10 replies to this topic

[RATED-RKOFRANKLIN]

What is the legal status for using edited RTP Resources? Are we allowed to use edited RTP resources in commercial games? I see many edits done for facial expressions and making new actors. I'm just curious about the legal status on this.


Thanks

[Dagny]

Yes. Since you've already paid for these resources, you can use them however you want; so long as they're being used in a Maker series engine.

[Levi]

@Frieza
That is, if you've edited them yourself.

Otherwise, it will be specified in the originating thread.

Edit: Most people are rather lax, and tend to use an honor system... but I'm sure if you used someone's resource without crediting them (or otherwise meeting the requirements that they've laid out) it is possible that they could pursue legal action.

Think of it as a "Remix" of a remix. EB wrote and owns "Song A". Someone else uses samples from it in "Song B". EB still has rights to Song A, but the artist who remixed it only owns Song B. Now, if you were to take song B and remix it you'd have to credit the original artist, as well as the initial "remixer".

Hope that made sense. A trimmed down explanation. Typically you must credit all hands that touch a resource.

Edited by Levi W, 11 July 2012 - 02:28 PM.

[Dagny]

@Frieza
That is, if you've edited them yourself.

Otherwise, it will be specified in the originating thread.

This depends on the extent of the edit. If somebody is recoloring RTP characters, for example, they can't really stop you from using that kind of thing in your commercial project—since it's not really something of their own creation. Frankly, anybody who makes edits and puts those kind of usage restrictions on "their" sprites is ridiculous.

[Levi]

This depends on the extent of the edit. If somebody is recoloring RTP characters, for example, they can't really stop you from using that kind of thing in your commercial project—since it's not really something of their own creation. Frankly, anybody who makes edits and puts those kind of usage restrictions on "their" sprites is ridiculous.

I agree. But I'm not just talking about sprites. There are some pretty elaborate Faces and Busts made from RTP.

Again though... it'll be depend. If it's a recolor, and you're worried about it... just toss the graphic into GIMP and recolor it yourself. I'm more speaking about elaborate edits (of which, there aren't too many).

On principle, I credit everyone. If someone worked on something, and I use it, I'll give them credit. Hell, I'll even give honorable mention to anyone that helped my creative process via critique/playtesting.

That's just me though.

Edited by Levi W, 11 July 2012 - 02:33 PM.

[amerk]

Where it gets confusing is whether or not you own the original RTP, but are using somebody's edited version of that RTP that they posted freely. For example, somebody edits VX's RTP. You don't own VX, but you own Ace. By rights, you should not even be using the edited version of the VX RTP until you've purchased the VX program. There's plenty of tilesets made with VX in mind (some of them more than simple recolors), and it gets difficult tracking who has rights to what.

This is primarily the reason (me thinks) of why simple edits and recolors are not allowed in most communities, and why EB! states in their EULA that you may not edit the RTP for distribution. You can edit them yourself for your own game, but not for releasing to the public. However, not very many people seem to heed this part of the EULA and edit/release them anyways.

Off topic, but my hypothesis of VX edits leads to a thought of my own. Some people still enjoy portions of VX's RTP and wish to use them with Ace, but don't want to buy a copy of VX (why spend $60 on VX when you own Ace?). Maybe EB can do like the Samurai Pack and release VX's RTP for use in Ace (without the editor) for around $20?

[Levi]

This is primarily the reason (me thinks) of why simple edits and recolors are not allowed in most communities, and why EB! states in their EULA that you may not edit the RTP for distribution. You can edit them yourself for your own game, but not for releasing to the public. However, not very many people seem to heed this part of the EULA and edit/release them anyways.

Couldn't find anything regarding graphics. Just this:

Licensee shall not reverse engineer, de-compile, or disassemble the RTP SOFTWARE. Further, Licensee shall not sell, distribute, assign, lease, sublicense, encumber, or otherwise transfer the RTP SOFTWARE and/or its data without any prior written consent of ENTERBRAIN.
Read more: http://www.rpgmakerw...e#ixzz20LcD6QiB

Notice the terms that they use.

-RTP software (i.e. .dll)
-Reverse Engineer
You can't reverse engineer graphics.
-Decompile
You can't decompile graphics.
-Disassemble
You can't "disassemble" graphics (depending on the usage, I suppose)

The biggest term to make note of is SOFTWARE (.dll etc) They even make a point of capitalizing 'software'. You can't distribute the software or it's data. Graphics appear to be fair game.

Besides, This is the official forum. Do you honestly not think that they'd be aware of, and enforce their own rules?

Off topic, but my hypothesis of VX edits leads to a thought of my own. Some people still enjoy portions of VX's RTP and wish to use them with Ace, but don't want to buy a copy of VX (why spend $60 on VX when you own Ace?). Maybe EB can do like the Samurai Pack and release VX's RTP for use in Ace (without the editor) for around $20?

They're already thinking about it (maybe). They have a poll going to determine what "old" RTP people would most want to see re-released.

Edit: A bagillion edits for grammar, punctuation, rephrasing etc.

Edited by Levi W, 11 July 2012 - 03:59 PM.

[amerk]

I think the issue about simple edits and recolors came about when the Samurai Pack first made its appearance. A lot of people read the bit about distribution in the EULA to also apply to simple edits and recolors. You were told you can make your own edits and recolors if you legally purchased the RTP, but you could not distribute those edits and recolors, as it was seen as distributing the RTP.

For some reason I thought there was something more official, like a comment in the EULA about edits, but not seeing it now, so I might have misunderstood or read it somewhere else. Maybe now that we are on an official site, somebody from Degica's staff can chime in and give us the official word.

Edited by amerk, 15 July 2012 - 12:41 PM.

[Lunarea]

@amerk:
You can freely download the RTP - whether you bought the program or not. You can't download other resource packs (ie Samurai Pack) for free.

The reason why edits of resource packs aren't allowed is basically because we don't want people to try and bypass the "do not redistribute" rule by applying a slight hue change. It's not fair to the people who actually purchased the pack and it's not fair to EB!/Degica. So, it's not an issue of whether edits are allowed, but rather of discouraging piracy.

[amerk]

Lunarea, that goes back to my earlier question. The OP asked if it was legal to use edited versions of the RTP (graphical and audio, I'm assuming). While communities are pretty strict about having edits posted, I'm sure a few of those do slip by, and it's a question of whether or not using the edited version is legal if you don't own the original version of the RTP.

So if somebody took VX's trees, recolored them, and posted them for everybody to use, can somebody who doesn't own VX grab the edited trees and use them in another maker that they do own?

My first thought is no, as that would go against EB's EULA, but I can't find an official answer to that anywhere.

[Celianna]

Basically, you must legally own VX to use the VX RTP, likewise for Ace and XP. If you own both Ace and VX, you can use both RTPs in either maker.

So if someone grabbed those recoloured trees, they'd still need to own VX to use them.