cross the carve-out line and the trademark line.

The authoritative license text lives at LICENSE.md in the root of the Forge repository. If anything in this explainer conflicts with the LICENSE.md file, the LICENSE.md file governs.

Read the full LICENSE.md: https://github.com/animelegends-ai/forge/blob/main/LICENSE.md

Questions: legal@animelegends.ai. Related documents: Terms of Service · Vault Legal Posture · The Forge.