This document is intended to explain the proper usage of Zotero trademarks and the relationship between these trademarks and the licensing of the Zotero software. We've tried to make the following explanation as simple as possible, but ultimately trademarks and copyright are legal matters. If you have any questions about when and how to use Zotero trademarks, you should contact an attorney.
Zotero is a registered trademark of the Corporation for Digital Scholarship. This trademark may not be used in connection with any product or service that is not affiliated with the Corporation, in any manner that is likely to cause confusion among Zotero users, or in any manner that disparages or discredits Zotero or the Corporation for Digital Scholarship.
Zotero's products are copyrighted works released under the terms of the Affero General Public License (AGPL). Verbatim copies of such works may be made and distributed, by anyone, in accordance with the terms of the AGPL without violating Zotero trademarks. The AGPL also grants you certain rights to make and distribute derivative works based on Zotero source code.
The AGPL does not grant you any right to use Zotero trademarks in connection with these derivative works. Zotero trademarks may not be used in connection with any such derivative works unless that usage is explicitly and specifically licensed, in writing, from the Corporation for Digital Scholarship.
It is important to us and to our user community to know which products are released by the Zotero project. That's why we care who uses the Zotero name and how they use it. But apart from the Zotero trademarks, we ensure that the software itself remains fully open source, which is why we use the AGPL.