License question for new package
Hello - I'm packaging something new that has a custom license, and I'd an official opinion as to which repo it can go it: Platinum Arts Sandbox is a product of Platinum Arts LLC. Product Webpage: http://SandboxGameMaker.com Platinum Arts LLC Homepage (adults only) - http://PlatinumArts.Net E-mail: platinuma...@gmail.com 1. This notice may not be removed or altered from any distribution. 2. The Cube 2 license located in /src must be read and abided by as well. The Cube 2 license only pertains to the original Cube 2 source and not to any Platinum Arts LLC additions/modifications. 3. If you use Platinum Arts Sandbox to make a project please be sure to contact Platinum Arts LLC and provide information about the project. Also be sure to clearly credit Platinum Arts Sandbox on your webpage, software and documentation. Your code must remain open to Platinum Arts LLC and available for use in Platinum Arts Sandbox to help further the project. 4. With the exception of content with an individual readme file, any content submitted for inclusion in Platinum Arts Sandbox becomes property of Platinum Arts LLC. Authors of the content will be credited and they can use their work in other projects. 5. With the exception of content with an individual readme file, all content is copyright Platinum Arts LLC and permission is required for distribution. In other words if you want to use Platinum Arts Sandbox maps or other content in another software projects, please ask first. 6. This software is provided 'as-is', without any express or implied warranty. In no event will the authors be held liable for any damages or any other problems arising from the use of this software. 7. NOTE TO EDUCATORS - If you use this software in an educational setting please send us an e-mail and tell us where and how it is being used. Additonally we'd appreciate feedback on student reaction and how things work out. It would be much appreciated if you posted your experiences here: http://forum.sandboxgamemaker.com/viewforum.php?f=17 8. Any questions or concerns about this license should be directed to platinuma...@gmail.com Thank you for your interest and I hope you enjoy using Platinum Arts Sandbox! - Platinum Arts LLC Bringing Imagination To Life I have written permission to package this for Debian and all Debian derivatives. The cube2 license they refer to is: Moviecube is a Machinima tool based on the Sauerbraten game engine, both of which are covered under the ZLIB license. You may use the source code so long as you obey this license, for further information see: http://www.opensource.org/licenses/zlib-license.php Is this a non-free program or could it fit into main? Thank you. Regards, Scott Howard -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-legal-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of unsubscribe. Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org
Re: License question for new package
Hi, Have a look at this part: With the exception of content with an individual readme file, all content is copyright Platinum Arts LLC and permission is required for distribution. It is not even valid for non-free without an special permission. My approach for this package was to package te game engine and the lite game data set (free) into main, and then add the extended data set, with permission, to non-free. Greetings, Miry -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-legal-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of unsubscribe. Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org
Re: License question for new package
Scott Howard showard...@gmail.com writes: Hello - I'm packaging something new that has a custom license, and I'd an official opinion as to which repo it can go it: Thank you for your attention to this topic, and for quoting the license text here for inspection. Overall, the language is poor for a description of terms and conditions, with many conditions phrased in passive voice (“foo will be frobnicated”) instead of making the subject explicit (“you must frobnicate foo”). This makes it difficult to know who is to be responsible for doing what. Nothing in the text you've shown here *grants* any permissions; it is essentially a big list of “this must be done” and “that must not be done”. Without explicit grant of license to copy, modify, redistribute, etc., the default restrictions of copyright still apply and the work remains trivially non-free. 1. This notice may not be removed or altered from any distribution. No problems, requirement to preserve license terms is not a non-free restriction. 