Originally Posted by Seerah
Why should authors be forced to license their creative works as something else? If I don't want 3 different variations of PocketPlot floating around the interwebs (either modified or old, redistributed versions) then that is my right to limit such a thing.
|
Wouldn't a fair compromise be to include various license options, including the ARR, when they submit an addon? Currently, the only thing WoWI has in the way of this is...
Allow Updates & AddOns
Do you want to allow other authors to submit optional patches and addons for your interface? Patches/addons will not change your main download file, it will only show these files other people submit for your interface as optional downloads on your file info page. This option will be enabled on interfaces that have been abandoned or not updated for a length of time automatically.
Yes/No
|
I don't see why you couldn't include a license section as well, perhaps in the way
deviantART does, which is the
optional Creative Commons license on submission, including various options of non-commercial, derivative, and share alike, as well as the ARR.
To my way of thinking this lets all authors be informed of what exactly can and cannot be done with their work, and also displays this information for users of the site.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I could probably find a license to suit all my needs or write something up myself. But instead of me going through all of that additional effort and wading through legal jargon, would it kill you to ask me how to change something or to take over the addon when/if I'm gone? I'm usually known to be pretty amiable. And if I instead say "Bugger off!", well, I'm within my rights to do so. 
|
If WoWI had a submission based license option you, nor any other author, wouldn't have to go through the trouble of doing a specialized thing just for your addons.
Finally, while it is really great that you are able to be contacted, take suggestions and so forth, and while I have seen authors who very clearly announce that they are leaving WoW and calling for others to take up the reigns of their addon(s), one of the OP's points is that authors sometimes drop out of the community for various reasons and never return. Those people can't just be contacted and asked if someone else can take over.
I'm certainly not advocating that everything should be open, as I greatly value the work that addon authors put into their craft, without compensation other than relative fame on sites like these. Also, having 55 versions of whatever addon floating around is/can be a huge nuisance as ignorant users find their way back to the real author and report problems the poor author has no way of knowing about in a broken addon obtained on some random site.
However I do think that a solution could be reached that would satisfy everyone in this matter.
Also, I think there might be authors who might not even be aware of their rights regarding code or artwork when they submit it to sites like these. Having a more detailed submission process would help those authors as well.