$12256 / $11500
The rules page stated that non-original artwork / resources can be under any "free-as-in-freedom" license.
But the entry page now says that non-original artwork / resources must be "compatible with the CC-BY-SA 3 and/or GPLv3".
Could the competition organisers please clarify this? I'm really unhappy about this new rule.
What liscense specifically are you asking about, pretty much every "free-as-in-freedom" license should be compatible with one of those 2.
=======
Full Steam Ahead! o/ <-- little ascii fist in the air holding a debugging hammer.
I also notice that the entry form requires "GNU GPL version 3 or later", while the rules only mentioned "GNU GPL 3.0". Not happy either.
On second thought, I am not a native speaker. Is "all my software source code is GNU GPL version 3 or later" satisfied by the code being licensed under GPLv3 (because the version nmumber 3.0 is greater or equal to 3)? That would be fine, of course ;-)
If the requirement is in fact to add the "or later" clause to the GPL, then it is impossible to use new original content based upon art phase content by other people: We did not receive the art phase content under the GPLv3+, only under GPLv3. Even the base assets are not GPLv3+ (except for the demo), so any art phase content based upon base assets which in fact was licensed GPLv3+, was done so illegally.
I am very unhappy as well.
I have calmed down now, and I'm sorry if I was a bit blunt earlier.
I was using some assets that are under a strict GPLv2 license (i.e. without the "or at your option, any later version" clause) -- namely some sounds from OpenArena. I checked and double checked the rules to make sure that these would be OK.
It's well established that the strict GPLv2 is not compatible with the GPLv3. Presumably that applies to artwork (or sounds) too, although using GPL licenses for artwork is not 100% appropriate -- GPL was designed for source code. But I digress.....
I don't know if the strict GPLv2 is compatible with CC-BY-SA 3.0 -- I'm guessing not, and I just checked the link in the license to the list of compatible licenses and there are none.
Anyway, I still hope the competition organizers will clarify this (and perhaps admit that the original rules were not quite up to scratch). I no longer want to enter the competition, but wish good luck to everyone who does.
Andrewj: No, we did not change the rules. But the issue of compatibility is not necessarily our rule in the first place... if you're using CC BY-SA / GPLv3 works in a larger combined work (and the liberated pixel cup assets are as such) it is probably the case that any other free-as-in-freedom licensed stuff will have to be compatibly licensed with one of them... and that's less our rule than the rule of the way this licensing stuff works itself. So technically we did not change the rules, but if you're using LPC artwork, the form is still "in effect" correct. I can do these two things: I'll ask BartK what we should do about possibly changing the form wording (not sure if that's a good idea or not) and if you were working on a project and were using an incompatibly licensed existing free-as-in-freedom licensed set of assets, if you can ping me in #liberatedpixelcup on freenode tomorrow (sunday the 29th) or Monday (the 30th) I'll see if we can look at what other resources might be available.
Sorry... one of the goals of the LPC is to help people better understand licensing, and it's clear we did a poor job in this case. I'll consider that my own fault.
caeles: you are right, the "or later" should not be added to the assets side (but should be on the code side)... I'll ask BartK to remove that bit. of phrasing. For now, you have my permission to submit with that checkbox assuming that bit is already going to be removed. My bad.
AKA paroneayea on freenode
Personally, I don't mind the "or later" clause and would gladly relicense my assets as needed. I'm sure most of the contributors would feel the same way, so why not throw them an email at the very least?
Finally, regardless of how many licenses a piece of art has, you can choose the one you'd like to use(From those available), and for art, I'd always side with CC instead of GPL. Its less of a legal nightmare, I think.
@cwebber:
I am not sure that the sum of all art files of a game necessarily is a combined work, rather than a mere collection. And in the latter case there is no license compatibility issue (except maybe for weird licenses not yet mentioned).
Now for the "or later". I am never happy with using it, because it means licensing my work under terms unknown to me. If you insist on keeping it for the code side... I will have to reconsider whether I want to submit. Not doing so would be very frustrating, of course. Especially at this time of the competition. Well at least you would have to admit that you did, as andrewj suggested, change the rules: The rule page does not mention the "or later".
I still think you're making much ado about nothing, regarding the "or later" clause.
A) By the time "GPLv4" is released, your code and game will be long lost and forgotten.
B) It only applies to the entry you submit, not further copies / bugfixes
C) Assuming GPLv4 grants less freedoms, people would stick to GPLv3
D) Assuming it grants more freedoms and someone does use your code because of it, attribution towards you still stays.
Just sayin'
Mushio,
A) You're assumi
Not sure why my comment was struck down in the prime of life. Monsters :_:
In reponse to C) and D) there are real concerns about changing terms.
For example, if I use "GPL v2 or later" code in my project I'm going to make my derived work availble as GPLv3 so that anyone who uses the derivitive code in their product must not strip users of the ability to install modified versions on the machine.
In a similar way I would not make my code "GPLv3 or later" because I can't be sure the anti-tivoization clause will stay in future versions.
I'm using GPL2+ in my project so that it will be compatible with more other free software. At some point I'll probably add other licences for the same reason. Maybe MIT or one of the BSD licences.
I've had a lot of trouble with some software that was released with an extremely free licence way back in the 90's, before the world had standardized on the small number of common licenses we have now. It turns out not to be compatible with the GPL2 or 3, and it's a constant nuisance almost every time I want tto use it. The company that produced it and more-or-less gave it away has undergone a series of takeovers, and no one we can find has the slightest interest in the project any more. We cannot find anyone to relincence it. The result is permanant incompatibility.
-- hendrik
I ready the topic and I still have no idea. With a yes/no answer: can we use GPL2 (strict) art resources in our games? I hope there is nothing wrong with that. There are 6 images we have used this way and it would be too bad to replace them with filler art.
