# Professional resources and ecosystem relationships

This register distinguishes **external professional resources** from project-owned intellectual property and from actual collaborators or counterparties.

A resource can inform the project without becoming a project partner, endorser, contributor, licensor, or rights holder.

## Resource model

| Resource | Function | Relationship status | Rights / attribution rule |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Lex Nova Lawyer | External legal/business education resource | Professional resource; no project partnership claimed | Link/describe the public resource accurately; do not imply representation, endorsement, or attorney-client relationship |
| Producer Dojo / ill.Gates | Music-production education, sound-design and professional-development ecosystem | Professional resource; potential future programming/collaboration opportunity; no partnership claimed | Attribute public-source material; do not reproduce proprietary course/newsletter material; obtain permission for protected materials, branding, appearances, recordings, or co-branded programming |
| Thoolie | Music-clearance educational reference | Professional/reference resource | Attribute the source; project controls remain project documentation, not legal advice |

## Integration rule

Professional resources are treated as **named external nodes** in the project architecture.

They may supply:

- education and domain expertise;
- public reference material;
- frameworks that inform project controls;
- potential speakers, instructors, advisors, or programming partners;
- potential licensing or distribution relationships.

They do **not** automatically supply:

- project ownership;
- endorsement;
- authorship;
- permission to reproduce;
- permission to use a person's name, likeness, voice, logo, course files, recordings, or proprietary materials;
- an attorney-client relationship;
- a contractual partnership.

## Programming relationship

When a professional resource becomes relevant to programming, create a project-owned program record that identifies:

1. the external resource and its public-source basis;
2. the original project interpretation or application;
3. the proposed format;
4. the rights/permission state;
5. the commercial relationship contemplated, if any;
6. the event and recording implications.

This allows the same professional resource to be represented consistently across legal, business, curriculum, web, and live-event planning.

## Status vocabulary

- **Professional resource** — external expertise or ecosystem the project may learn from or reference.
- **Reference** — source used for a documented claim or project-control idea.
- **Prospective collaborator** — a person or organization the project may approach; no participation is implied.
- **Partner** — use only after an actual agreement establishes that relationship.
- **Endorser** — use only with explicit permission or documented public endorsement.
- **Rights holder / licensor** — use only when the relevant rights and authority are documented.

See PROVENANCE.md, SOURCES.md, and RIGHTS-AND-CLEARANCE.md for evidence and clearance controls.