Site was hacked, the email is fraudulent, don't click on or otherwise follow any of the links or instructions in it. If you used the same password for OGA as any other sites, you should go to those sites and change your password now. DO NOT CHANGE YOUR OGA PASSWORD YET!
You are 100% right about the GPL language, it's not clear and it doesn't really answer the question 'can I use this work in a commercial game?'
What can I say, I guess I hedged. Truth is, I'm not actually sure if it's ok to use GPL stuff in a commercial project, or rather I should say a closed source project. I feel like I've seen it argued both ways around here. Personally, I feel like I would not recommend anyone do it because it feels like inviting trouble, but that's just kind of my gut feeling on the matter and I didn't want to base the FAQ entry on that.
I guess we should either come to a firm answer as to whether using GPL stuff with closed source is OK (and what the conditions on doing that are) or try a more strongly worded warning 'Use with commercial and/or closed sourced projects is not recommended.'
Gnu does seem to have some info out there for how they envision the GPL to apply to art:
But it's not much help, I couldn't find the 'art does not trigger the linking requirement'
Also, I've always thought the FAQ got the phrasing wrong on the GPL/LGPL bit. Doesn't it make more sense as:
"Since the FSF has clarified that use of art does not trigger the GPL's linking requirement, the GPL is effectively the same as the LGPL when used for art."
Well, at least that would make more sense to me since it's saying the /more/ restrictive license is the same as the /less/ restrictive license in the case of art. Also, since GPL is supported by the site, and LGPL is not, it would seem more sensible to have a statement about what the GPL is, rather than what the LGPL is. Or is the that whole bit just there to explain why the LGPL is not supported?
Tuesday, November 17, 2015 - 09:38
Well, got one vote of confidence from a new-comer:
Any other bites on this one? Was hoping to hear from some of the old timers. We see alot of license issues on this site, so anyone who's been through a few care to comment? Is this language clear enough? Is it too verbose? Does it seem like it would help clarify things and help prevent at least some of the most common mistakes or misunderstandings we see come through here?
Monday, November 16, 2015 - 07:54
Well, I'm just a programmer, but here's a 'programmer art' solution for you, why not try converting the whole thing to a vector based image? That way at least it wouldn't get blurry when you zoomed in/out. To be honest, that might also be a better fit for the rest of your art which is very clean, not at all weathered and textured like the map is.
Saturday, November 14, 2015 - 19:59
wow! He's taken a turn for the renegade! with that cigar and magnum he's like Dirty Harry 2000! :)
otherwise, I think he is coming along well. The new hand and chest bits look good! Only further feedback would be that I'm not sure I like the blue and red lights on his helmet, why not just two blues? Red seems out of place since it appears no where else and makes the helmet asymmetric. Police lights maybe?
Thursday, November 12, 2015 - 09:52
@snikoggs: Thanks glad to know the doc was helpful!
> I already downloaded some images a while ago and forgot to note them to read about their licenses.
Yeah, I think this is a pretty common occurance. We're working on making the licensing info more prominent and accessible for new users, as you can imagine it's a fine line between making sure people understand the different license options and smothering them in legalese.
Wednesday, November 11, 2015 - 17:25
@snkioggs:
You maybe ok to use works on this site in your project, but it depends on the works are licensed. You can see which license(s) the artist has released a work under by looking at the icons under 'License:' on the upper left of the page for viewing/downloading the work. If a work is released under multiple licenses, you may choose to use it under the terms of the license which best suits your needs.
As it happens, I was just working on drafting a new license doc for the site which summarizes each of the licenses that are supported here. You can find the draft here:
You'll need to scroll down a bit to get there, but the draft contains a brief overview of each license and what it means in terms of commercial use. There are also links to the full text of each license.
Also a quick note, with regard to your app being free vs paid vs in-app purchases, it's generally doesn't matter what you're charging or how, or even if you're using the work commercially or not, what matters is /how/ you distribute the work (eg. do you credit the original author? do you include a copy of the work's license? can you apply DRM? etc. etc.)
Hope that helps!
Actually, do let me know if the license overviews in the draft are helpful or not. The point of them is to try and help folks in exactly your situation (eg. new to licensing issues) to quickly get at least a basic understanding of the different licenses used here.
Tuesday, November 10, 2015 - 15:16
> the idea with circle and lights going to his fingers sounds awesome .. why i couldnt imagine that :D
Oh, I'd love to say I imagined that, but I'm sure I got it from some movie or game I saw once. :)
Tuesday, November 10, 2015 - 10:07
Just my two cents.
I like the white-blue or white-black. They are a bit softer, not quite as mean looking. black-grey with the red highlights looks downright evil!
I think you might try without the pipes on the armor. The variant with no armor at all is a little bland. I'd also keep the armored boots, his legs look thin without them. Similarly, the hand looks a little bland without the circle. Although, the circle is kind of odd, it doesn't really seem to connect or relate to anything else. maybe more of a 'hand' look, a circle plus a small lines radiating out toward his fingers?
Cop with a jet pack makes pefect sense! Robocop even had one in one of the movies! :)
Site was hacked, the email is fraudulent, don't click on or otherwise follow any of the links or instructions in it. If you used the same password for OGA as any other sites, you should go to those sites and change your password now. DO NOT CHANGE YOUR OGA PASSWORD YET!