Sorry about the issues with the form. I've removed the "or later" from the GPL v3 part, and also changed the other part to say any FSF approved free-as-in-freedom license.
Note on GPL v2 assets: My personal read of what the FSF has said in the past is that including assets with a game is bundling, which is okay for mixing licenses that aren't strictly compatible. That said, Chris thinks it's debatable whether a game constitutes a work, which would trigger the GPL. If you're including GPLv2 assets along with a game, I would recommend that you get permission from the author of those assets just to make sure you're in the clear.
Bart
@bart: its from manaworld assets and they say its strictly gpl2, I am almost sure that art assets in a game is a collection, not a derivative work. But is it a problem for LPC?
Sorry for reopening the thread, but I thought I'd better do a heads-up:
The submission form now requires FSF approval of licenses. It was not mentioned in the rules. Here is why that affects my entry (copied from my submission metadata):
The game uses non-original code from the game anatris (as annouced in
http://opengameart.org/forumtopic/getting-an-early-start-on-the-coding-p...
)
That code is under a free-as-in-freedom license, albeit not under an FSF
approved one (the license in question is too new to have undergone FSF approval).
See README for the details. As the condition of FSF approval has appeared only
very recently, I submit nevertheless.
The license is an instance of the following license template:
# Lines starting, like this one, with a `#' are comments. They are not part
# of the actual license.
# In order for this license template to become a license, Section 2 has to be
# filled with the upstream.
0 Definitions
0.1 This license applies to any work (hereafter called `The Work') which
contains or is accompanied by a notice from the copyright holder or
other authorized party (hereafter called `We') saying that the work is
licensed under this license. Each licensee is hereafter called `You'.
0.2 A modified version of a work is any work based on the work. Examples of
modified versions of a work include, but are not limited to, translations,
adaptions, and improved versions of the work. A modification of a work is
the difference between the work and a modified version of the work.
0.3 Source
# Now follows a definition of source in three steps.
# The term `a work' below will later be instantiated both by `The Work' and
# by `a modified version of The Work'.
0.3.1 A definition of a work is a collection of digital data from which the
work can be produced by automated means.
0.3.2 A form of a work is a definition of the work which is, or has been at
some time in the past, manifest.
# Why this restriction?
# If a software author never wrote any comments (or similar niceties) in her
# derivative work, then what she did write should be the source, although a
# version with comments (which never existed) would have been prefered.
# The use of `to be manifest' instead of `to exist' is to circumvent
# philosophical discussions of the kind `Can a number exist?'.
0.3.3 The source of a work is any form of the work preferred for making
modifications to the work and the form.
# The source operator has to be idempotent: If, for example, additional
# documentation is necessary for a form to be preferred, then the source
# should include source of the documentation.
# Hence the recursion.
1 We grant You the right to use, distribute and modify The Work as well as
Your modifications of The Work, provided the following conditions are met:
1.1 When You distribute any form of The Work which is not the source of The
Work, You must also
1.1.1 accompany the distribution with the source of The Work on a medium
customarily used for interchange of digital data, or
1.1.2 make the source of The Work available in the same way as The Work for no
additional charge, or
1.1.3 give all recipients of The Work an offer, valid for at least five
years, to distribute the source of The Work to them on a medium
customarily used for interchange of digital data, for no charge or
a charge no more than Your cost of performing such distribution.
1.2 You may only distribute a modified version of The Work, if the modified
version retains all copyright notices, grants of this license, and
disclaimers of warranty which pertain to the parts of The Work still
present in the modified version.
1.3 When You distribute a modified version of The Work, You must license Your
modifications under this license to all recipients. If such a modified
version of The Work becomes part of a larger work, this condition refers
only to that part of the larger work which is a modified version of
The Work.
1.4 All above conditions regarding The Work are equally required for Your
modifications of The Work.
2 We grant You the right to license your modifications of The Work to
under any license of your choice.
# Typically, the upstream would request to receive patches under a license
# which allows arbitrary relicensing. Thus upstream is able to apply license
# bugfixes.
3 We grant You a worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive, sublicensable
license, under patent claims owned or controlled by Us that are embodied in
The Work as furnished by Us, for the duration of the patents, to make, use,
sell, offer for sale, have made, and import The Work and modified versions
of The Work.
4 By You distributing The Work, each recipient receives a license grant for
The Work from Us under this license. By You distributing a modified version
of The Work, each recipient receives such a license grant for that part of
the modified work for which We have authority to do so.
5 NO WARRANTY, NO LIABILITY
5.1 There is no warranty for The Work, to the extent permitted by applicable
law. Except when otherwise stated in writing We provide The Work "as is"
without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, including, but
not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a
particular purpose, and noninfringement. The entire risk as to the quality
of The Work is with You. Should The Work prove defective, You assume the
cost of all necessary servicing, repair or correction.
5.2 In no event unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing will
We be liable to You for damages, including any direct, indirect, general,
special, incidental, exemplary, or consequential damages (including but
not limited to loss of data or data being rendered inaccurate or losses
sustained by You or third parties; procurement of substitute goods or
services; loss of use, data, or profits; or business interruption) or any
other claim or liability, whether in contract, strict liability, or tort
(including negligence or otherwise), arising in any way from, out of or in
connection with the use or inability to use or other dealing in The Work.
5.3 If the disclaimer of warranty and limitation of liability provided above
cannot be given local legal effect according to their terms, reviewing
courts shall apply local law that most closely approximates an absolute
waiver of all civil liability in connection with The Work, unless a
warranty or assumption of liability accompanies a copy of The Work in
return for a fee.