Etiquette for credits

[Osito]

I appreciate this may not be the best forum for this subject. Being new to RPG Maker, I naturally put in in the MV forum, but please move, if appropriate.

Two questions:

(1) Even with the dlc, there are instructions to credit certain individuals for their work. That's fine, I completely agree with it. I have even started making notes of the names of the people who have contributed to the files in my project. But I can see that by the time I get to the completed game, I may not know exactly who was responsible for every single asset used in the final game. Is it acceptable simply to credit everyone whose assets have been included in my project (but not necessarily in the final game), or is the correct ettiquette to keep complete track of exactly what credit needs to be given to every asset in the game and credit only those responsible for the assets? Obviously if I go with the former route, I may end up crediting people whose assets aren't actually in the final game, although nobody who did contribute assets would be left out.

(2) If I take an asset from, say, the rpg maker forum, do I need to keep checking whether the terms of use remain the same? I suppose what I'm asking is whether it's legitimate for a poster to subsequently revoke their terms of use after an initial post.

Thanks for any guidance you can give, and apologies if this is in the wrong place (or asking questions which have already been answered many times before!)

Osito

 

[bgillisp]

Right now I have in my demo credits for everyone's asset in the demo, even if it is not in the demo (some of the assets are in the final game though). I thin though you only have to credit those you actually use, so if you delete the resource from the project and don't use it, I don't think you need to credit it. Else, we would be crediting everyone's resources that we just tried for an hour to see if it worked, and the list would be 100 pages long.

For terms of use, what I was told was to take a screenshot of the terms of use as of when you download it. However, I haven't heard of anyone changing their terms of use after the fact, except to suddenly add in more cases you could use it in (like say a graphic that was only free to use for non-commercial use going free to use for non-commercial and commercial use).

 

[Alexander Amnell]

1. I don't think there would be a problem with keeping the credit list so broad as to include people who may not have actually contributed to the final product (I mean, what are they going to do, complain that you credit them falsely? Well, depending on the circumstances) but what I do to remember where everything came from is immediately rename all resources with _creator'sname at the end so that verifying who to credit is as easy as looking at the resource itself.

2. Yes, I've actually seen games taken down for infringing newly amended TOS for resources used that did not exist when the game was released but were later amended in a way that instantly made said game illegal. I don't think it happens as often now as it did, say, ten years ago but it can happen if a resource creator feels people are abusing their loose terms. That said, most are understanding in such things if you come to them personally and will often work with people affected by amended terms as long as you make your intentions clear.

 

[Mouser]

For terms of use - take a screenshot, save the webpage, and don't be afraid to send an email for clarification.

On your side, be sure you understand the terms of use. I've seen scripts released for Ace under the GPL (I think v3 but it doesn't matter). Using said scripts made it illegal to give a copy of your game to anyone for any reason (playtesting, whatever), commercially or not, because it is impossible to comply with the terms of the license.

 

[Tommy Gun]

2. Yes, I've actually seen games taken down for infringing newly amended TOS for resources used that did not exist when the game was released but were later amended in a way that instantly made said game illegal. I don't think it happens as often now as it did, say, ten years ago but it can happen if a resource creator feels people are abusing their loose terms. That said, most are understanding in such things if you come to them personally and will often work with people affected by amended terms as long as you make your intentions clear.

Well, at least if they originally posted under CC, they shouldn't have been able to do that:

What happens if the author decides to revoke the CC license to material I am using?The CC licenses are irrevocable. This means that once you receive material under a CC license, you will always have the right to use it under those license terms, even if the licensor changes his or her mind and stops distributing under the CC license terms. Of course, you may choose to respect the licensor’s wishes and stop using the work.

This is why it's good to take a screenshot just in case.

Otherwise I could release some really great tiles (hypothetically) for FREE FREE FREE, get everyone to use them, then after the games are out, say, "Oh wait, no I'm going to sell them for $10,000 each. You all owe me."