RPG Maker License
I've been searching around trying to figure out where the various RPG Maker licenses are. I want to read them and discern what they actually say for myself. I've read a lot about how Enterbrain requires one thing or another, or they don't allow you to use graphics in certain ways, or they charge money for different license needs, etc, but I can't find any actual license information besides the EULA on their website. These are the links I've found with anything related to legal instructions:
- rpgmakerweb.com/company/terms-and-conditions
- rpgmakerweb.com/support/eula
Specifically I want to know where Enterbrain doesn't allow assets made for RPG Maker (not made by Enterbrain) are bound by the same license as RPG Maker graphics. This is something that has been bothering me greatly for some time because I see RPG Maker graphics everywhere that people other than Enterbrain have made. I want to use them but I've been told it's not legally possible. I want to see the proof in the pudding, someone please show me the legal documentation that this is true!
Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer.
It depends on the assets.
Just because someone makes a graphic that happens to work with RPG Maker, it doesn't necessarily mean that Enterbrain owns that graphic or has control over it. However, a lot of RPG Maker graphics are just modified versions of Enterbrain's sprites, which are derivative works and thus bound by Enterbrain's license.
The key point is this: If you base your graphics on Enterbrain's, you are beholden to their license. If you make your graphics from scratch, you can use whatever license you like.
Right, I agree with you bart. Modified base art is still bound by the original author's license restrictions. No question or argument there.
I think I've made it pretty clear I'm willing to pay to have good graphics made (since I've already done so). I'm sure you can understand that I'm not asking just to do things cheap, quick, and dirty; I keep finding RPG Maker graphics and I don't know what their base art looks like so I can't discern. Ignorance isn't always bliss, sometimes it bites us in the rear.
Thanks for the response by the way, that did kind of answer my question.
What you're looking for is the licence or EULA for the RTP, not RPG maker. The Run Time Package is the name for the art assets that come with RPG Maker. The one for Ace is under the second header at this link: http://www.rpgmakerweb.com/support/eula If you read "artwork" everywhere it says "software" it becomes pretty clear what they mean.
Some art is available on the website and sold as art or music packages, some of these can be bought as a "Non-RM Licence" which means they can be used in other things besides Enterbrain's products. That licence is more expensive. If you buy one of these resource packs they come with a very clear EULA. It's a more restrictive licence than the RTP, edits are allowed only for making your game and cannot be distributed anywhere but in the actual game.
You can also get artwork for RPG Maker at the forums. There's ReStaff releases where the staff and some generous forum members put together art for RPG Maker, and that is understood to be the same licence as the RTP with a non commercial limitation unless otherwise stated, and then there's Members+ where the staff releases artwork under the RTP licence with no commercial limitation.
Now, if I made a set of artwork for RPG Maker that was completely from scratch it would be bound only by whatever licence I decided it should be under. Just because it's made to work with RM does not make it bound by their licence. Unfortunately, most artwork you'll find that is made for RM is an edit in some way of the RTP.
Something you may not know is that there are different RTP's for different versions of RPG maker, which is why you may see something that seems like a different style but is still RTP.
So, is that the information you needed?
I have to echo curt in another thread. Why do RPG Maker graphics have to be so bloody useless.
Remember, their goal isn't to make all game development easier, it's to make development on RPGmaker, and RPGmaker alone, easier. It's hardly in their interest to make assets that make it easier to make games without RPGmaker. I don't think there's anything intrinsically wrong with that either; art can be expensive, and they as a company have to make money on what they spend.
Honestly, the RPG Maker community tends to play fast and loose with licensing. As a general rule, it's wise to avoid RPG Maker graphics unless you're certain that you know their exact origin. If they have no license attached to them, at best they're legally the author's copyrighted work and you can't use them without permission, and at worst, they are ripped graphics that are already being used without permission. (For the record, I don't want to sound like I'm saying that I think all RPG Maker content is this way; rather, it's just that there's enough of it that using it can be risky.)
