TRACE

Artistic License, Source Models and Participation Terms

Version: 1.2
Effective date: 9 November 2026
Artist and Rights Holder: Dijk Grootswagers, for the original protected elements he owns
Governing law: The Netherlands, subject to section 13

1. The artwork and its editions

TRACE is a procedural artwork conceived and artistically directed by Dijk Grootswagers. The authored system, its rules and its interaction with participants are the central artistic work. Each edition is an individual realization of that work with its own history. The artist selects a three-dimensional boundary, and TRACE generates lines within it. In the viewer, a visit is the line the system creates and may extend as qualifying activity continues.

These terms cover the original elements of TRACE, the live artwork and its editions, participation, and the use of source models. Third-party materials and software retain their own licenses. Rights associated with the separate original continuous trace artwork remain governed by their existing terms.

2. Artistic authorship and rights

Dijk Grootswagers conceived TRACE and directs its generative systems, growth rules, visual interpretations, compositions and finished editions. He holds and reserves the rights he lawfully owns in original expression, which can include code, visual designs, arrangements of visits, and finished works and their presentation. Copyright applies only where the expression qualifies for protection under applicable law.

Third-party works, public-domain material, abstract rules and mathematical ideas, and independent creations remain outside that claim. Public access grants the viewing permissions in section 8. Other uses of protected TRACE elements require permission or a legal exception.

3. Source models and attribution

An edition can use a third-party 3D model as its spatial boundary. TRACE generates its own arrangement of visits within that volume. The resulting sculpture can still reproduce or adapt protected aspects of a model, including its recognizable shape. Rights in the model remain with its rights holders. Rights in TRACE’s original expression and rights in the source model apply separately to the finished artwork.

3.1 Permission to supply and use a model

Anyone supplying a custom model warrants that they own or have obtained the permissions needed for the intended use. They must provide the title, creator, source, license, known changes and applicable restrictions. Permissions must cover the uses planned for that edition, which can include processing and adapting the geometry, public display, commercial exhibition, digital or physical reproduction, and sale.

CC0 and Creative Commons Attribution models can be suitable where their terms and other applicable rights permit the planned use. A free download by itself supplies no such permission. A model with restrictions on commercial use, adaptations or downstream licensing can be used only within those restrictions or with separate permission. If the terms are incompatible, the artist must obtain permission, use a different model or adjust the intended use.

3.2 Model credits

The edition’s provenance record identifies the model, creator, source, license and relevant processing or changes. Required credit accompanies the artwork in its edition record, Gallery, exhibition materials, certificate or other appropriate documentation, as the source license requires. Credit does not imply endorsement by the model creator.

4. Viewing and participation

The artist can set an edition’s audience in TRACE Studio. Standard viewing can add anonymous growth after 30 seconds of visible viewing on an eligible display. Studio treats a display excluded from automatic growth as a public display. Human only admits verified human visits. Bot only is reserved for qualifying crawler activity. Mixed can admit both when crawler participation is enabled. The hosted installation currently has crawler participation switched off. Audience changes govern later activity and preserve existing visit geometry.

For a verified visit, pair a camera-equipped device with the display and align the live artwork. TRACE can remember verification of a private display in the same iPhone browser. Public displays do not create remembered verification. The terms are presented for affirmative acceptance when starting or claiming a visit where acceptance is required. An existing visit can continue under its recorded acceptance. Ordinary viewing and automatic anonymous growth do not signify acceptance or grant a license under section 4.1.

Growth follows the edition’s rules and can reflect measured visible viewing time, the timing and sequence of activity and the space available in the artwork. Claiming a visit lets a participant associate it with themselves and optionally add a public name. A guest can claim one visit per artwork. A signed-in participant can link multiple eligible visits to the same account. An account is optional.

Viewing confers no ownership rights. Starting, extending or claiming a visit does not by itself establish joint authorship, ownership of the collective artwork, or control over its development. Participants retain any intellectual property rights they independently hold. Authorship, joint authorship and moral rights arising under applicable law remain effective.

4.1 License for participant-provided material

When a participant affirmatively accepts these terms and intentionally supplies protectable material for the artwork, they grant Dijk Grootswagers a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license for the uses in this section, to the extent they can grant those rights. The license lasts for the period of protection, subject to mandatory law. Participants confirm that they have permission to submit the material and keep the right to use and license it elsewhere.

The artist may incorporate and adapt the material for the edition. The artist may publicly display, archive and commercially exhibit that edition, make and distribute digital reproductions of it, manufacture physical editions and sell limited-edition prints. Prints may be personalized through camera angle and highlighting a visit. The artist may grant galleries, collectors and production partners sublicenses for those same edition-related uses.

