How to apply Licenses?
October 26, 2005 03:10 AM
Legal stuff is boring, but I need to know a few things...
I applied the General Public License to one of my games, making it freeware, but how about other types of licenses? What if I want to make a shareware game, or a retail one?
Are there any more license "formats" like the GPL for these types?
Do I realy need a loyer for copyrighting a retail game? After all, a license is a contract between me and the user. Games are games, so all these contracts kind of look the same, right? Can't I just take one from some templates library or something?
I mean I'm not making "Red Alert 5" here, you know what I mean? I don't want to invest in the legal stuff more then I could get on my modest games...
October 26, 2005 05:12 PM
Depends on where you are.
Berne Convention copyright rules apply by default, you don't have to do anything. You don't need a a copyright statement or any other notice according to the Berne Convention.
If you are really concerned, see a lawyer. Lawyer time isn't that expensive. Our lawyer is $145/hr.
You aren't in the US, so most of what I say below probably won't make a difference to you. Romania is notorious for software theft, so I doubt you'll get more than a good laugh from a local lawyer.
Sticking a copyright statement on there ( the word "Copyright", the circle-C symbol, the year, and the person) is enough to give you the 'protections' allowed in the US. To actually enforce it in court, you also need to register it with the US copyright office. The fee is something like $35 if you do it before trying to sue somebody.
GPL follows the local copyright law and releases some of it's restrictions if they follow the rules.
Creative Commons has several licenses you might be interested in. They also follow copyright and grant additional rights if you choose.
Most EULAs use boilerplate text. They try to restrict beyond copyright law.
About half of the US does not recognize EULAs as valid, stating that copyright law and sales law, rather than contract law, applies. I'm sure this will make it's way up to the US Supreme Court soon enough.
In the US, over half of the federal district courts and appeals courts have ruled them invalid, treating the software as a traditional sale of copyrighted goods, just like a book.
Just to make things more fun, state courts have offered different rulings than the federal courts they reside in. (Example: 9th District Federal Court of Appeals says that a one-time payment for software is a sale, not a contract. Washington State says if it has an EULA, it is a contract not a sale.)
For actual shareware, there is the Association of Shareware Professionals, it's cheap and they have information about all this and more.
Again, if it really matters to you, visit a laywer.
frob.
[Edit: Added links]
[Edited by - frob on October 26, 2005 5:12:04 PM]
Berne Convention copyright rules apply by default, you don't have to do anything. You don't need a a copyright statement or any other notice according to the Berne Convention.
If you are really concerned, see a lawyer. Lawyer time isn't that expensive. Our lawyer is $145/hr.
You aren't in the US, so most of what I say below probably won't make a difference to you. Romania is notorious for software theft, so I doubt you'll get more than a good laugh from a local lawyer.
Sticking a copyright statement on there ( the word "Copyright", the circle-C symbol, the year, and the person) is enough to give you the 'protections' allowed in the US. To actually enforce it in court, you also need to register it with the US copyright office. The fee is something like $35 if you do it before trying to sue somebody.
GPL follows the local copyright law and releases some of it's restrictions if they follow the rules.
Creative Commons has several licenses you might be interested in. They also follow copyright and grant additional rights if you choose.
Most EULAs use boilerplate text. They try to restrict beyond copyright law.
About half of the US does not recognize EULAs as valid, stating that copyright law and sales law, rather than contract law, applies. I'm sure this will make it's way up to the US Supreme Court soon enough.
In the US, over half of the federal district courts and appeals courts have ruled them invalid, treating the software as a traditional sale of copyrighted goods, just like a book.
Just to make things more fun, state courts have offered different rulings than the federal courts they reside in. (Example: 9th District Federal Court of Appeals says that a one-time payment for software is a sale, not a contract. Washington State says if it has an EULA, it is a contract not a sale.)
For actual shareware, there is the Association of Shareware Professionals, it's cheap and they have information about all this and more.
Again, if it really matters to you, visit a laywer.
frob.
[Edit: Added links]
[Edited by - frob on October 26, 2005 5:12:04 PM]
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