AddOn Licencing - A licence just for addons?

Fodaro · 05-20-10, 01:48 PM

For quite a while I've been using the General Public Licence for my addons, but recently I saw a thread on WoWI about addons1.mmosite.com, about them hosting addons from this site, sometimes without the author's permission. So I did a search and found that there were indeed many sites on the internet that referred to my addons, and even one (softpedia.com) that hosted one of them.

While softpedia was very friendly and seemed like they would cooperate with my wishes, I started to look at the GPL in detail. After the facts have been excavated from the legal clobber, it appears that under the GPL, someone could legally sell my addon to another person, without my permission, as long as they acknowledged that I had written it.

This got me looking at other licences. The Creative Commons licence looked good, but they 'strongly' don't recommend covering software with it, and pointed software developers right back to the GPL.

No other licences seem forthcoming, so I was thinking, "How hard can it be to write my own, specifically for addons?" I know Satrina has written a licence with a copyright lawyer for this, but it is a little more restrictive than I would like.

So, if I'm going to do it, why not save other people the trouble at the same time? It could be a general licence for addons, in line with Blizzard policy and community conventions.

Trouble is, I don't know much about copyright law, which is why I'd want to base it on something. Also, what about different jurisdictions?

Any advice or thoughts on this would be appreciated, as would licence recommendations. This could be a boon for the UI community, if done properly.

p3lim · 05-20-10, 02:34 PM

Using this little ARR (with a note) myself.

Copyright (c) 2009-2010, <name>
All rights reserved.

You're allowed to use this addon, free of monetary charge,
but you are not allowed to modify, alter, or redistribute
this addon without express, written permission of the author.

**Seerah** · 05-20-10, 03:00 PM

I use my own version of ARR as well. These are my two notes:

Can I use your code/textures?
All use of my code and textures separate from their addons must be for your own personal use and may not be redistributed separate from the addon. You may use snippets of my code in addons you intend to distribute only after receiving permission, and credit must be given.

Can I redistribute your addons?
My addons may only be redistributed in UI compilations, and any mention of the addon must point to its download page or my portal, both on wowinterface.

Fodaro · 05-26-10, 10:16 AM

Thanks for the input. After emailing Creative Commons, I think that their licence would be more robust than one I have written myself, even if it's not meant for software, as well as being widely recognised and suited to my needs, so I'm adopting their licence.

mankeluvsit · 05-26-10, 10:21 AM

nevermind, scratch that [:

AtliThor · 05-31-10, 05:23 AM

Hey.

I just stumbled upon this thread, and I can't help but wonder. Why exactly are you restricting the use of your code? Is it making you money? Do you *lose* something if somebody were to re-distribute it?

Granted, I understand wanting to stop people from hijacking your project and distribute it as their own, but given that you are credited as the author, why restrict the user or re-distribution of the software?

Personally I favor the MIT/X11 license. It's simple and forbids nothing, given that the original license (including the author's copyright statement) is passed on wherever the code is used.

NitraMo · 05-31-10, 06:12 AM

Originally Posted by AtliThor

Hey.

I just stumbled upon this thread, and I can't help but wonder. Why exactly are you restricting the use of your code? Is it making you money? Do you *lose* something if somebody were to re-distribute it?

Granted, I understand wanting to stop people from hijacking your project and distribute it as their own, but given that you are credited as the author, why restrict the user or re-distribution of the software?

Personally I favor the MIT/X11 license. It's simple and forbids nothing, given that the original license (including the author's copyright statement) is passed on wherever the code is used.

Just one(/two?) drawbacks of letting other people redistribute someone's addon code for WoW:
One of the major ones (from the users pow) are updates, wow is patched, and the addon breaks, this tends to happen frequently. The original author can adjust his addon accordingly and upload a new version to his distribution site (wowi for example). If a user has downloaded the addon from softpedia (for example), how will the user then known about the update?
He might even expect the addon to be updated there, even though the author might not even know about a version being there, and therefor be annoyed not being able to get a working version.

Another one is feedback, both in being able to count downloads and getting actual feedback from the users, the addon isn't working in a specific situation. It may or may not be easy to fix, but anyway, if there is no way to communicate back to the author that is most likely another user lost.

nightcracker · 05-31-10, 07:44 AM

I would (I don't) use this one.

You're allowed to use and modify this addon, but you are not allowed to redistribute this addon or software based on this addon without express, written permission of the author.

AtliThor · 05-31-10, 03:43 PM

Originally Posted by NitraMo

Just one(/two?) drawbacks of letting other people redistribute someone's addon code for WoW:
One of the major ones (from the users pow) are updates, wow is patched, and the addon breaks, this tends to happen frequently. The original author can adjust his addon accordingly and upload a new version to his distribution site (wowi for example). If a user has downloaded the addon from softpedia (for example), how will the user then known about the update?
He might even expect the addon to be updated there, even though the author might not even know about a version being there, and therefor be annoyed not being able to get a working version.

Another one is feedback, both in being able to count downloads and getting actual feedback from the users, the addon isn't working in a specific situation. It may or may not be easy to fix, but anyway, if there is no way to communicate back to the author that is most likely another user lost.

Good points. I must admit I didn't consider the update argument. I guess I was blinded by my love of all things Open-Source, but it seems the same logic I use for desktop app licensing doesn't really apply to WoW addons.

I would still dislike having to prohibit other addon authors from using my code, if they so choose. Perhaps a simple rewrite of the MIT license could be used. Something like:

Code:

Copyright (C) 2008-2010  <name>

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person
obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation
files (the "Software"),  to use, copy, modify and/or merge
the Software, subject to the following conditions:

1) The Software, or any works derived from the Software, may not 
be published, distributed, sub-licensed, and/or sold under the original
title of the Software, or as the work of the Software's authors.

2) The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be
included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

And then, of course, the liability clause.

I'm no lawyer, but that sounds pretty solid to me. Would allow other authors to use the code, but not to redistribute it without re-branding it. What do you think?

Torhal · 05-31-10, 04:08 PM

It's been my experience that the All Rights Reserved "license" works just fine for AddOns - one of the rights that are reserved is the right to give permission for use. Nothing is prohibiting someone from asking.

***Cairenn*** · 05-31-10, 07:14 PM

Originally Posted by Torhal

It's been my experience that the All Rights Reserved "license" works just fine for AddOns - one of the rights that are reserved is the right to give permission for use. Nothing is prohibiting someone from asking.

Quoted for emphasis.

**Seerah** · 05-31-10, 09:08 PM

And just another reminder to anyone reading the thread... All creative works, including AddOns, are All Rights Reserved by default at their inception. If an addon does not have a license, it is ARR. So, licenses *give* permissions. Not take them away.