Degica Creative indie Common License suggestion

[nio kasgami]

Hi folks!

Recently we've seen the awful thefts of 2 games from two of our members, Indrah and Alkorri, and it really upsets me to their hard work get stolen! So, I'd like to suggest and idea which could maybe help lower the number of thefts - a Creative Commons License for the games on our forum! I know that Degica publishes some games commercially, but in those cases the licenses are only for those specific games. So, without having to have every game published, this license would allow developers to further protect the games they've worked so hard on. This could even be something as simple as a product you purchase, which would then put a logo on your game's topic, showing that the license was purchased, meaning that your game can only be publised with your permission. The price of a license like this would be totally up to degica, but I know it's something I'd definitely be willing to purchase! Of course, to avoid wasting licenses, some criteria for games would be needed, such as:

The game must be completed
The game must be published in the official forums, etc.

Along with this, perhaps all games covered by the license could be compiled into an official list. Anyway, I'm only suggesting this, so that maybe the theft of games will be reduced. So, do you think this is a good idea? If not, it's at least something to keep in mind.

If you'd like any further information, don't hesitate to ask me!
All regards,
Nio Kasgami

 

[Alkorri]

Thanks for the concern, Nio

Really, I think if any thief is determined enough, they'd find a way to steal a game and claim it as theirs. It's quite disheartening, really.

That being said, I like the idea of a License. I'm interested to hear what do people think of this.

 

[nio kasgami]

Thanks for the concern, Nio

Really, I think if any thief is determined enough, they'd find a way to steal a game and claim it as theirs. It's quite disheartening, really.

That being said, I like the idea of a License. I'm interested to hear what do people think of this.

sure but the fact a game is under a compagny license can scare a lot of people to steal it! 

and seriously if I was a guy who steal a game ...I will be far more scare if the company itself said to me to remove the game 

I think also this provoke a more big impact instead of you a simple member who can't totally proof this you the creator D: 

but also like the proberb say : 

"better to prevent before healing!"

 

[Amysaurus]

Considering I spent the time translating the Nionese for this post, I figure I should put in my two cents. 

Overall, I think it's a good idea in light of the current happenings. That said, I do have to agree with Alkorri - a determined thief won't be stopped so easily. I think a license would give developers and potential developers some extra peace of mind, even just through its discussion.

What's been going on isn't good, but at least we all know to keep our eyes open, and that this community is totally willing to go out of its way to help bring down a thief. 

 

[Engr. Adiktuzmiko]

sure but the fact a game is under a compagny license can scare a lot of people to steal it!

Most AAA games if not all has a license issued by the company that made it. And most AAA games have been stolen and/or pirated.


Though oh well, at least if we will include a default license, it will at the very least take a bit of work for us to write our own licenses. Just don't make it required, as that will now put a limit to how devs want to license their work.

 

[mlogan]

I don't think he meant it would be required - it would be an optional purchase.

As for my thoughts on it, I'm not really sure as I don't know enough about standard practices in this area to say at the moment. But I will be reading this thread to learn more and see what others think.

 

[EternalShadow]

Considering I spent the time translating the Nionese for this post, I figure I should put in my two cents. 

I thought this was Nio's best English ever o_o

In this case though, it was people actually reselling the game as their own. Even commercial game pirates don't tend to do that. You'd be insane to try and resell an Assassin's Creed pirated game, for example. The punishment for doing so is also much more severe than simply redistribution.

In any case, it depends what the license is. If it is something as simple as 'the game may not be transferred, redistributed, resold (etc) by anyone other than the original creator' then it might suffice for legal cases. (Don't quote me on that though...)

 

[cabfe]

In this case though, it was people actually reselling the game as their own. Even commercial game pirates don't tend to do that. You'd be insane to try and resell an Assassin's Creed pirated game, for example. The punishment for doing so is also much more severe than simply redistribution.

(...)

There are cases of pirated games whose dvds are burnt then sold on the black market.

Sometimes it's not even black, with shops and all.

I don't want to say the country's name, but I remember someone from there telling about it in this very forum not long ago.

He explained that it was because their purchasing power was so low that they couldn't afford to pay full price for games.

But I agree that it's not common practice, in the western world at least.

