New Licensing Options

[eezstreet]

Hi,

 

We have added three new "License" options to the download page. I would like to clear them up.

• Other players may modify the work as long as they adhere to the GNU GPL. This means that by downloading the work, they are agreeing to the terms of the GNU General Public License. All projects which use the full source (NOT SDK) are required to use this option! This includes anything based on OpenJK. Here are some general guidelines for the GPL:

1. All derivatives of the work are to be licensed under the GPL.

2. By using the GPL, you must provide a copy of your mod's source code to anyone who asks, free of charge.

3. Your work cannot use proprietary licenses in conjunction with the GPL. ie, you cannot (as of yet) use the Oculus Rift SDK with your codebase. In other words, if you're using stuff that isn't compatible with the GPL, don't do that.

4. There are some other guidelines to follow, for more information, see this.

• Other (see readme). You can now specify custom licenses with your work. For instance, if you want to forbid mirroring but permit sharing modifications, specify so in the readme and use this option.
• Unknown. This is used for works which don't specifically mention a license in their readme. This would most often occur for files which we have attempted to contact the original author, but failed. Exercise caution when modifying or mirroring this file.

[Xycaleth]

Which version of the GPL?

[eezstreet]

Which version of the GPL?

v2

[Kessno]

 

2. By using the GPL, you must provide a copy of your mod's source code to anyone who asks, free of charge.

 

 

In the case of maps I assume this would mean include the .map file somewhere within the pk3 file? Or does it have to be by itself outside of a container file. I know a pk3 is basically a ZIP, but still.

[Xycaleth]

Few suggestions and questions, now I can type on a keyboard:

 

• Have Creative Commons (CC) License as an option - this is much more suitable for artwork. There's an number of variations, each which says what the restrictions are.
• Provide some information on which licenses is suitable in what case - GPL is really only suitable for source code and programs, something which JKHub doesn't even get much of. The majority of content is maps/skins/models is better suited under the CC license for example.
• What license does work come under if the author doesn't provide a license? And would code mods and artwork come under the same "default" license?

[redsaurus]

I suppose if the code is licensed under the GPL and the assets under something else (e.g. a no you can't use these things licence) then you'd say Other?

[Cerez]

GPL is for code licensing. You'll need Creative Commons for the assets/artworks like maps, 3D models, skins, etc. That or exclusive copyright with specific creative sharing permissions.

 

As far as I know, GPL doesn't legally (fully) cover the art/assets.

 

The best thing would be to have two license fields, one for the code, and the other for the assets -- but I'm not sure if that's something we can do here...

[eezstreet]

Hi,

 

Sorry for the late reply - I can make as many custom download fields as needed, so it's perfectly possible to specify a different license for code/assets. I suppose the problem is that we don't have a generic "Total Conversion" or "Mega Mod" category (or do we? I don't recall)

 

I was thinking about adding a field for Compatibility for code mods too (to specify whether Linux/Mac version is included)