Feature request: automatic license file generation
Thursday, April 2, 2015 - 12:44
I think it'd be pretty nice if the site generated a CREDITS file containing licensing information as well as links to the entry on opengameart.org, as well as other author supplied information, for every submission.
Personally I've just been creating my own CREDITS file that links to opengameart.org and lists the applicable licenses for each piece of content I use, but I think automating that and baking it into the site might encourage everyone to do the same: downloading a file and copying it into your project is pretty easy, and it can include all of the licenses for the submission at the time of download. For submissions with multiple licenses, that makes it much more likely that licenses don't get dropped along the way.
I just want to say that I also think this would be a very useful feature. Actually, I'd like to see each work on here packaged as a '.zip' bundling all files in the submission along with a 'README.txt' file stating the author(s) and license(s) for the work as well as any attribution instructions. It'd be great to toss a copy of any of the relevant licenses (eg. CC-BY-3.0.txt', etc) in there too.
This is how I have packaged the works I have published on here and I think it makes a nice tidy bundle for anyone who downloads it. As it stands, it's very easy to download a bunch of pngs, etc. and completely lose track of who made them or how they are licensed. Similar to madmccoy, I have developed my own little system for keeping track of this stuff but it would be cool if the site automated the process a little since it has all the relevant information to do so.
Of course, I'm guessing such a process goes against the submission framework used by the site, but hey one can only dream right? maybe a stretch goal on the paetron?
This feature is already available through Collections - there's a 'Download Credits File' link at the bottom of the page when viewing a collection, which will generate a full listing of license and accreditation info for everything in the collection.
My project: Bits & Bots
That's neat -- it'd be great if that could be integrated into the individual submissions then. I don't really download large collections from opengameart.org.
No, you're not expected to find/download a collection for every asset you'd like to use. Rather, you can make a new collection for your project, and add any assets to it that you're using. That way you have a place to keep your assets organized, an easy way to generate license info, and a bit of free advertising (in the New Collections section, on the front page), all in one easy package.
My project: Bits & Bots
@MoikMellah: That's right, I'd forgotten about this, very handy, thanks for the reminder :)
Not quite the packaging system I dream of but a pretty good solution all the same.