 

[EternalShadow]

Oh, I totally understand what you mean. I was moreso referring to online in this instance

 

[??????]

Dreadful to think that people openly stole your guys games an then tried to sell them too! Like, really, wtf...

Anyway yea, I also think some kind of optional default license would be good, but the thing is - Degica cant provide a license to something without knowing for sure that all items included are allowed to be included in the aforementioned license. I mean, cant re-copyright someone elses work, you know?  (perhaps im wrong though)

 

[EternalShadow]

Then a clause should be added that says the license is only valid if the original game does not contain any breaches of copyright.

 

[mlogan]

Oooh, Dekita good point. Which makes me wonder, could that be a possible liability to Degica?

I mean, say someone makes a game with resources they don't have a right to, Degica grants a license - could the person who created the license have any recourse with Degica for that? I know it seems like Degica *shouldn't* be held responsible, but that doesn't mean that they couldn't in a court of law.

 

[??????]

yea, I would assume that whomever the resources owner was would be able to launch a case of legal action that would be likely to result in a win. I mean, what if there ws a random Pikachu in the end credits of your game, somehow your game makes a decent bit of cash and recognition, then Nintendo find out about this and would be likely to take you to a court. (they are notorious for closing pokemon relate projects)

Also, due to not having permissions to use the resources ad then having it 'officially endorsed via a license'... yea, seems like it would put Degica in an awkward position at the very least.

 

[cabfe]

Oh, I totally understand what you mean. I was moreso referring to online in this instance

Even online, actually...

Some websites sell "stolen" Steam keys when they shouldn't.

I put stolen in quotes as it's often more a trafic of low-price/free keys sold at a higher price. I haven't heard of a website selling generated, illegal keys.

@Dekita:

You have a good point here. The licence should only engage the maker and not Degica, as they cannot vouch for every projects.

 

[nio kasgami]

I totally understand your point here guys! 

so yes this can be a issue but

if you include a point where the compagny is not responsible for the resources?

I mean they are responsible of the GAME concept and the maker who get use in this!

but they can put a Security copyright disclaimer who mean all the copyright and use of the resources in the game are the CREATOR

Responsability?

I mean they feature the game and protect it but 

they are not responsible if the game have any copyright issue

+ this license only cover the game creation 

so 

and the license should only cover the "identity"

and not the resources who are the role of the creator to buy the extra license IF he decide to enter commercial

and obviously

Rip resources will be a direct refuse of the license atribution

 

[??????]

I mean they are responsible of the GAME concept and the maker who get use in this!

Same issue there I think, with games that have a story overly similar to [x] game, and fangames and the like.

 

[nio kasgami]

Rip resources will be a direct refuse of the license atribution

in some way "Idea" enter in the concept of  Rip resources because "idea" can be resources!

 

[mlogan]

First though nio, Degica will not be able to go through every single resource in every single game that applies for the license and check to make sure that the creator has obtained the appropriate permission to use it. It's just too time consuming and near impossible.

Second, ideas as a resource can get real tricky real fast. It's just too much gray area of where to draw the line as ideas being "stolen" versus people just happen to have the same idea at the same time.

 

[Lunarea]

This isn't something we can offer, unfortunately.

As mentioned, it would be incredibly risky to offer a blank license without being able to preview the game. It also wouldn't offer as much protection as you think, because the thief could just as easily purchase the same license and use it as "proof" too.

It's truly terrible to see someone taking advantage of small indie/casual devs like that. We're doing our share of helping and trying to resolve things as quickly as possible.

 

[Bloodmorphed]

This isn't something we can offer, unfortunately.

As mentioned, it would be incredibly risky to offer a blank license without being able to preview the game. It also wouldn't offer as much protection as you think, because the thief could just as easily purchase the same license and use it as "proof" too.

It's truly terrible to see someone taking advantage of small indie/casual devs like that. We're doing our share of helping and trying to resolve things as quickly as possible.

Isn't there a easy fix for this though? Well maybe not an easy fix as it would take up some time. But could you get volunteers to play the the games, give a review to the company in order to get this lisence. Not only would that prevent a lot of cruddy games going through but doing your research on the game can provide enough evidence if it were stolen.

Although perhaps this is still a big thing to do, I for one would volunteer for this, I hate to see indie games stolen it angers me so.