Licensing
Deathworks on 2007/08/31 09:53
of Deathworks
Hi!
One final(?) issue which has been bothering me for quite a while is the issue of licenses.
As far as I can tell, since I am only using wxPython and not including any of its code in my release (requiring people to install the library themselves), I am not really facing any license requirements or anything from that side (that is, I don't need to provide their license information or source, right?)
Similarly, using Python and its core libraries should also not have any effect on my freedom of licensing/copyright, right?
So, the problem is, what license agreement or copyright note should I include in the readme.txt of my release.
Oh, I have seen that page on licenses the link of which is given in the information here on the page - but frankly, forcing a license agreement I barely understand myself on the user seems risky at best (with my luck, I might inadvertedly violate that license agreement myself right from the beginning - I am thinking about all those weird source code clauses in GNU GPL, which frankly scare the xxx out of me).
Would something like this be good enough, or do I have one of the 'official' licenses?
Copyright and Terms of Use
This software is copyright 2007 by Deathworks.
By using this software, the user agrees to the following terms:
Liability
The software is provided as is and the user uses it at their own risk. The user accepts that Deathworks will not be held responsible for any damage caused directly or indirectly by the use of this software.
Redistribution
Deathworks grants any user the right to freely redistribute the unaltered and complete package of this software. The recipient of such a distribution will be considered a user of this software with all aplicable rights and limitations, as described in these Terms of Use
Derivative Works
The program code can be used completely or in parts to create new derivative works which may be distributed under any license the user likes, as long as that usage can not be used directly or indirectly to limit Deathworks' rights concerning the original work including his right to grant permission to redistribute and modify the original work. In addition, any derivative works must be clearly marked as being not identical with the original work and the creator has to mention the original work in the documentation and offer any user access to the original, unaltered work on request. That access may be by means of directly sending an unaltered package of the original work, or by providing a current, working link to a download of the original work.
Works Using this Software
Users may freely create works that are using this software (that is depending on it while not containing any parts of it) and distribute them under their preferred license, provided that such usage can not be used in any way to limit Deathworks' rights concerning the original work including his right to grant permission to redistribute and modify the original work.
The Graphics
All graphics included in this software may be redistributed freely under the following conditions:
* The graphics may not be changed, except for resizing and format converting.
* Credit must be given to Deathworks. A simple statement of 'This picture was created by Deathworks' or anything equivalent to it is sufficient.
* Any modifications to the personality of the characters shown in the pictures or any cases of linking other identities to the characters shown in the pictures need to be clearly marked as alterations, so that any audience will understand without fail that what they are presented is not the original design.
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Comments
richard on
2007/08/31 12:00:
Deathworks on
2007/08/31 15:10:
Hi!
Richard: As I said, I went to that page with all the free licenses and got quickly discouraged by all those licenses that were competing in complexity and length with the commercial licenses.
Hectigo: Actually, the MIT license (called Expat at that big page) seems like all I need (the BSD only seems to add something about advertising or so, which I am not worried about). And it was written so that I even understood what it was saying! If that license does not interfere with the competition, I think I will stick to that.
Mmmhhh, the way I understand the MIT, unless making an exception statement, if I used the MIT license, it would also automatically be applied to any graphics/data files included in the release as they would be part of the software (I am just wondering because they explicitly mention the documentation). The extra clauses for the graphics were considerations on my part but are not necessary (actually, they are based on my emotional ties to my art rather than any expectations that anyone would actually redistribute my drawings or anything - I am only mediocre at best (^_^;; ), so I think using the MIT for the entire project would be sufficient - or do I need to use an additional license for graphics/artistic content?
And the last point none of these pages seem to explain, is actually how I can use an official license (especially with the name rights of the licenses themselves. So, would I simply write into my README.TXT:
This software, including the all data files, is subject to the MIT license as provided below:
Copyright (c) 2007 Ranjith Ekanayake Mudiyanselage
Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
I don't have to give credit for the license itself or anything? So, this would be all "legalese" I would need, right?
Sorry, this is simply just not something I like, or am really interested in, but rather something that seems to be necessary (T_T). So, I want to have this clarified before the challenge starts so that I don't have to worry about it.
Deathworks
Hectigo on
2007/08/31 11:58:
Well, I guess something like the license you wrote could be used, but using a custom license is usually just counterproductive. It's much easier to the user if developers just use common licenses - that way the user must not keep track of separate licenses for each piece of software. Some CC license for the graphics would probably work just fine, and if GPL seems too complicated, there's MIT and BSD, for example (they might be too permissive for this case, but I recommend you to consider them). Also, unless 'Deathworks', is a registered company name or something, it would be preferable to use your real name in legal text like that.