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A game under GPL on IndieDB? | Locked | |
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Dec 24 2013 Anchor | ||
There is a game I am playing which is licensed under GPL and has had a lot of contributors. The terms of service of IndieDB are as follows:
This is what the team said:
So, any one want to shed some light on that? Can a game under GPL be uploaded to ModDB? |
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Dec 24 2013 Anchor | ||
Sure. There's a lot of games that a re GPL based engines & CC based assets (GPL is a code license, not an asset license). EDIT: to distribute it, the people who made the stuff need to say it's ok to distribute. since you're playing & didn't make it yourself, they have. Now a days some content creators have a real hissy fit if they don't PERSONALLY give permission to hand out the stuff they've handed out themselves, for free. IE they only want it distrubited on their website, not anyone else's. Used to be when you made content with the intent for others to play, you liked it when it was shared by others. Edited by: TheHappyFriar -- Go play some Quake 2: q2server.fuzzylogicinc.com |
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Dec 25 2013 Anchor | ||
I suggested that one of the team leaders set up an account here. Cim's post was an answer. I believe the team sees a potential problem in the way 2.1.1 of Terms of Service is worded - if the clause amounts to 'facilitating distribution' as set out in GPL, they'd go ahead, but the way it's written now, the team can't grant the DBolical the license mentioned in 2.1.1. |
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Dec 25 2013 Anchor | ||
Are you talking about this? :http://lindenlab.com/tos#tos2 2.1 in the Lindon Labs terms of service says they own all the copyrights, trademarks, etc. associated with their service, except for the content generated by users. You also can't use their copyrights/trademarks/etc. Obviously you can say "Available on Desura" but you can't say "Distributed by the same people who make Second Life!" There's several GPL programs on Desura, so I believe they're over-thinking a simple matter. The GPL license is far more strict then the Desura TOS. -- Go play some Quake 2: q2server.fuzzylogicinc.com |
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Dec 26 2013 Anchor | ||
Nay, that clause seems to be written having only proprietary content in mind. Developers of proprietary indie games who upload their demos and full versions here (games under proprietary licence, not GPL, MIT, CC or any other) grant DBolical such a sub-licence. That clause cannot apply to any other licences than proprietary ones. So not only you can upload GPL releases here, as long as all GPL copyright and author notices are preserved unchanged in release files, but the original authors can also request downloads to be taken down by the site staff without any hassle. DBolical/DesuraNET cannot take your or anybody's (copy)rights or author rights, and the site is completely out of conflict with GPL terms. So distributing GPL games and engines here has to be strictly under GPL terms without any need for extra rights or sublicences. Therefore to sum it up, that clause applies to content under proprietary licences only. (Though it seems there should be at least mention or another clause about GPL and other similar licences, to avoid confusion.) As TheHappyFriar mentioned, there are dozens of GPL games both on Desura and DBs (Mod DB, Indie DB) and so far there were no problems with publishing any of them (only with the unclear wording of publishing terms a couple of times, this is not the first time). Perhaps except for some non-commercial uni licenced games - as you know - they cannot be distributed on Desura even if developers (students) themselves consent (the case of Nitronic Rush). Edited by: feillyne |
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