Due to the lack of a license, detailing restrictions on copying etc, I've put together this license for nova plugins.

http://sauron.io-in....gin-license.txt

Replace <YEAR> with the current year, <PACKAGE> with the name of your plugin, <OWNER> with your name and <ORGANIZATION> with your developer group in this document.

Copyright (c) <YEAR>, <OWNER>
All rights reserved.

LICENSE

License for the Software included in the package "<PACKAGE>" (hereinafter referred to as the Software) from <ORGANIZATION>. 

IMPORTANT -- READ CAREFULLY: By using the information contained in this document you agree to be and are hereby bound by the terms of this License Agreement. If you do not agree to the terms of this Agreement, do not use the information contained in this document.

I. GRANT OF LICENSE: 

<ORGANIZATION> (hereinafter referred to as the Organization) hereby grant you a non-exclusive, non-commercial license to use the Software subject to the following terms:

You may:	(i)	use the Software only to develop applications for the software package "Escape Velocity Nova";
 	(ii)	the applications developed by means of the Software or parts hereof shall only be used for purposes that neither directly nor indirectly have any commercial implications;

You may not:	(i)	permit other individuals to use the Software except under the terms listed above;
 	(ii)	resell, rent, lease, transfer, or otherwise transfer rights to the Software; or
 	(iii)	remove any proprietary notices or labels on the Software.


II. ENHANCEMENTS OR UPDATES: 

This license does not grant you any right to any enhancement or update.


III. TITLE: 

Title, ownership, rights, and intellectual property rights in and to the Software shall remain with the Organization. The Software is protected by national copyright laws and international copyright treaties. The communication protocol is protected by a pending patent application. 

Title, ownership rights and intellectual property rights in and to the content accessed through the Software including any content contained in the Software media demonstration files is the property of the applicable content owner and may be protected by applicable copyright or other law. This license gives you no rights to such content. 


IV. DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY: 

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED FOR FREE WITHOUT ANY KIND OF MAINTAINANCE OR SUPPORT. 

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED AS IS WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, THE ORGANIZATION FURTHER DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NONINFRINGEMENT. THE ENTIRE RISK ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THE SOFTWARE OR APPLICATIONS DEVELOPED BY MEANS OF THE SOFTWARE REMAINS WITH YOU. TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, IN NO EVENT SHALL THE ORGANIZATION BE LIABLE FOR ANY CONSEQUENTIAL, INCIDENTAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, PUNITIVE, OR OTHER DAMAGES WHATSOEVER (INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFITS, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, LOSS OF BUSINESS INFORMATION, OR OTHER PECUNIARY LOSS) ARISING OUT OF THIS AGREEMENT OR THE USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE THE PRODUCT, EVEN IF THE ORGANIZATION HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. BECAUSE SOME STATES/JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, THE ABOVE LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.


V. TERMINATION: 

This license shall terminate automatically if you fail to comply with the limitations described in this Agreement. No notice shall be required from the Organization to effectuate such termination. On termination you must destroy all copies of the Software and applications developed by means of the Software.


VI. GOVERNING LAW: 

This License Agreement shall be governed by the laws of the jurisdiction, where you have permanent residency. This License Agreement will not be governed by the United Nations Convention of Contracts for the International Sale of Goods, the application of which is hereby expressly excluded.


VII. ENTIRE AGREEMENT: 

This Agreement constitutes the complete and exclusive agreement between the Organization and you with respect to the subject matter hereof and supersedes all prior oral or written understandings, communications or agreements not specifically incorporated herein. This Agreement may not be modified except in writing duly signed by an authorised representative of the Organization and you.

Thoughts? Opinions? Flames?

This post has been edited by prophile : 10 June 2006 - 04:01 PM

"The communication protocol is protected by a pending patent application."

Pray tell, where did you pull that license from? Anyway, I can see many shortcomings in there: first, there is no way we can refer to our work as "software", there is no code in there (unless you're talking about actual software such as Rezilla Custom, but this is another story entirely and besides, already covered). Moreover:
"use the Software only to develop applications for the software package "Escape Velocity Nova""

I didn't know our plug-ins could actually develop applications :blink:

Etc, etc... It needs some work.

Updated.

Yeah, that license is based on a software license sent to me by someone who knows about such things. I figured that taking a preexisting license and modifying it would be a better way of going about things than writing one from scratch (I'm no legal expert, so this means less holes).

