Layer 11: Economic Framework

What this means

This Layer defines how money flows through OLN. Where revenue comes from, where it goes, how Credits are spent, how contributors are compensated (or not), and how the platform supports itself financially while remaining true to its egalitarian values.

Several core commitments shape this Layer:

• Credits are not personal income. They are governance-and-operations currency. Contributors accumulate Credits to shape the platform and fund their Franchise's ambitions, not to extract personal wealth.
• Personal compensation is possible but structured. Creator Home content can be monetized directly. Network-level Contributor Funds can compensate specific work with published criteria. Both paths are intentional and bounded.
• Cash and Credits are kept distinct. External revenue enters as cash to Franchise treasuries. Credits remain their own accounting unit, with defined conversion rates for cross-system spending.
• Transparency applies. Treasury balances, spending decisions, and revenue flows are all visible on the public ledger.

Formal Text

Article I: Revenue Streams

OLN operates the following revenue streams at launch:

1.1 Subscriptions. Reader access tiers. Franchises may offer subscription-based access to content; Network-level subscriptions cover platform-wide access.

1.2 Patronage and tipping. Direct support from readers to specific creators or Franchises. Low-friction, creator-controlled.

1.3 Merchandise. Official Franchise goods (prints, books, art objects). Sold through the platform; revenue flows to Franchise treasury.

1.4 Events and experiences. Conventions, workshops, premium content, virtual events. Hosted by Franchises or at Network level.

1.5 Advertising. Non-intrusive advertising on free-tier access. Subject to caps and opt-outs per Article V.

1.6 API and data access fees. Third-party integrations paying for structured access to the platform's Fact graph and content corpus. Subject to contributor opt-out per Layer 1 and Network-level policy.

1.7 Licensing. Franchise IP licensed externally to third parties (film, TV, publishing, games, merchandise partners). Subject to governance under Layer 2 Article II and Article VI of this Layer.

Article II: Revenue Flow

2.1 External cash revenue is distinct from Credits. Cash flows to treasuries; Credits are earned through contribution per Layer 7.

2.2 Franchise revenue flows primarily to Franchise treasury. Network takes a defined cut:

• Default: 15% of gross Franchise revenue to Network
• 85% to Franchise treasury
• The 15% Network cut is amendable per Layer 1 Article II

2.3 Network-level revenue (API access, cross-Franchise initiatives, Network-only events) flows directly to Network treasury.

2.4 Treasury accounting. Franchise treasuries hold both cash and Credits, accounted separately. Network treasury holds both likewise.

2.5 Treasury transparency. Treasury balances, inflows, and outflows are public ledger. Specific external contract terms may be private where confidentiality is operationally required (e.g., licensing deals in negotiation), but summary information is published.

Article III: Network Revenue Use

Network's cut of revenue funds the following (allocations set annually by Council, amendable by Network vote):

3.1 Network operations and infrastructure. Servers, bandwidth, platform development, security, legal, administrative overhead. This is the baseline obligation.

3.2 Creator Fund. Grants for ambitious projects that benefit the Network beyond a single Franchise. Governance for specific grants follows Contributor Fund rules (Article VII).

3.3 Reserves. Runway and stability. Target reserve: 12 months of operational expenses. Reserves draw down only in emergencies and are replenished from subsequent revenue.

3.4 Charitable giving / external commitments. Network commits a defined percentage of annual revenue to causes aligned with its values. Specific recipients determined by Network vote.

Article IV: Credit Spending — Four-Tier Structure

Credits flow out of contributor holdings and treasuries through four tiers of spending.

Tier 1: Platform Operation (mandatory, automatic)

4.1.1 Every Franchise consumes platform resources (storage, bandwidth, compute, AI checks, moderation infrastructure). Monthly operational cost is calculated by usage metrics.

4.1.2 Payment order:

• First: Franchise treasury cash
• Second: Franchise treasury Credits, converted at published rate
• Last: Proportional draw from Team member personal Credits (only if both treasuries are insufficient)

4.1.3 The operational cost formula is published. Franchises know what their operations will cost.

4.1.4 Franchises whose treasuries cannot cover operations for 90+ consecutive days are flagged for review. Teams may choose to reduce operational footprint, run fundraising campaigns, or accept eventual Franchise dormancy.

Tier 2: Platform Features (optional, Franchise Team vote)

4.2.1 Optional premium platform features (advanced analytics, custom domains, premium moderator tools, expanded storage, priority support).

4.2.2 Paid from Franchise treasury Credits.

4.2.3 Franchise Team votes to activate; simple majority sufficient. Features are month-to-month; can be deactivated to reduce costs.

4.2.4 Network publishes available features and their Credit costs. Feature set may be expanded by Network policy.

Tier 3: External Commissioning (opt-in per project)

4.3.1 Franchise commissions work from outside parties (artists, developers, writers, consultants) for specific deliverables.

4.3.2 Mechanism:

• Franchise Team proposes project with budget and scope
• Team members can commit personal Credits toward the project
• Franchise treasury may contribute Credits as matching funds (decided by Team vote)
• If fully funded, project proceeds; commissioned party is paid in cash at the Credit-to-cash conversion rate
• If not funded, project does not proceed

4.3.3 Commissioned work becomes Franchise property (Commons if canonical, Franchise-owned asset otherwise) unless contracted otherwise.

