Contribution Ownership & Assignment

Updated October 18, 2026.

Ownership transfers only through a completed, signed agreement. Complete the schedules, resolve every item below, and have authorized parties sign an approved copy before relying on it. Do not place applicants’ completed schedules on the public website.

1. Parties, work and consideration

Company: UpperStatus, Inc., operating HartBeat OS, with its legal identity and address recorded in the signed agreement. Contributor: the person or entity identified in the signed Schedule A, including every necessary rights owner. “Assigned Work” means only the exact deliverables identified by title, version, date and file hash or fixed attachment in Schedule A. It excludes Schedule B materials and personal application records.

Schedule A must state real, agreed consideration, payment timing, acceptance conditions and the date or event when the transfer takes effect. Do not describe a possible job, future equity, discretionary recognition or unspecified opportunity as guaranteed consideration. If the consideration or transfer condition is left blank, do not sign or rely on the agreement. A no-cash transfer requires counsel to establish a valid basis and an informed voluntary agreement.

2. Assignment of identified rights

Subject to satisfaction of Schedule A’s stated transfer conditions, Contributor hereby assigns to Company all Contributor’s right, title and interest in and to the Assigned Work, including transferable copyrights and associated exclusive rights throughout the world for their applicable duration. Company may reproduce, modify, distribute, display, perform, sublicense, license, sell and create derivatives of the Assigned Work within those rights. Specifically identified invention and patent rights are included only when expressly scheduled and approved; this clause does not sweep in unrelated inventions.

No work-made-for-hire status is assumed. If a work independently qualifies under applicable law and a valid agreement, that status may apply; the express assignment remains the intended transfer to the extent lawful. Nonwaivable statutory rights, including applicable termination rights, are preserved.

3. Existing and third-party materials

Contributor retains ownership of the prior tools, libraries, methods, portfolio materials and other background property specifically identified in Schedule B. For Contributor-owned background material necessarily embedded in the Assigned Work and approved in Schedule B, Contributor grants Company a perpetual, worldwide, royalty-free, nonexclusive, transferable and sublicensable license to use, modify and distribute it with or as needed to exploit the Assigned Work, subject to nonwaivable law and any expressly scheduled limits.

Third-party and open-source materials remain subject to their actual licenses; Contributor cannot assign those owners’ rights. Schedule B must identify each component, source, license, attribution and restrictions, and any incompatible obligations must be resolved before adoption. General skills, experience, résumé, identity and unrelated prior or future work are excluded. AI-generated elements and tool terms must be disclosed; no warranty of exclusive rights in unprotectable AI material is created.

4. Use independent of employment selection

After the assignment becomes effective, Company may use the Assigned Work even if Contributor is not hired, not selected as a Top 10 Architect, not granted founding recognition, or later leaves the program. Those outcomes do not reverse the assignment or create additional royalties unless Schedule A or another signed agreement expressly says otherwise. Company must still provide all agreed consideration and honor separate employment, bounty and recognition promises. Nothing authorizes exploitation before the agreed transfer conditions are met.

5. Authority, assistance and permitted modifications

Contributor represents that the disclosed authorship and rights information is accurate; Contributor controls the assigned rights and has identified coowners, employer interests, third-party restrictions and conflicting obligations. Each required coowner must sign or provide documented authority. Contributor will reasonably assist with confirming the transfer at Company’s reasonable expense, without granting an open-ended power of attorney.

To the extent lawful and only for the Assigned Work, Contributor consents to Company’s authorized modifications and omission of attribution. Any moral-rights waiver requires counsel to determine its validity and specificity in the relevant jurisdiction; this agreement does not waive nonwaivable rights or authorize false attribution.

6. Personal data, publicity and confidentiality

The assignment concerns work rights, not ownership of the Contributor as a person or unrestricted rights to personal data. Public use of name, portrait or biography requires a separate permission. Existing confidentiality agreements remain effective; Schedule C must identify applicable confidential materials and handling duties. Do not apply a blanket nonconfidential label to résumés or protected disclosures.

7. No unlawful waiver

This agreement does not waive earned compensation, mandatory employment protections, privacy rights, lawful reporting to authorities or remedies that cannot be waived. It does not establish contractor or employee status by itself. Fraud, knowing misappropriation and intentional wrongdoing are not excused. Dispute terms and any indemnity or liability limit must be separately approved for this relationship; no blanket release is inserted here.

8. Signatures, records and schedules

Use a verified signature process or signed counterpart with evidence of intent, signer identity, authority and the exact document delivered. Both parties receive a complete signed copy and schedules. Amendments require an authorized written agreement. Do not apply later website terms retroactively. Governing law and forum are specified in the signed agreement, subject to mandatory local rules.

Questions or requests: legal@hartbeatos.com. Please identify the policy, submission or request concerned; do not email identity documents unless a secure, necessary verification method has been agreed.