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Question. ( noob here )

Started by July 30, 2007 02:57 PM
9 comments, last by Sc4Freak 17 years, 6 months ago
if ill finish my game and ive used Blender 3d and OpenGL and totaly all the programs for game creattion i can sell this game ? i think the asnwer is no but still i saw people that do sell their games even if they used Blender 3d or any other program
Quote:
Original post by iceDeath
i think the asnwer is no but still i saw people that do sell their games
even if they used Blender 3d or any other program

So why would you assume that they can and you can't?
These software packages are tools just like a hammer or a saw. A cabinet maker uses their hammer and saw to make a chair; the chair is their's to keep or sell. The tool makers don't own the chair. Blender, 3DS Max and other tools are the same. What you make with those tools is yours to keep or to sell.

Note - game engines (such as Source or Unreal engine) are not the same. You can't make a game using the Half Life 2 engine and then sell it. You have to buy a license from the creators first.
Dan Marchant - Business Development Consultant
www.obscure.co.uk
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well i got yor point.
but if i use my own engine.
for my own game so i can sell it ?
Quote:
Original post by iceDeath
but if i use my own engine.
for my own game so i can sell it ?


Read FAQ 60. http://www.sloperama.com/advice/article60.htm
Making a game is the easy part. Selling it is what's hard.

-- Tom Sloper -- sloperama.com

As long as all the code, software, tools, assets that you have used for the game have licenses that don't restrict you from selling the game (commercial use), then it is legal.

Steven Yau
[Blog] [Portfolio]

My answer would have been as others have said - there's no problem when it comes to tools like 3D modellers. But:

Quote:
Original post by yaustar
As long as all the code, software, tools, assets that you have used for the game have licenses that don't restrict you from selling the game (commercial use), then it is legal.
...are you saying it would be illegal if the 3D modeller (or the hammer or the saw) had a licence saying you couldn't?

As Obscure said, things like game engines are a different case. In that case, you'd be breaching copyright law to distribute them - it's the licence which allows you to distribute the game engine, so you have to abide by it. But there is no copyright infringement involved in distributing something made with a 3D modeller (or a hammer or a saw).

http://erebusrpg.sourceforge.net/ - Erebus, Open Source RPG for Windows/Linux/Android
http://conquests.sourceforge.net/ - Conquests, Open Source Civ-like Game for Windows/Linux

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Quote:
Original post by mdwh
Quote:
Original post by yaustar
As long as all the code, software, tools, assets that you have used for the game have licenses that don't restrict you from selling the game (commercial use), then it is legal.
...are you saying it would be illegal if the 3D modeller (or the hammer or the saw) had a licence saying you couldn't?

It's not as unlikely as you think. Often student/learning editions of software may have restrictions that their output can't be used in commercial work. (IIRC Maya has a student version with this restriction, and Visual Studio Express used to).
Quote:
Original post by mdwh
Quote:
Original post by yaustar
As long as all the code, software, tools, assets that you have used for the game have licenses that don't restrict you from selling the game (commercial use), then it is legal.
...are you saying it would be illegal if the 3D modeller (or the hammer or the saw) had a licence saying you couldn't.

Yes, when you install software, you accept to the terms of use in the license agreement. If it says "Non-commercial use only" and then use it for a something that you are selling, you have violated the license agreement.

Most common are free security software such as Avast Free edition.

How you would prove it is a different matter.

Steven Yau
[Blog] [Portfolio]

See, no wonder the OP is confused on this matter ;)

It's important to note that copyright, and any possible contracts, are a different matter.

Quote:
Original post by OrangyTang
It's not as unlikely as you think. Often student/learning editions of software may have restrictions that their output can't be used in commercial work. (IIRC Maya has a student version with this restriction, and Visual Studio Express used to).
Yes, one example is if you have agreed up front, for example a non-student claiming to be a student to get a cheaper price (I'm not sure what law this actually comes under?) But in this case, you'd have broken the law whether or not you distribute or sell anything.

(Note that compilers like Visual Studio may be a copyright issue - there's perhaps the issue of code/libraries being included in the exe, so to distribute it you'd have to be subject to their licence? But this doesn't apply to a paint program - or a hammer).

Quote:
Yes, when you install software, you accept to the terms of use in the license agreement. If it says "Non-commercial use only" and then use it for a something that you are selling, you have violated the license agreement.
Nope, until a court rules that installing software constitutes agreement to whatever contract the seller decides to make (even after you've purchased it), this is not clear at all.

(Note that as above, Avast! would also restrict a company from using it even if they didn't sell anything; also they tell you upfront before you download it, and not when you install it.)

No doubt this thread will degenerate into a Yet-Another-EULA debate - proving that whether EULAs are valid is very much a matter of opinion. To the OP, I suggest you do as Obscure's reply says: you have to abide by copyright licences if you are distributing other people's IP, but what you make with tools is your own.

http://erebusrpg.sourceforge.net/ - Erebus, Open Source RPG for Windows/Linux/Android
http://conquests.sourceforge.net/ - Conquests, Open Source Civ-like Game for Windows/Linux

Quote:
Quote:
Yes, when you install software, you accept to the terms of use in the license agreement. If it says "Non-commercial use only" and then use it for a something that you are selling, you have violated the license agreement.
Nope, until a court rules that installing software constitutes agreement to whatever contract the seller decides to make (even after you've purchased it), this is not clear at all.


Isn't there usually an agreement for every piece of software you install that you either have to click "Yes, I agree" or "No"? Doesn't that action constitute as a legally binding agreement?

Steven Yau
[Blog] [Portfolio]

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