Question about LPC Art license
Thursday, July 5, 2012 - 12:36
Hello, I'm entering pre-production on a free 2D ORPG using an open-source C# engine and I was wondering if I'm alowed to use the LPC artwork for a prototype of my game which will be used to generate insterest to bring on new artists to replace the LPC artwork with custom artwork. Can I do this or will my project have to remain open-source until the artwork is replaced?
It's a very tricky thing to answer. Code and artwork tend to be treated as different layers historically, unless there's strong intermingling in files of both (think levels with scripting, artwork, etc). We don't encourage the use of LPC assets with proprietary games, though you might be able to (ask individual artists or a lawyer if you want clear legal advice). At the very least though, if you mix your artwork/content with LPC artwork/content, you'll have to recipicorally license your stuff, ideally under both the GPL and CC BY-SA 3.0 (though technically releasing under only one is required).
But I am not a lawyer, this is not legal advice. :)
Regardless of that legal interpretation, out of respect for the intent of the copyright holders, we would recommend that you make your project free and open source until such time as the art can be replaced.
AKA paroneayea on freenode
Thank you for the reply. I'll keep my project free and open-source until all of the LPC artwork is replaced (if I do use it for my prototype).