It's a perfectly good question. Unfortunately, CC-BY-SA doesn't allow for parallel distribution. It would be nice if it did, but I'm told that is legally complicated (no idea why).
I think mdwh is right. There's nothing in CC-BY-SA that requires source distribution, as far as I can tell. The GPL has some special clauses about redistributing the "preferred form for modification" (essentially, it's got a lot of safeguards against people weaseling out of distributing real, editable source code), but CC-BY-SA doesn't have anything like that.
Does using CC-BY-SA art require that an entire project be released as open source?
In brief: No, but it may or may not require that the whole project be released as CC-BY-SA.
Due to legal ambiguities about what cosntitutes a "work" of art and what constitutes a "derivative work", it has not (to our knowledge at the time this FAQ question was written) been officially established whther CC-BY-SA's share-alike requirement is triggered for the entire game project.
For artists, we recommend against depending on this license to prevent your work from being used in closed-source projects. However, interpretation of the license and enforcement of your copyright is up to you, so you can certainly attempt to enforce a broad interpretation of the license if you choose to do so -- you just may end up losing in court.
For developers, we recommend against using CC-BY-SA works in proprietary projects without first getting explicit permission from the author. This is both to say safe from legal threats and just as a matter of respect for the wishes of the artist.
Note that OpenGameArt.org can not enforce copyright on other artists' behalf, nor can we be held responsible if you are found to be in violation of a license. The licensing discussion in this FAQ is for informational purposes only. It was not written or reviewed by a lawyer, and is not legal advice.
I think I'm probably going to just stick with OGA-BY as the name, then. Most of the other names have issues or are kind of awkward, or both.
I'll be setting it up this week along with a faq update about licensing stuff.
Note that I won't be giving OGA-BY any sort of preferential placement on the list of licenses; it'll be right after CC-BY, but before CC0. I'll also make it clear in the FAQ that it's just available as a choice because a lot of people asked for it, and that OGA's positioning on licenses will always be that we have no preference.
@pennomi: Honestly, I really only thought of that stuff because I decided to reconsider the idea of a rider, and then started to think about how I might go about implementing it. :)
Can I distribute my project on the Apple App Store, or other distribution platforms that impose mandatory technical measures (DRM) to prevent redistribution?
Generally no, unless the art you're using is licensed CC0 or OGA-BY (note: I believe it's time to add the new license along with the changes to the FAQ. It's clearly needed). CC-BY, CC-BY-SA, LGPLv3 and GPLv3 all have clauses that explicitly prevent technical measures (DRM) that prevent redistribution of the work in question. In addition, the Apple App Store terms of service conflict with the terms of the GPL, rendering the GPLv2 and LGPLv2 also incompatible with the app store.
The restriction on DRM in CC-BY was relatively unknown until recently, and has come as a surprise to many artists on OGA. If you want to release a game on the App Store (or some other distribution platform with mandatory DRM), you can contact the artist directly and get their explicit permission. Permission from the author of a work is in itself a license, and can override any other restrictions the license may place on redistribution.
Does using CC-BY-SA art require that an entire project be released as open source?
In brief: we don't know.
Due to legal ambiguities about what cosntitutes a "work" of art and what constitutes a "derivative work", it has not (to our knowledge at the time this FAQ question was written) been officially established whther CC-BY-SA requires the entirity of a game to be released as open source.
For artists, we recommend against depending on this license to prevent your work from being used in closed-source projects. However, interpretation of the license and enforcement of your copyright is up to you, so you can certainly attempt to enforce a broad interpretation of the license if you choose to do so -- you just may end up losing in court.
For developers, we recommend against using CC-BY-SA works in closed source projects without first getting explicit permission from the author. This is both to say safe from legal threats and just as a matter of respect for the wishes of the artist.
Note that OpenGameArt.org can not enforce copyright on other artists' behalf, nor can we be held responsible if you are found to be in violation of a license. The licensing discussion in this FAQ is for informational purposes only. It was not written or reviewed by a lawyer, and is not legal advice.
It's a perfectly good question. Unfortunately, CC-BY-SA doesn't allow for parallel distribution. It would be nice if it did, but I'm told that is legally complicated (no idea why).
