Legal Notices & Intellectual Property Statement

Effective: May 24, 2026 · Last reviewed: August 16, 2026 · Draft pending attorney review

1. Copyright

All content on this website and within the PlaneReports platform — including but not limited to text, graphics, layouts, logos, icons, illustrations, photographs, audio clips, video clips, software code (including HTML, CSS, JavaScript, server-side code, Cloud Functions, scoring algorithms, and database schemas), report formats, email templates, page designs, marketing copy, methodology documentation, and the selection, arrangement, and compilation of underlying public data — is the copyrighted work of Hound Dog Aviation LLC, protected under the United States Copyright Act of 1976 (17 U.S.C. § 101 et seq.) and applicable international copyright treaties.

You may NOT reproduce, copy, distribute, transmit, display, publish, sell, license, modify, create derivative works from, or commercially exploit any portion of this site or its content without the express prior written consent of Hound Dog Aviation LLC.

2. Trademarks

The following are trademarks of Hound Dog Aviation LLC, whether registered or unregistered:

• PlaneReports™ and the PlaneReports logo
• Hound Dog Aviation™ and the Hound Dog Aviation aviator-coonhound logo
• The PlaneReports Score™
• PlaneReports Cloud Vault™
• Love a Pilot™ and the propeller-heart logo

Use of any Hound Dog Aviation LLC trademark — including in domain names, product names, marketing materials, comparative advertising, metadata, search engine optimization, or competitive imitation — without written permission is prohibited and constitutes trademark infringement.

Third-party trademarks, service marks, and trade names referenced on this site (including FAA, NTSB, FlightAware, and similar) are the property of their respective owners and are used solely for accurate factual reference. Such reference does not imply endorsement, sponsorship, or affiliation.

3. Database Compilation Rights

While the underlying public data sourced from the FAA Aircraft Registry, NTSB Aviation Accident Database, FAA Form 337 records, and similar public sources remain in the public domain, the selection, structuring, scoring, cross-referencing, enrichment, presentation, and compilation of that data into PlaneReports reports constitutes a protected database compilation under U.S. and international law.

The PlaneReports report format, scoring breakdown, eight-category methodology implementation, presentation order, visual design, and integrated cross-referencing between FAA registry data, NTSB incident records, FAA 337 filings, and verified maintenance logs are original creative works of Hound Dog Aviation LLC.

4. Strictly Prohibited Activities

Without limiting the foregoing, the following activities are expressly prohibited:

1. Scraping or automated harvesting of any PlaneReports content, reports, or data via bots, crawlers, headless browsers, or any other automated means without an executed API license agreement
2. Bulk download or extraction of report content, database fields, or platform code
3. Training, fine-tuning, or otherwise using PlaneReports content as input for any artificial intelligence, machine learning, large language model, or generative AI system without express written license
4. Reverse engineering, decompiling, or disassembling any PlaneReports software, scoring implementation, or Cloud Function code
5. Reproducing the PlaneReports report layout, format, score structure, or category breakdown in a competing product, regardless of whether identical wording is used
6. Imitating the PlaneReports visual design, brand identity, typography, color palette, or "vintage aviation Americana" aesthetic in a manner likely to cause consumer confusion
7. Removing, obscuring, or altering any copyright, trademark, watermark, or proprietary notice on PlaneReports materials
8. Framing, embedding, mirroring, or republishing any PlaneReports page, report, or content on third-party sites
9. Creating false or misleading representations of affiliation, endorsement, sponsorship, or partnership with Hound Dog Aviation LLC, PlaneReports, or Doug Richards
10. Bypassing or attempting to bypass any access controls, rate limits, paywalls, authentication systems, or security measures

5. AI and Machine Learning Notice

6. Methodology Transparency vs. Implementation Protection

PlaneReports publishes its scoring methodology in human-readable form within each report — this is intentional, by design, and a core part of our product. The published methodology is provided for the benefit of customers evaluating their reports, not as an open-source release.

The specific implementation of that methodology — including the underlying code, weighting logic, edge-case handling, data joining algorithms, anomaly detection rules, anti-fraud checks, and the precise database schemas and Cloud Function code that produce scores — is proprietary trade secret material of Hound Dog Aviation LLC. Reverse engineering, replicating, or substantially copying the implementation, even from observation of report outputs, is prohibited.

7. DMCA Notice and Counter-Notice Procedure

Hound Dog Aviation LLC respects the intellectual property rights of others and expects users and third parties to do the same. If you believe that material on PlaneReports infringes your copyright, please send a written notice to the email address below containing the following information required by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (17 U.S.C. § 512(c)(3)):

1. A physical or electronic signature of the copyright owner or authorized agent
2. Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to be infringed
3. Identification of the material claimed to be infringing and its location on PlaneReports (URL)
4. Your contact information (address, telephone, email)
5. A statement that you have a good-faith belief that the use is not authorized
6. A statement, under penalty of perjury, that the information is accurate and that you are the owner or authorized agent

Send DMCA notices to: hounddogaviation@gmail.com with subject line "DMCA NOTICE — PlaneReports"

8. Enforcement and Damages

Infringers may be liable for any or all of the following remedies:

• Statutory damages of up to $150,000 per work infringed under the Copyright Act (17 U.S.C. § 504(c)) for willful infringement
• Actual damages and disgorgement of profits attributable to the infringement
• Trademark infringement remedies under the Lanham Act, including injunctive relief, treble damages for willful infringement, and attorney's fees (15 U.S.C. § 1117)
• Computer Fraud and Abuse Act remedies for unauthorized access or scraping (18 U.S.C. § 1030)
• Trade secret misappropriation remedies under the Defend Trade Secrets Act and Florida Uniform Trade Secrets Act
• Attorney's fees, court costs, and injunctive relief
• Criminal prosecution where applicable

9. Reservation of Rights

All rights not expressly granted in these Legal Notices or in the PlaneReports Terms of Service are reserved by Hound Dog Aviation LLC. No license is implied. The absence of an explicit prohibition does not constitute permission.

10. Governing Law and Jurisdiction

This Legal Notice and all intellectual property claims related to PlaneReports are governed by the laws of the United States and the State of Florida. Exclusive jurisdiction and venue for any infringement action shall lie in the state or federal courts located in Volusia County, Florida, or in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida.