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+--- Thread: Licence for a Game (/Thread-Licence-for-a-Game)
Licence for a Game - GreenPlasticMadeChimpmunk - 06-05-2018
Hello, i am a long term user of gimp (since my 8th grade, so 8 years now), i can do pretty much anything, but since I've been a student till so far i never had the need to worry about licensing.
I am planning to start a game project in GODOT as my final degree project, GODOT is licensed under MIT license which is amazingly permissive. So here's my plan:
Use 3 types of art assets:
CC 0
CC BY
Public Domain
cc by is not a problem, i can simply document where i got the art, give credit to the autor (in the way an author requests, if not requested in any specific way, the most simple and not misleading way possible) and document changes, without needing to expose the final product with alterations.
I want to sell my game commercially but i don't want to give people to pick my meshes/images produced in GIMP/Blender and do whatever they want with them, nor i can do such thing because Game engines normally encrypt files and to access them one must do some reverse engineering. MIT license has me covered on that but according to GPL license any kind of asset produced by a GPL licensed program (GIMP/Bender/etc) will only be of my property only if they are not used in a full screen environment or....another occasion i don't remember. If i make a loading screen with an image produced/modified by gimp then i'll have to release that image under GPL license and sub consequently the whole game(right?), so.....how do i avoid these legal issues? Should i move to Krita? Which i totally don't want =(
Thanks in advance for the help
RE: Licence for a Game - Ofnuts - 06-05-2018
You are utterly mistaken. The GPL only applies to the software and "derivative works" (ie, other software, that you create using parts of the code of the initial software), It doesn't apply to what you produce with it(*). May I suggest that you read the license and in particular its definition of "covered work"?
(*) otherwise all software produced using GPL software (editors, compilers...) would itself be GPL-licensed; right?
RE: Licence for a Game - Ofnuts - 06-05-2018
(06-05-2018, 01:15 PM)GreenPlasticMadeChimpmunk Wrote: I want to sell my game commercially but i don't want to give people to pick my meshes/images produced in GIMP/Blender and do whatever they want with them, nor i can do such thing because Game engines normally encrypt files and to access them one must do some reverse engineering.
I witness daily the transfer of 3D models and textures between mainstream commercial games (great models and poor physics) to more experimental things (garage coder: good physics but few good 3D models), so it could be Easier Than You Think.
RE: Licence for a Game - GreenPlasticMadeChimpmunk - 06-05-2018
(06-05-2018, 03:19 PM)Ofnuts Wrote: You are utterly mistaken. The GPL only applies to the software and "derivative works" (ie, other software, that you create using parts of the code of the initial software), It doesn't apply to what you produce with it(*). May I suggest that you read the license and in particular its definition of "covered work"?
(*) otherwise all software produced using GPL software (editors, compilers...) would itself be GPL-licensed; right?
So this Paragraph:
"In what cases is the output of a GPL program covered by the GPL too? (#WhatCaseIsOutputGPL)
The output of a program is not, in general, covered by the copyright on the code of the program. So the license of the code of the program does not apply to the output, whether you pipe it into a file, make a screenshot, screencast, or video.
The exception would be when the program displays a full screen of text and/or art that comes from the program. Then the copyright on that text and/or art covers the output. Programs that output audio, such as video games, would also fit into this exception.
If the art/music is under the GPL, then the GPL applies when you copy it no matter how you copy it. However, fair use may still apply.
Keep in mind that some programs, particularly video games, can have artwork/audio that is licensed separately from the underlying GPLed game. In such cases, the license on the artwork/audio would dictate the terms under which video/streaming may occur. See also: Can I use the GPL for something other than software?"
Is relative to a fullscreen screen shot of for example GIMP or the audio opening of audacity?
RE: Licence for a Game - Ofnuts - 06-05-2018
You are misreading it... the text/art mentioned is something that comes with the initial program. For Gimp, that would be the splash screen, or the icons. In a game, the output of the program is mostly a presentation of the data that the authors put in so it is copyrighted (same for any background music). But if you use Gimp to create an image, the image is yours and covered by whatever ownership/licensing you want.
RE: Licence for a Game - GreenPlasticMadeChimpmunk - 06-06-2018
(06-05-2018, 06:22 PM)Ofnuts Wrote: You are misreading it... the text/art mentioned is something that comes with the initial program. For Gimp, that would be the splash screen, or the icons. In a game, the output of the program is mostly a presentation of the data that the authors put in so it is copyrighted (same for any background music). But if you use Gimp to create an image, the image is yours and covered by whatever ownership/licensing you want.
ok, understood, thank you