Asset licensing is serious business. In a multi-billion dollar industry where thousands of hands come together under a single banner to create a single product, there should be no doubt as to who owns the art, code, and sounds associated with a game. But what about smaller developers that have to rely on externally licensed game assets?
Being an independent developer, you cannot afford to take any legal risks with licensed content. The rising popularity of asset stores and open source libraries has created an even larger need for a better understanding of game asset licensing. In this article, we take a look at the basics of copyright licensing for independent game developers.
Disclaimer
I want
to preface this article by stating that I am not a lawyer, I did not go to law
school, and this is not legal advice. If you are seriously concerned about any
licensing issues that may affect your game, then you should contact a legal
professional. This article can only get you acquainted with the basics of
licensing and is not meant to serve as a comprehensive legal resource.
You should always seek independent financial advice and thoroughly read terms and conditions relating to any insurance, tax, legal, or financial issue, service, or product. This article is intended as a guide only.
Can You Use This Asset in Your Game?
There are many intricacies involved with copyright licensing, but you can ask yourself a few important questions at the start before diving into the complexities of individual license requirements:
1. Did You Retrieve This Asset From a Reputable Source?
A reputable source will provide you with the proper licensing and attribution info for your asset as well as general information and FAQs regarding asset licensing. Examples of reputable sources include OpenGameArt.org, the Unity Asset Store, and Envato Market. Examples of non-reputable sources include Google image search and random forum posts.
1a. No, I Retrieved This Asset From a Non-Reputable Source
If the asset you want to use was not retrieved from a reputable source, then you should check to see whether that same asset is available from one of the many reputable asset sources available. You should also try to contact the creator of the asset directly, if you cannot verify the legitimacy of the asset.
If you are unable to verify the license of this asset, then you cannot legally use it in your game.
1b. Yes, I Retrieved This Asset From a Reputable Source
Continue to the next question.
2. Was a License Provided With the Asset?
A reputable source will usually provide you with the proper licensing information for the asset. The type of license supplied will determine how you are allowed to use the asset.
2a. No, a License Was Not Provided With the Asset
Contact the creator of the asset and/or the host of the asset for licensing information. If your are unable to obtain licensing information, then you cannot legally use the asset in your game.
2b. Yes, a License Was Provided With the Asset
You can legally use this asset in your game as long as you follow the individual terms of the licensing agreement. Continue reading for information on the types of licenses your are most likely to encounter.
Copyright: The Basics
Copyright is a bundle of rights that govern intellectual property. As an example, a spaceship sprite drawn by an artist on your favorite asset store is the intellectual property of that artist. That sprite is legally protected by copyright law. Through a public licensing agreement, that artist can grant non-exclusive permissions that will allow you to use that sprite in your creation (a derivative work).
Non-exclusive public license agreements do not require a written contract, but the licenses are still protected under copyright law. By using the asset, you are thereby agreeing to the licensing agreement terms.
Creative Commons (CC) Licenses
By using
assets from asset stores or an online asset library, you will mostly be subject
to a particular form of public copyright license known as a Creative Commons (CC)
license. Creative Commons is the most common type of non-exclusive public
license and can never be revoked by the creator. CC licenses consist of a combination
of different conditions:
Attribution (BY) – You can
use this asset (or a version of it that you have modified) in your game if you give proper credit to the
creator/licensor. Proper credit in this case is defined by the
creator/licensor.
Share-Alike (SA) – You can
use this asset (or a version of it that you have modified) in your game, but your game must be released under a similar
license to the asset in question.
Non-Commercial (NC) – You can
use this asset (or a version of it that you have modified) in your game, but only in completely non-commercial situations.
No Derivative Works (ND) – You can
use this asset in your game, but only if the original work is not modified in
any way.
An
example of a CC license utilizing a combination of these conditions would be a
CC BY-NC license, where the creator of the asset requires proper credit and the
derivative work may not be used to generate a profit.
Visit the official Creative Commons website for a complete overview of CC licenses.
The Importance of Attribution
If your
CC licensed asset requires attribution, you are required to give proper credit
to the creator/licensor somewhere in your game. The creator/licensor gets to
determine how the asset is credited, and you will be in violation of the
license agreement if you do not adhere to the requirements.
When obtaining
licensed content from an asset store or library, you will be provided with the
details of the license. These details should also include the attribution
requirements. If the attribution requirements are not provided with a CC-BY
licensed asset, it is up to you to contact the creator/licensor for
clarification. If you have exhausted all efforts to attain the original attribution
requirements for an asset, you can follow the official Creative Commons best
practices for attribution guidelines.
Software Licenses
Aside
from licensing art and music, you may also be interested in licensing actual
code/software for your game. For software licenses, you will be subject to any
number of software licenses, including these free licenses.
GNU General Public License 3.0 (GPL)
The GPL
is a free software license that grants users the right to modify and share the
original work with a few important requirements. If you release a game that
contains any contented licensed by the GPL, then you must also release the
source code for your game and provide users with a copy of the GNU GPL license
terms and copyright notice.
There
are three major versions of the GPL license. Be sure to verify the particular conditions of your license.
Official GPL website
MIT License
This is
a free software license used in Mono development libraries, jQuery, Ruby on
Rails, Lua, Node.js, and Expat, among others. Software and code licensed under the
MIT license can be reused if a copy of the MIT license terms and copyright
notice are included with the end product. The MIT license is GPL-compatible.
Official MIT License website
Apache License
Version 2.0 of the Apache license is a GPL-compatible software license, much like the MIT license, that requires the inclusion of the copyright notice and a specific disclaimer.
Official Apache License website
WTFPL
The
WTFPL is a license that was created as an alternative to other software
licenses. Under this license, you are allowed to "Do what the F you want to" with the licensed content. This is the least restrictive license available; any
assets licensed under WTFPL can be used in any way and attribution is not
required.
Official WTFPL website
Copyright and Licensing: What’s the Big Deal?
License Violations: The Law
To put it simply: violating copyright law can cripple your project and ruin your game development career. Even the smallest copyright violation can have serious consequences. Both accidental and intentional violations are subject to the same penalties, so ignorance of the law is no excuse inside the courtroom. The legal penalties for copyright infringement are numerous:
Up to 5 years imprisonment
Criminal fines of up to $250,000 per offense
Up to $150,000 fine for each work infringed
An injunction to prevent the sale and distribution of your game
Payment of all attorney fees and court costs, and for damages and lost profits
License Violations: The Ethics
By violating copyright law and licensing agreements, you are effectively stealing from other creators. You are benefiting from the hard work of others without providing proper credit, and this can have serious consequences for your reputation as a game developer. The speed and coverage of social networks can bring unwanted negative attention to you, your team, and your entire project.
Conclusion
At
first glance, the legal mumbo-jumbo surrounding copyright licensing can seem
overwhelming. Keep in mind that these public licenses were created as a way to
help artists and developers, and the content creators are doing you a huge
favor by making this content readily available without complicated contracts.
Take the time to read and understand your licenses and don’t forget to contact
the content creators once your game is complete. In the same way that you want people
to play your game, the artists that create publicly licensed content like to
know when their creations are featured. Maintaining a safe and friendly
relationship between developers, artists, and the law will help to ensure that the
game development community can continue to grow and improve in the years to
come.
Resources
Preview image: Creative Commons by Austin Condiff from The Noun Project