2. The Cube 2 license located in /src must be read and abided by as well. The Cube 2 license only pertains to the original Cube 2 source and not to any Platinum Arts LLC additions/modifications. This appears to make the license terms a union between this document and some other document. Unfortunately, those terms are given at a URL: The cube2 license they refer to is: Moviecube is a Machinima tool based on the Sauerbraten game engine, both of which are covered under the ZLIB license. You may use the source code so long as you obey this license, for further information see: http://www.opensource.org/licenses/zlib-license.php The terms should be part of the work so they can be inspected at any time in the future regardless of access to that URL or whether its contents remain the same. 3. If you use Platinum Arts Sandbox to make a project please be sure to contact Platinum Arts LLC and provide information about the project. Also be sure to clearly credit Platinum Arts Sandbox on your webpage, software and documentation. Lawyerbomb: Dangerously vague “use” term; if they mean copy, modify, redistribute, etc. this doesn't make it clear. Obnoxious advertising requirement: IMO this restriction makes the work non-free for the same reasons the similar requirement in the original BSD license makes a work non-free. Your code must remain open to Platinum Arts LLC and available for use in Platinum Arts Sandbox to help further the project. Again, what “use” means here is not defined. Lawyerbomb. 4. With the exception of content with an individual readme file, any content submitted for inclusion in Platinum Arts Sandbox becomes property of Platinum Arts LLC. Authors of the content will be credited and they can use their work in other projects. This seems to be an attempt to circumvent the copyright on derived works. I have no idea what jurisdictions would even recognise this grab; regardless, to the extent it's effective, it makes the work non-free to require surrendering copyright in one's own work. 5. With the exception of content with an individual readme file, all content is copyright Platinum Arts LLC and permission is required for distribution. In other words if you want to use Platinum Arts Sandbox maps or other content in another software projects, please ask first. Lawyerbomb: What does “all content” mean here? Is it intended to cover derived works? A similar attempt at copyright circumvention with the same problems as above. 6. This software is provided 'as-is', without any express or implied warranty. In no event will the authors be held liable for any damages or any other problems arising from the use of this software. No problems; a custom disclaimer of warranty, which doesn't put any non-free restrictions on the recipient. 7. NOTE TO EDUCATORS - If you use this software in an educational setting please send us an e-mail […] Appears to be a request, so doesn't appear to affect recipient's freedom in the work. Doesn't belong in a license text, and should be moved elsewhere. 8. Any questions or concerns about this license should be directed to platinuma...@gmail.com Also doesn't really belong as a numbered item in a license text. I have written permission to package this for Debian and all Debian derivatives. Thank you for seeking that, but it's unfortunately not enough. DFSG §8 requires the license to not be specific to the work remaining part of a Debian system. All recipients of Debian must be free to exercise the full license in the work regardless of whether the work remains part of Debian. Is this a non-free program or could it fit into main? In summary: this isn't even a license, it's a set of restrictions. It grants no permissions to copy, modify, redistribute, etc., so the work remains non-free (per default copyright restrictions). Even if those permissions were granted, the restrictions are poorly phrased with several lawyerbombs
Re: License question for new package
Thanks Miry for the reply! On Sat, Oct 17, 2009 at 9:50 PM, Miriam Ruiz mir...@debian.org wrote: Have a look at this part: With the exception of content with an individual readme file, all content is copyright Platinum Arts LLC and permission is required for distribution. It is not even valid for non-free without an special permission. So if I have permission to package for inclusion in Debian, I am able to package the entire extended set and engine into non-free? It seems like they aren't putting much effort into making it free (or keeping up with the debian free package you got them to do), so I'm thinking of just taking what they give and put it as non-free until they start releasing free stuff since we have permission to package it for Debian. I'm working on sandboxgamemaker which would include all the game mode binaries, the server binaries, and extended package set. does that make sense? Thank you for your help. -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-legal-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of unsubscribe. Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org
Re: License question for new package
Le Sun, Oct 18, 2009 at 01:23:26PM +1100, Ben Finney a écrit : Obnoxious advertising requirement: IMO this restriction makes the work non-free for the same reasons the similar requirement in the original BSD license makes a work non-free. Hello everybody, works licenced with advertisement clauses are accepted in Debian by our archive administrators. See for instance http://packages.debian.org/changelogs/pool/main/j/jhdf/jhdf_2.5-3/libjhdf5-jni.copyright Have a nice Sunday, -- Charles Plessy Tsurumi, Kanagawa, Japan -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-legal-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of unsubscribe. Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org