This post has been edited by prophile : 10 June 2006 - 04:30 PM

I don't think you can copywrite plugs, since they are merely extensions of a pre-existing game with a copyright. Futhurmore, many plugs use data and resources from Nova or the EV series itself. I can't copyright, say EVN Azdara, because I can only claim for putting it all together, not making the Azdara.

Might work for plugs with entirely original content, like TCs, but I don't think you could legally enforce this.

Besides, attempting to "steal" plugs really isn't much of an issue. I've only witnessed one case since I've joined the boards.

JoshTigerheart said:

Besides, attempting to "steal" plugs really isn't much of an issue.

Yah, I agree with Josh, here - for plugins, a simple "I made it, don't forget that, don't delete this readme" is a good enough license agreement.

correct, a plugin, as a whole package, may not be copyrighted, however, any of of the original content in the plugin (IE, graphics, sound) is by default copyrighted to whomever originally produced the work. However, should any privately-created work be placed int he public domain (IE, the internet), the issue of who holds the copyright becomes a bit hazey without he presence of a written legal liscense, primarily because it si nearly impossible to prove the original owner once it is on the internet

Looks like the biggest problem at the moment is content included from the original game.

Copyrighting addons to games has certainly been done before, see the license for Onlink (a mod for Uplink).

As Edwin| says, you have implicit copyright on any artistic work you create. However, also as Edwin| says, the actual copyright owner is often unknown. This is why the copyright notice is in the license.

Why are you spending time figuring out a way to write something that no one will read, is unenforcable beyond the ridicule that resource-stealers receive already, and presents legal problems for most plugs anyway?

'prophile' said:

This License Agreement shall be governed by the laws of the jurisdiction, where you have permanent residency.

Apart from the extra comma in this sentence, do you really want an agreement governed by the laws of the user ’s place of residence? Usually you would want to subject your contract to as few different legal systems as possible.

'Zacha Pedro' said:

...there is no way we can refer to our work as "software", there is no code in there (unless you're talking about actual software such as Rezilla Custom, but this is another story entirely and besides, already covered).

Although ‘software’ is generally a synonym for ‘application’, in the context of licences it often becomes simply the opposite of ‘hardware’, and covers anything you can store on a computer.

Quote

I don't think you can copywrite plugs, since they are merely extensions of a pre-existing game with a copyright.

Anything you create is automatically protected by copyright (note that it is a ‘right’, not the act of ‘writing’, and that despite frequent use as one, it is not a verb). Your plug-ins likely include material for which the copyright belongs to Ambrosia, but that does not affect your ownership of the content you create any more than including a piece of pre-existing music affects a film. Ambrosia’s content, of course, cannot ever become yours, but its presence does not affect your ownership of anything original, and the standard for ‘originality’ is much lower in law than it is in art.

This post has been edited by David Arthur : 11 June 2006 - 08:56 AM

@david-arthur, on Jun 11 2006, 09:55 AM, said in RFC: Nova Plugin License:

and that despite frequent use as one, it is not a verb

copyright

noun
the exclusive legal right, given to an originator or an assignee to print, publish, perform, film, or record literary, artistic, or musical material, and to authorize others to do the same.

verb ( trans. )
secure copyright for (such material).

This post has been edited by orcaloverbri9 : 13 June 2006 - 09:02 PM

While we're on the subject, "copywrite" is something completely different to "copyright" - the words aren't interchangeable.

Anyway, I agree with what Lindley said - especially on the "noone will ever read" point. While I'm perfectly willing to read a little note saying "distribute this plugin all you like, but keep this readme", if there's one little whiff of legalese (such as the suggested text above) and I'll skip straight over it.

I agree, especially since they always come down to "Don't distribute, don't modify, use this copy only, etc. etc. etc." You've read one license you've read them all.

That's the other thing: in the case of plugins, we probably do want people to distribute the things, so long as the credit still comes back to the person who made it. And there's no problem with them modifying it either, so long as they don't distribute the modified version.

@orcaloverbri9, on Jun 13 2006, 10:01 PM, said in RFC: Nova Plugin License:

verb ( trans. )
secure copyright for (such material).

In the dictionary mode of thought, anything that gets used is automatically a word, but that doesn't work with law. The use of ‘copyright’ as a verb is based on a misunderstanding of the concept; the process that most people refer to as ‘copyrighting’ a work is in fact merely a matter of registering with the government a copyright that already exists. Copyright comes into existence when a work is created, and need not be registered, though doing so is of great value if it becomes necessary to prove ownership in case of a dispute.