Branding outside the GPL: assets/BRANDING.md

The name UltraTears, the emblem and icon, the cover and the launcher's pattern may be shared unchanged as part of
UltraTears and used to refer to it, but not for other projects or modified versions; the code stays GPL-3.0-or-later.
README / README.ru: Legal and License say so.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <[email protected]>

README.md

@@ -250,7 +250,7 @@ options.
 - UltraTears decrypts nothing and reads no keys: it takes the ExeFS and RomFS the player has already extracted.
 - No Nintendo SDK code or headers are used; the system and graphics layers are the port's own implementations.
 - Only the facts needed to run are in the source: addresses, hashes, short instruction replacements.
-- The icon (`assets/icon.ico`) is the author's own drawing, not Nintendo artwork.
+- The icon, emblem and cover are the author's own drawings, not Nintendo artwork.
 - UltraTears is not affiliated with or endorsed by Nintendo; you need your own purchased copy of the game.
 
 ## License
@@ -258,3 +258,7 @@ options.
 UltraTears is free software under the **GNU General Public License v3.0 or later** ([LICENSE](LICENSE)). Third-party
 code keeps its own license: [third_party/README.md](third_party/README.md); the builder package adds
 `THIRD-PARTY-NOTICES.md` and `licenses\` for the tools it carries.
+
+The **branding is not under the GPL**: the name UltraTears, the emblem and icon, the cover and the launcher's background
+pattern may be shared unchanged as part of UltraTears and used to refer to it, but not for other projects or modified
+versions. A fork keeps the code under the GPL with its own name and images. Details: [assets/BRANDING.md](assets/BRANDING.md).

README.ru.md

@@ -245,7 +245,7 @@ A — правая кнопка.
 - UltraTears ничего не расшифровывает и не читает ключи: он берёт уже извлечённые игроком ExeFS и RomFS.
 - Код и заголовки Nintendo SDK не используются; системный и графический слои — собственные реализации порта.
 - В исходниках только факты, нужные для работы: адреса, хеши, короткие замены инструкций.
-- Иконка (`assets/icon.ico`) — собственный рисунок автора, не арт Nintendo.
+- Иконка, эмблема и обложка — собственные рисунки автора, не арт Nintendo.
 - UltraTears не связан с Nintendo и не одобрен ею; нужна своя купленная копия игры.
 
 ## Лицензия
@@ -253,3 +253,8 @@ A — правая кнопка.
 UltraTears — свободная программа под **GNU General Public License v3.0 или новее** ([LICENSE](LICENSE)). Сторонний
 код сохраняет свои лицензии: [third_party/README.md](third_party/README.md); в пакете сборщика — `THIRD-PARTY-NOTICES.md`
 и `licenses\` для инструментов, которые он содержит.
+
+**Оформление под GPL не подпадает**: название UltraTears, эмблему и иконку, обложку и фоновый узор лаунчера можно
+распространять без изменений в составе UltraTears и использовать, чтобы рассказать о нём, но не для других проектов и
+изменённых версий. Форк сохраняет код под GPL, но со своим названием и картинками. Подробно (на английском):
+[assets/BRANDING.md](assets/BRANDING.md).

assets/BRANDING.md

@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+# UltraTears branding
+
+The code of UltraTears is free software under the GNU General Public License v3.0 or later (`LICENSE`). **The
+branding below is not**: it identifies this project, and the GPL does not cover it.
+
+Branding:
+
+- the name **UltraTears** and the short name **ultrs** as the name of a program, port or launcher;
+- the emblem and the icon: `assets/icon.ico`, `assets/launcher/l_emblem.png`;
+- the cover: `assets/cover.png`;
+- the launcher's background pattern: `assets/launcher/l_pattern.png`.
+
+Copyright © 2026 kuraeow (the UltraTears author). All rights reserved, except for the permissions below.
+
+## You may
+
+- copy and distribute the branding **unchanged**, as part of UltraTears itself: its source, its builder packages, a
+  build made from them, including an unchanged mirror or repackaging of a release;
+- use the name and show the emblem or the cover to refer to UltraTears: in news, reviews, guides, videos, wikis, bug
+  reports and links to this project.
+
+## You may not, without written permission
+
+- use the branding for another project, or for a modified version of UltraTears that you distribute (a fork): give it
+  another name and replace the emblem, the icon, the cover and the pattern with your own;
+- modify the branding, or use it in a way that suggests your project is UltraTears or is endorsed by its author;
+- use it in other names, logos or domains in a confusingly similar way.
+
+A fork may of course keep the code under the GPL; it only has to look and be named like itself. For a modified
+version, replace `assets/icon.ico` (the game's build compiles it into `UltraTears.exe`) and the launcher's images in
+`assets/launcher/`.
+
+Not branding, and under their own licenses: the fonts in `assets/launcher/fonts/` (SIL Open Font License 1.1, their
+texts next to them) and the small interface icons `assets/launcher/l_ic_*.svg` (GPL-3.0-or-later, as the code).