Taking part does not automatically entitle a participant to royalties, a revenue share or other compensation. Separate agreements and mandatory rights to remuneration, information or other protections continue to apply. This clause creates no new intellectual property rights in factual data or automatically generated geometry.

4.2 Visit credits and privacy

Public credits may recognize visitors collectively or use the names they choose to display. Individual credit is subject to the edition’s presentation and any legal attribution obligations. The Privacy notice explains what TRACE processes for camera verification, viewing, credits, and the optional Trace Network account and visit-linking features. Statutory privacy and data protection rights remain effective.

5. Studio states, completion and provenance

The artist determines completion, subject to any separately agreed obligations. TRACE may preserve the final geometry, the edition’s identifier, model provenance, rule version, dates, visit totals and an integrity record. The Gallery can show recorded display time, verified viewing time and the number of pieces sold where those figures are available. These records document the edition and its history.

6. Gallery, prints and purchases

The Gallery is a catalogue for browsing selected finished works when the artist publishes it. Studio checkout is a private test tool. Test orders do not collect payment or create an order for delivery.

Finished editions may be offered separately as digital works, limited-edition prints, or physical sculptures. Physical production may require documented adaptations for fabrication. Any actual purchase is governed by the terms of the offer and applicable consumer law. The artist may offer personalized prints where available.

Buying a print or sculpture transfers ownership of that physical object under the terms of sale. Copyright in the artwork and any right to make copies, redistribute underlying geometry or license the work stay with their respective rights holders unless expressly granted. Applicable source licenses and mandatory legal exceptions continue to apply.

7. Galleries and exhibitions

Galleries, museums and collectors may receive specific exhibition or reproduction permissions under a written agreement. Possession of a work or file grants only the rights available by law or under that agreement. Exhibition credit should identify TRACE, the edition where appropriate and Dijk Grootswagers as artist, unless otherwise agreed. Include any required source-model credit.

8. Permitted public viewing and sharing

You may view public works through the available TRACE interfaces. Personal, non-commercial photographs, screenshots and ordinary social-media sharing are permitted for editions designated as shareable where the applicable source licenses permit it and you credit TRACE and Dijk Grootswagers. Preserve authorship and provenance information when sharing. Redistribution of underlying artwork files and commercial reproduction require a separate permission or legal exception.

9. Third-party rights

These terms grant permissions only for rights the artist holds or lawfully controls. Third-party material remains subject to its applicable licenses or permissions. Follow the source license’s credit, licensing and other conditions where they apply. Any restrictions in these terms apply only to the extent compatible with the applicable source licenses and law.

10. Software and technical components

Software, libraries and other technical components can have separate licenses. Those licenses continue to govern their use. Access to an artwork gives no permission to access private infrastructure, authentication secrets or Studio administration.

11. Preservation of rights

Rights remain with their lawful holders unless expressly granted. The artist may make separate arrangements for commissions, exhibitions, reproductions or adaptations. Mandatory rights remain effective.

12. Availability and liability

Availability and device compatibility can vary. To the extent permitted by law, the artist excludes liability for indirect or consequential losses arising from voluntary use. This does not exclude liability where prohibited by law, including liability for intentional misconduct where applicable.

13. Governing law

The laws of the Netherlands govern these terms. If you are a consumer, you can still rely on the mandatory protections of the country where you usually live when those protections apply. Disputes may be brought before a competent court in the Netherlands. Consumers keep the right to use any other court available under applicable law.

14. Acceptance and versions

The terms version and time are recorded when a participant affirmatively accepts the terms. Revised terms apply to new submissions for which the participant has accepted the new version. Earlier contributions and permissions remain governed by the terms originally accepted and applicable law.

15. Copyright and contact

© 2026 Dijk Grootswagers in the original protected elements of TRACE. All rights reserved in those elements. Third-party material remains subject to the rights and licenses of its respective holders.

For questions about permissions or source credit, email organism.world@proton.me.

Artistic Statement

TRACE is a procedural artwork conceived and directed by Dijk Grootswagers. The authored system, its rules and its interaction with participants are the central artistic work.

For each edition, the artist sets a spatial boundary for growth. TRACE translates a visit into a line within that space. The rules govern where visits begin and how they extend, while the timing and duration of activity shape what accumulates. Some regions become dense while others stay open.

Each sculpture is an individual realization of TRACE. The artist determines when an edition is complete, fixing the geometry that emerged from that edition’s particular history of participation.