People don't get sued over this stuff becuase from the perspective of a large game company, it's really not worth the time and money. Most RPG Maker games don't really get anywhere, and the ones that do are usually ones made by legit indie devs who actually pay attention to licensing. Square Enix only really releases the hounds when it looks like someone is going to be successful with a major project. There are literally hundreds of short, bad, or incomplete RPG Maker games that use Square sprites, but the only projects ever to get actual nastygrams are the ones that sparked a lot of interest by either a) looking better than the original, or b) providing a lot of new content.
Point is, just because people get away with using ripped graphics doesn't mean that it's a good idea to do it. If you're a serious developer and you intend to release a major project, not being absolutely sure about the licensing of your assets is a great way to get your project shut down. It can also be really embarrassing when someone calls you out for using ripped sprites when you weren't aware they were ripped.
I know you guys have pretty much said all this above, but I wanted to share my personal experience with these resources.
I was also curious about licensing surrounding RPG maker resources, and the license wording seemed to indicate I could obtain permission to use them if I purchased some separate license. Here is the conversation I had with Enterbrain's licensing department:
TRANSLATION:
ENTERBRAIN'S RESPONSE:
TRANSLATION:
So Enterbrain says any resources, or derivatives of the resources, contained within the RTP package absolutely cannot be used outside of RPG Maker. Hope that helps.
PS: Like Curt, Sharm, and Bart, I've found that the community surrounding RPG maker, the guys that offer "free" non-RTP resources to go with RPG Maker (any version), tend to have absolutely no concept of licensing. 95% of the stuff they give out is modified from the RTP package (and therefore subject to the RTP license), or ripped from some other game or artist without permission (and therefore copyright infringement).
If an RPG Maker community artist can give you a 100% guarantee that they made the resources from scratch and own every part of them and grant you permission to use it, fine. that stuff is not subject to Enterbrain's license... If you can't get that level of surity, stay the heck away from it is my advice.
--Medicine StormI honestly don't even like the RPG Maker sprites all that much. Maybe I have seen them used too often. I just don't see why so many people use them.
Syrsly
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@Tap- Yes, I agree.. I like my characters to be different.. thus why I was stubborn enough to make my own sprites (plus the RPG Maker sprites are a little too anime for me).
Though, as far as tilesets go... I'm waaaay too poor and busy to make everything I wish I had. Even if we had a few dozen LPC tilesets I'd still want more.. thus why I was stooping to tilesets that were boarderline the same style (the ones I was looking at were pretty heavy on the dithering).
I suppose I should mention I have no background or experience making games except playing them, taking classes about designing them, reading theory about them, and a background in making software that lends itself well to writing them. So far I've been fortunate enough to find this awesome community and I think I've done a fair bit to contribute to it but there are still assets I need to make a game that I feel could compete with commercial productions.
That being said, I'm obviously not opposed to paying good artists to have stuff made! I guess seeing all the RPG Maker graphics makes me want to use them because they're convenient and mostly look decent. They do lack quite a bit in originality but there are so many tile sets to choose from that it makes the whole thing appealing.
After seeing this discussion I've pretty much lost the small attachment I had to using RPG Maker stuff. Seeing more than one person who's tried working with Enterbrain and ended up with less than favorable results tells me the only reasonable and feasible means of getting good game graphics is to have them made.
By the way, I'm having Redshrike make an animated wolf enemy/companion in LPC Style! Check my profile and the 2D art submissions for updates in coming weeks for further information. Have I mentioned lately how awesome the OGA community is? Ya'll are just frickin' awesome.
Also by the way, thank you all for not shunning me when I first showed up on OGA. I've had that happen before and it felt like the lowest form of degradation known to human kind. Having crappy game developers tell me I wasn't worth their time because I hadn't already made a crappy game like them was the most demeaning feeling I could have imagined. All I've received from people here is support and encouragement, I really appreciate that.
BWAHAHAHAH! Yup! This is my new mug.
+1 to that: Props to OGA for being such a supportive community.
--Medicine StormHAHAHAHAHAHA
I had no idea you could make a custom mug like that. That is pure genius.
That site is complaining that your pictures isn't good enough quality. Here, I uploaded the original so it won't complain that the quality is too low. It's a few years old but still a decent picture.
heheheh! Cool. fixed.
--Medicine Storm