license!?!

Game Engine Game Engine Support and Discussion
1

Hello everyone.

I’ve come across a few people - they catch on the inaccuracies of licenses (not specified) people, and then drag out to account (knocking out money) - a simple legal trick.
There are a lot of people developing code and examples - please indicate your license - if everything is free, then it should be written. And then there will be no additional problems …
Let it be for now.
Thank you for attention.

2

Wait, how do you know about this?

3
  • but why did you ask about it? Are there any doubts about this? People tens of thousands of dollars knocked out for a simple photo from the camera … I know, the aliens told … :yes:
    I pursued good intentions, so that later there would not be anyone else’s problems, like me, too.
4

https://blenderartists.org/forum/showthread.php?259752-The-GPL-Answer-Thread

Also licensing is just the way we have in software dev to “protect” our work, to some extend at least. Usually its some legal statements in a file on the side or directly in the script at the top.

But make sure to respect the licensing of the software you are using, as it may apply to your work too.

5

I write to you on an example that would be understandable and no one caught:

  • Someone on the forum will post a cool shader, you told him “Thank you”, and the shader was used in your game. The game brought you a good profit, and that’s the man who posted the shader hires a lawyer, and says - “I did not specify free of charge and the modification.” And that’s all, in business, you will have to pay back.
    Be careful, I was just hinted about those textures that I laid out for everyone - free to use & modify (do not worry if there are problems, it will not concern you)

Now it’s time to think, maybe we really need to BA, create a completely free resource - that someone would not lose money, because of ignorance.

6
  • Something I read the topic of the link, and I see Unity with their license, but there is not everything so simple. For individuals, individually free license, but when you want to sell the game (in the Steam for example), you will need to register a company, and there is another license.
    So I worked, that’s what something and BGE ceases to interest me. It is necessary to look at the license more accurately, and on Unity as well.
7

I’m not doubting, just want to ensure. Well I’ll keep this in mind next time.

8

And who knows the 3d engine on which you can create a game for free, but sell with deductions (probably about full free of charge to ask is not actual)? - Otherwise I was lost in licenses, I only speak Ukrainian and Russian … English is still problematic for me.

9
  • I assume that the release of free games is not a problem? And for a commercial project, you just need to make the file attach to the engine, and not compile with it? In principle, I do not even mind deductions - 5-10%, provided a successful project … Just now I come close to making a commercial game, and I would not want to face legal issues.
    Honestly, I would even be glad to be licensed with deductions - this will be promoted by the engine itself. But only if the commercial success of the project.
    Law, lawyers (or liars), licenses - how many wolves are there.
10

Forgot to write - I will add to post #5:

  • if you’ve downloaded textures on the principle “free for downloading”, it does not mean “free for commercial use”. Any lawyer will prove this - be careful with this. They will wait for your game, and even haste commercial, and then they can make claims to you.
    Free to download? But it does not write there - it is free for distribution, modification, or even use in a commercial product.
    Do you understand?
11

In BGE you can make and sell games completely for free.
You will never have to pay the BF for games you create and sell. There is nothing stopping you selling games you create with BGE, and indeed, there are games on Steam made with BGE.

However, when you distribute a game from BGE, there are also certain conditions. According to the blender foundation:

Blender and the Blender Game Engine (BGE) are licensed as GNU GPL, which means that your games (if they include Blender software) have to comply with that license as well. This only applies to the software, or the bundle if it has software in it, not to the artwork you make with Blender. All your Blender creations are your sole property.

The later specify:

In summary, the software and source-code are bound to the GNU GPL, but the blend-files (models, textures, sounds) are not.

This is in concordance with the license text:

You may convey a covered work in object code form under the terms of sections 4 and 5, provided that you also convey the machine-readable Corresponding Source under the terms of this License

This means that any code that interacts with the BGE must be distributed along with your game. Seeing as you’re writing python (a scripting language), it’s very hard to not comply. Making the code available can be in the form of a written offer rather than providing it with the game. If you have a really long EULA for your game and at the bottom put “the code can be accessed by request upon emailing {}”, I’m sure no-one would find it or ask for it…

Nothing in the GPL prevents selling the software. And indeed there are companies that sell blender. Literally they download blender from blender.org, and set up a website where you can pay to download it. It’s not against the GPL, they can do it (example: 3dmagix. Go look at those interface screenshots. In this case, they violate many other copyright licenses on their website, but not the license of blender itself. You can see what the BF had to say about this here.).
However, for a game you make, other people cannot distribute your game without your permission, because the models and textures are not GPL’d - so any distribution of your game without your permission is against the copyright of those items.