I'm not sure I like "simple" or "perfect" (I feel like "flawless" should be the best).
Maybe: flawed -> inferior -> average -> fine -> superior -> flawless
In case anyone misses it in the description, there's an extended version of this set here:
http://opengameart.org/content/extension-for-sci-fi-platformer-tiles-32x32
Kudos to rubberduck :)
I think mdwh is right. There's nothing in CC-BY-SA that requires source distribution, as far as I can tell. The GPL has some special clauses about redistributing the "preferred form for modification" (essentially, it's got a lot of safeguards against people weaseling out of distributing real, editable source code), but CC-BY-SA doesn't have anything like that.
Does using CC-BY-SA art require that an entire project be released as open source?
In brief: No, but it may or may not require that the whole project be released as CC-BY-SA.
Due to legal ambiguities about what cosntitutes a "work" of art and what constitutes a "derivative work", it has not (to our knowledge at the time this FAQ question was written) been officially established whther CC-BY-SA's share-alike requirement is triggered for the entire game project.
For artists, we recommend against depending on this license to prevent your work from being used in closed-source projects. However, interpretation of the license and enforcement of your copyright is up to you, so you can certainly attempt to enforce a broad interpretation of the license if you choose to do so -- you just may end up losing in court.
For developers, we recommend against using CC-BY-SA works in proprietary projects without first getting explicit permission from the author. This is both to say safe from legal threats and just as a matter of respect for the wishes of the artist.
Note that OpenGameArt.org can not enforce copyright on other artists' behalf, nor can we be held responsible if you are found to be in violation of a license. The licensing discussion in this FAQ is for informational purposes only. It was not written or reviewed by a lawyer, and is not legal advice.
Ah, good point. I'll update the question in a little while and post a new one.
I think I'm probably going to just stick with OGA-BY as the name, then. Most of the other names have issues or are kind of awkward, or both.
I'll be setting it up this week along with a faq update about licensing stuff.
Note that I won't be giving OGA-BY any sort of preferential placement on the list of licenses; it'll be right after CC-BY, but before CC0. I'll also make it clear in the FAQ that it's just available as a choice because a lot of people asked for it, and that OGA's positioning on licenses will always be that we have no preference.
@pennomi: Honestly, I really only thought of that stuff because I decided to reconsider the idea of a rider, and then started to think about how I might go about implementing it. :)
Can I distribute my project on the Apple App Store, or other distribution platforms that impose mandatory technical measures (DRM) to prevent redistribution?
Generally no, unless the art you're using is licensed CC0 or OGA-BY (note: I believe it's time to add the new license along with the changes to the FAQ. It's clearly needed). CC-BY, CC-BY-SA, LGPLv3 and GPLv3 all have clauses that explicitly prevent technical measures (DRM) that prevent redistribution of the work in question. In addition, the Apple App Store terms of service conflict with the terms of the GPL, rendering the GPLv2 and LGPLv2 also incompatible with the app store.
The restriction on DRM in CC-BY was relatively unknown until recently, and has come as a surprise to many artists on OGA. If you want to release a game on the App Store (or some other distribution platform with mandatory DRM), you can contact the artist directly and get their explicit permission. Permission from the author of a work is in itself a license, and can override any other restrictions the license may place on redistribution.
Does using CC-BY-SA art require that an entire project be released as open source?
In brief: we don't know.
Due to legal ambiguities about what cosntitutes a "work" of art and what constitutes a "derivative work", it has not (to our knowledge at the time this FAQ question was written) been officially established whther CC-BY-SA requires the entirity of a game to be released as open source.
For artists, we recommend against depending on this license to prevent your work from being used in closed-source projects. However, interpretation of the license and enforcement of your copyright is up to you, so you can certainly attempt to enforce a broad interpretation of the license if you choose to do so -- you just may end up losing in court.
For developers, we recommend against using CC-BY-SA works in closed source projects without first getting explicit permission from the author. This is both to say safe from legal threats and just as a matter of respect for the wishes of the artist.
Note that OpenGameArt.org can not enforce copyright on other artists' behalf, nor can we be held responsible if you are found to be in violation of a license. The licensing discussion in this FAQ is for informational purposes only. It was not written or reviewed by a lawyer, and is not legal advice.
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