There's a blog post about this on the main page:
http://opengameart.org/content/site-compromised
Please watch that discussion for updates!
Thanks for the feedback!
You are 100% right about the GPL language, it's not clear and it doesn't really answer the question 'can I use this work in a commercial game?'
What can I say, I guess I hedged. Truth is, I'm not actually sure if it's ok to use GPL stuff in a commercial project, or rather I should say a closed source project. I feel like I've seen it argued both ways around here. Personally, I feel like I would not recommend anyone do it because it feels like inviting trouble, but that's just kind of my gut feeling on the matter and I didn't want to base the FAQ entry on that.
I guess we should either come to a firm answer as to whether using GPL stuff with closed source is OK (and what the conditions on doing that are) or try a more strongly worded warning 'Use with commercial and/or closed sourced projects is not recommended.'
Gnu does seem to have some info out there for how they envision the GPL to apply to art:
http://gnuart.org/english/gnugpl.html#SEC5
http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.en.html#WhatCaseIsOutputGPL
http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.en.html#GPLOtherThanSoftware
But it's not much help, I couldn't find the 'art does not trigger the linking requirement'
Also, I've always thought the FAQ got the phrasing wrong on the GPL/LGPL bit. Doesn't it make more sense as:
"Since the FSF has clarified that use of art does not trigger the GPL's linking requirement, the GPL is effectively the same as the LGPL when used for art."
Well, at least that would make more sense to me since it's saying the /more/ restrictive license is the same as the /less/ restrictive license in the case of art. Also, since GPL is supported by the site, and LGPL is not, it would seem more sensible to have a statement about what the GPL is, rather than what the LGPL is. Or is the that whole bit just there to explain why the LGPL is not supported?
Well, got one vote of confidence from a new-comer:
http://opengameart.org/forumtopic/use-the-art-here-for-my-game
Any other bites on this one? Was hoping to hear from some of the old timers. We see alot of license issues on this site, so anyone who's been through a few care to comment? Is this language clear enough? Is it too verbose? Does it seem like it would help clarify things and help prevent at least some of the most common mistakes or misunderstandings we see come through here?
Well, I'm just a programmer, but here's a 'programmer art' solution for you, why not try converting the whole thing to a vector based image? That way at least it wouldn't get blurry when you zoomed in/out. To be honest, that might also be a better fit for the rest of your art which is very clean, not at all weathered and textured like the map is.
wow! He's taken a turn for the renegade! with that cigar and magnum he's like Dirty Harry 2000! :)
otherwise, I think he is coming along well. The new hand and chest bits look good! Only further feedback would be that I'm not sure I like the blue and red lights on his helmet, why not just two blues? Red seems out of place since it appears no where else and makes the helmet asymmetric. Police lights maybe?
@snikoggs: Thanks glad to know the doc was helpful!
> I already downloaded some images a while ago and forgot to note them to read about their licenses.
Yeah, I think this is a pretty common occurance. We're working on making the licensing info more prominent and accessible for new users, as you can imagine it's a fine line between making sure people understand the different license options and smothering them in legalese.
@snkioggs:
You maybe ok to use works on this site in your project, but it depends on the works are licensed. You can see which license(s) the artist has released a work under by looking at the icons under 'License:' on the upper left of the page for viewing/downloading the work. If a work is released under multiple licenses, you may choose to use it under the terms of the license which best suits your needs.
As it happens, I was just working on drafting a new license doc for the site which summarizes each of the licenses that are supported here. You can find the draft here:
http://opengameart.org/forumtopic/site-faqsubmission-guidelines-updatesc...
You'll need to scroll down a bit to get there, but the draft contains a brief overview of each license and what it means in terms of commercial use. There are also links to the full text of each license.
Also a quick note, with regard to your app being free vs paid vs in-app purchases, it's generally doesn't matter what you're charging or how, or even if you're using the work commercially or not, what matters is /how/ you distribute the work (eg. do you credit the original author? do you include a copy of the work's license? can you apply DRM? etc. etc.)
Hope that helps!
Actually, do let me know if the license overviews in the draft are helpful or not. The point of them is to try and help folks in exactly your situation (eg. new to licensing issues) to quickly get at least a basic understanding of the different licenses used here.
> the idea with circle and lights going to his fingers sounds awesome .. why i couldnt imagine that :D
Oh, I'd love to say I imagined that, but I'm sure I got it from some movie or game I saw once. :)
Just my two cents.
I like the white-blue or white-black. They are a bit softer, not quite as mean looking. black-grey with the red highlights looks downright evil!
I think you might try without the pipes on the armor. The variant with no armor at all is a little bland. I'd also keep the armored boots, his legs look thin without them. Similarly, the hand looks a little bland without the circle. Although, the circle is kind of odd, it doesn't really seem to connect or relate to anything else. maybe more of a 'hand' look, a circle plus a small lines radiating out toward his fingers?
Cop with a jet pack makes pefect sense! Robocop even had one in one of the movies! :)
Jet pack is a bit small and covered up.
Just a note, to keep things organized, I've decided to break the suggested changes up into a few parts.
First part here:
http://opengameart.org/forumtopic/site-faqsubmission-guidelines-updatesc...
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