Interestingly, the GPL license text sates:

The “Corresponding Source” for a work in object code form means all the source code needed to generate, install, and (for an executable work) run the object code and to modify the work, including scripts to control those activities. However, it does not include the work’s System Libraries, or general-purpose tools or generally available free programs which are used unmodified in performing those activities but which are not part of the work.

I wonder if BGE falls under a “general purpose tool” and “generally available free program”?

The assets you use
Yes, you have to pay attention to any assets you use when creating your game. For this reason I only use items under CC0, or GPL. If I can’t find items with this license, I make them or pay someone to make them for me.
As a rule of thumb, never download or use anything unless you know the license of it.

12

Nowadays, this is the main reason why big games, movies, tv series, avoiding to use accurate/real-life aircraft, cars, weapon, brands, models, etc.

13
  • I thank for the explanations, and then I already like an idiot re-read the licenses of all game engines …But at the expense of resources “free”, I’m right - they say some studios still pay compensation for the implementation of games.
14

When you want to publish a game I strongly suggest you know the licences of all your assets. You should know where you get it from. You should be able to show you are allowed to distribute and the end user is allowed to use it within the game.

If you can’t show it, assume you are not allowed to do that. Btw. when you know where it is coming from, you can kindly ask for permission.

This is one part of IT -> licence management.

15
  • and I did not steal anything … this is the question of the BA forum - all the answers of the forum, this is whose intellectual property? For example, if someone helped me with a frustum on the forum, and I use it - is it stealing?
    The same situation with the platform, the glow (flare scale) - it’s all helping me certain people, in my questions on the BU (Blender Ukraine - blender3d.org.ua). How does this forum.

Dear administrators of the BA forum, I ask you to notify the forum users that the answers / help of the forum is not a matter of intellectual property dispute - this is a simple help … Otherwise you will create conditions for hunting and deceiving people - and possible deductions from games . And it is better to prescribe all the same in many moments - not for commercial use.

There are such people - professionals who are engaged in this - hunting. And in the special services (Security Service) there is such a thing - a man on a chain, Vladas Vladas …

16

There is no explicit license for content that is being posted in this forum as far as I know. If you want to use any kind of asset for which the terms of use are not clear, make sure they explicitelly allow you to use it. This can be done in a rather informal manner.

I am sure that there are exceptions for very trivial things, but I am not a lawyer.

17

public domain, collective property, respect or terrorize, make a profit & die of stupidity… united in state of delusion
respect - does meaning have a sense? is substance an essence?
now you know the dangers of gossip :stuck_out_tongue:

18

This means when you post something you should state the permissions you are publishing it.

This is my opinion:
I assume when you publish it as response to a question you offer me to use it (as is or in modified form). Why else would you publish it there.

When you do not publish as response you want to show/demonstrate your work. Therefore I assume I can learn from it, admire it, but I have no permission to use or redistribute it.

I think it is worth to ask for explicit permission if you want t use third party assets. People asked me regarding my assets too. In general I have no problems to give permission with very little restriction (such as mention where you get it from). This is save for the user and save for you.

19

in my eyes it’s rather simple.

Someone ask for a script, i build a .blend for them and upload it in his topic as the answer. Everyone is then able to download it and use it. If you don’t want someone else to use it you state it in the post and in the .blend.

If you share an answer in public, everyone may use it. To prevent some things you simply add a line stating the license or you write your own rules, and then people have to respect your rules (like i did with my resource page). if i see someone selling my stuff then i got all the rights to sue him/her because he/she is breaking the rules (at least it’s how it works in my country). So if it is shared in public with no license or a line telling you what to do with it,then you are free to use it.

20

Not sure you can change the rules. I think the way it’s written is. Rule # 1 . . . Blender is open source, any questions . . . see rule #1. anyone, can use anything you make in blender. Which is why some people don’t want you using their copywrited materials in Blender. Is there a precedent set with the courts, Office of copywrite, etc. where someone has sued and won? I don’t mean that you used a copywrited texture, model, script. That . . . IS ABSOLUTELY . . . against copywrite laws. Rather, you used someone elses code,model, texture, etc. that was built in blender. I can’t find any precidence. I found a case, where someone used a texture created in Blender, a complaint was filed, but it was settled out of court. The person took it upon himself to remove the texture. The office of the copywrite did not persue the case, I suspect because it knew it couldn’t win. . . . I could be wrong . . . if so. . . Can some show me a link to a court decision?