Factorio Forums

Here it is:
Mooncat's Graphical Mod License v1


I found that the existing licenses are either too restrictive (non-commercial licenses disallow ad-revenue) or too permissive (I don't want people to use my graphics in their mods without asking), as discussed before.

And after reading the licenses of some other mods, I found that it is quite common to restrict the usage of the graphics. So, I wrote this license, not just for myself, but for any modder who is interested. Although I use my username to name this license, the "mod author" or "owner" in the license can be anyone. The goal of the license is to eliminate unnecessary conflicts, protect the authors while allowing users to contribute in a reasonable manner.


Here is a brief summary of the license. The full license text shall be taken as valid and binding. Some important points are bolded.

• No warranty. Don't ask for any responsibility for any damage caused by the mod.
• Free to use the mod as a whole as long as it fits the original purpose.
• Free to read, study and reuse the scripts.
• Does NOT allow users to use the graphics to create their own works or any derivative works.
• Only author(s) can upload or mirror the mod.
• Links should directly link to the mod forum page or Mod Portal page. No paid URL shortening, no other file hosting websites.
• Unless you are providing bug fixes. State the changes.
• Free to modify it for private use.
• Commercial use is not allowed, except ad-revenue if you are showing the usage, promoting or featuring the mod.
• Give credit if you used the mod to create your work.
• Free to contribute - fix bugs, introduce new features
• If owner (mod author) is inactive for a year, anyone can take the responsibility to update the mod and become an author. But this will NOT replace the original author.
• Include the license file in all copies.

Any feedback is welcomed. I will use it in my next updated mod.

Edit: and this is my 999th post! Wow

Seems reasonable to me. I didn't even know you can just make your own license.

Sigma1 wrote:Seems reasonable to me. I didn't even know you can just make your own license.

Yeah, anyone can do it. The thing is - legalities can be tricky and complicated, so having a lawyer go over it (preferably one who specializes in digital copyright law) can help make sure there are no loop-holes or unexpected ramifications.

I like the license and I may use it. However, please provide a short summary for dummies at the beginning. Also, could it get a more professional name?

Why wouldn't you just release the code under some permissive license, and just exclude the graphical assets from the license?

Xerus wrote:I like the license and I may use it. However, please provide a short summary for dummies at the beginning. Also, could it get a more professional name?

The summery is in the first post. It won't be in the license because that will introduce multiple statements for the same rule, which may cause conflicts.
A problem of having a professional name is that the name may already exist for a truely professional license.
And it is intended to name this license after my username so you know it is my license, anyone can fine me to clarify some terms or discuss about the license.
If you don't like the name, you can create your own license based on it.

vanatteveldt wrote:Why wouldn't you just release the code under some permissive license, and just exclude the graphical assets from the license?

I have read that multi-licensing is not suitable for non-business assets. Can't find the source right now.
But even if I did that, I still need to write a license for the graphical assets.
I don't use the non-commercial licenses because they don't allow any ad-driven blogs or videos to show the mod. I don't use Creative Commons either because they allow the graphics to be used in other mods.
My license allows ad-driven blogs or videos to show the mod while disallowing the graphics to be used in other works without my permission.

I would support to create some kind of general Factorio Mod license, cause bob already created an informal license with similar contents. This trend will likely continue if we can't get a general agreement. Having many licenses would increase the chance of mistakes and is also confusing for people actually wanting to do something with a mod. And I do think that a general agreement is possible.

Yes, a license created by the dev team will work!

[quote=Mooncat]I have read that multi-licensing is not suitable for non-business assets. Can't find the source right now.
[/quote]

Dual licensing for business assets generally means that you have one piece of software (e.g. mysql) that you license under two licenses: a (copyleft) open source license and a commerical license for people who want to integrate it into a non-open source product.

What I suggest is that you use different licenses for different parts of your mod, specifically the code and the graphic assets. The reason for doing this is that you seem to be ok with people reusing parts of your code, and it would be very difficult for people to inspect and use parts of your code if you have a non-standard license. Also, it is conceivable that someone would want to use some of your code in a totally different mod, but with graphical assets this is much less likely.

[quote=Mooncat]But even if I did that, I still need to write a license for the graphical assets[/quote]

I don't think you actually want to license these at all, since you don't want people using them without your permission.

Why don't you just write something like:

License: Code is licensed under the MIT license. I reserve all rights to the graphical assets, contact me if you want to use them in your own mods. I hereby grant permission to anyone to use or showcase the mod on ad-supported sites.

This is good.
It should help many modders who do not want their work stolen.

You should allow building a mod-pack with the graphics IF your mod is included also.

If thats not in, i can't use it for a MP-Server, since I am not allowed to redistribute.
And there would be the possibility for the Factorio-Devs and the Server-Owners to be liable for unintended Copyright Infringement in 0.16 when the Mods are automatically distributed via the Game-Server (If not already there).

Maybe there should be a general license defining the minimum rights you have to grant in order to release a Factorio-Mod.
I hate reading 17 License Agreements for a Single Game, just to check if I am allowed to pack it and send it to my players...