4.3.4 Credit-to-cash conversion rate:

• Set by Network, adjusted annually by Council vote
• Annual adjustment capped at ±20% per year for stability
• Rate is asymmetric: Credits convert to cash for external payment; cash does not readily convert back to Credits (prevents speculative arbitrage)
• Historical rates preserved on public record

Tier 4: Franchise Ambitions (governance-heavy)

4.4.1 Large-scale initiatives: conventions, book publication, merchandise production runs, licensing deal preparation, partnership negotiations, external marketing campaigns.

4.4.2 Mechanism:

• Requires Franchise Team supermajority (2/3) to approve
• Published budget, timeline, and success metrics
• Project-specific fundraising — Franchise members (Team and Home) may commit personal Credits
• Credit commitments are visible; transparency in project funding is preserved
• Outcomes reported publicly; retrospectives inform future decisions

4.4.3 Participation is opt-in. No one's Credits are spent on Tier 4 projects without explicit consent.

4.4.4 Revenue generated by Tier 4 projects flows per normal Franchise revenue rules (treasury primarily, with Network cut).

Article V: Advertising

5.1 Advertising may be served on free-tier access to the platform.

5.2 Franchises may opt out of advertising on their content entirely. Franchises that opt in may set additional constraints (content standards, frequency caps, placement rules) within Network norms.

5.3 Network-level cap: Advertising revenue cannot exceed 20% of total Network revenue. This constitutionally prevents advertising-dependency and its attendant distortions.

5.4 Ad placement rules cannot influence:

• Content surfacing algorithms
• Fact graph presentation
• Editorial decisions
• Recommendation systems
• Search rankings

5.5 Advertising on content that a Franchise has opted out of is prohibited, regardless of context.

5.6 Changes to advertising policy require full Constitutional amendment (Tier 4 decision).

Article VI: External IP Licensing

6.1 Franchise IP may be licensed externally (film, TV, publishing, games, merchandise partnerships, AI training data).

6.2 Licensing requires:

• Franchise Team supermajority (2/3)
• Network ratification (simple majority of Network Power)
• Contributor opt-out: any contributor whose specific work is directly used in the licensed material may opt out of that specific license

6.3 Licensing revenue follows standard revenue flow (Franchise treasury primarily, with Network cut).

6.4 Creators whose work is licensed externally may receive direct compensation from the license (beyond the Franchise treasury share) per the specific license agreement. Such compensation must be disclosed in the license terms and is public record.

6.5 The Franchise Team must publish proposed licensing terms before ratification vote, including:

• Licensee identity and description
• Scope of license (what content, what rights, what duration)
• Financial terms
• Contributor consultation process
• Opt-out mechanism and contributor notification plan

6.6 Opt-outs cannot prevent the license entirely, but work from opted-out contributors must be excluded from the licensed material. If exclusion is not feasible, the Franchise Team must either renegotiate or decline the license.

Article VII: Contributor Funds

7.1 Network-level votes may create Contributor Funds with community-agreed criteria, providing a structured path for personal compensation of contributors without commercializing the base contribution system.

7.2 Fund types may include (non-exhaustive):

• Excellence Fund — for outstanding work
• Hardship Fund — for contributors facing emergencies
• Milestone Fund — for achieving defined Franchise goals
• Sustained Contributor Fund — for long-term dedication
• Onboarding Fund — for bringing in new contributors
• Accessibility Fund — for improvements benefiting disabled or underserved contributors

7.3 Each Fund requires:

• Published purpose and eligibility criteria
• Funding source specified (Network treasury allocation, voluntary contributions, dedicated revenue stream)
• Governance mechanism for awarding (who decides, on what cadence, by what process)
• Transparency requirements (awards publicly recorded with justification)

7.4 Fund creation requires Network-level vote per Layer 5 Tier 3. Funds may be modified, paused, or retired through the same process.

7.5 Awards from Funds are compensation, not Credits. A contributor may receive both Credits (for contribution) and Fund awards (for specific recognized work or circumstance).

Article VIII: Home Content Monetization

8.1 Creator Home content is eligible for monetization from launch per Layer 9 Article VIII.

8.2 Revenue sources include:

• Subscription share (reader paid for access to this creator's work)
• Patronage and tipping (direct support)
• Advertising share (if creator and Franchise both opted in)
• Event revenue (if Home creator runs events)
• External licensing (creator-controlled)

8.3 Dispute-gating applies per Layer 8 Article VIII.

8.4 Platform fee: OLN retains 10% of gross Creator Home revenue to fund Network operations and anti-gaming infrastructure.

8.5 Revenue delay: monetized revenue is held 14 days before payout to allow fraud detection.

8.6 Anti-gaming infrastructure runs from launch: bot detection, coordinated inauthentic behavior analysis, payment fraud review, geographic and behavioral anomaly detection.

Article IX: Taxation and Compliance

9.1 Contributors receiving cash payments from OLN are responsible for their own tax obligations. OLN reports payments to tax authorities as required by applicable law.

9.2 OLN complies with applicable regulations on platform operation, contributor compensation, and data handling. Regulatory compliance may require operational actions that are not themselves Constitutional matters.

9.3 In case of conflict between Constitutional provisions and applicable law, law prevails; the affected Constitutional provision is flagged for amendment to restore coherence.

Article X: Financial Transparency

10.1 Network publishes quarterly financial reports showing:

• Revenue by stream
• Expense categories
• Treasury balances (cash and Credits)
• Credit flow volumes
• Fund disbursements
• Council allocation decisions

10.2 Franchises publish their own treasury reports on the same cadence.

10.3 Individual contributor earnings are private unless the contributor chooses to make them public. Aggregate distribution statistics (e.g., "median Home Creator earnings by tenure") are public.