License Agreement for our Free Games

[edmundito]

Hey, if you've been here long enough, you know that there's been times when AGS games have been sold on ebay and whatnot without the author's permission. So, what I do is stick a license agreement on all of the MonkeyGames Related games. There have been a few changes to it over the years, and here's a brand-new version:

This computer game software is considered FREEWARE and cannot be distributed for commercial profit.

This game may be redistributed on websites focused on video games or computer software as long as it includes all of its original files and documentation. It may also be redistributed in a disc bundle attached to a software or video gaming magazine under the following conditions:
i)   The magazine publisher has prior written consent from MonkeyGames Entertainment
ii)   The game is featured in the magazine itself
iii)   The game is redistributed with all of its original files and documentation
iv)    The game is strictly marked as FREEWARE

If you, the user, have acquired this game from none of the means above, then return it immediately and contact MonkeyGames Entertainment at netmonkey@cellosoft.com.

Anyone is free to use this template for their game... I won't get mad.

Now here's where I need your help. Maybe someone could look at this (play lawyer ) and see what needs to be added and changed. Maybe we can build a general license agreement for everyone to use, too! Well, at least the freeware folks. We could call it "The AGS Game User License" or something (TAGUL?!).

[Moox]

excellent idea.
My ideas:

This game may not be hacked, cracked, or modded in anyform whatsoever.

This game is the copyrighted product of _______ and as such no one is allowed to claim ownership or use this product in part or in full without the express written permision of ______

Anyone found violating these terms will be punished to the full extent of the law.

[TerranRich]

Combining my own planned EULA with netmonkey's disclaimer, I've come up with this:

_______________
  Copyright (c) ____ _____
  version 1.0.0 License
===========================================================

IT IS ILLEGAL TO MAKE UNAUTHORIZED COPIES OF THIS SOFTWARE

  This software is protected under federal copyright law. It is illegal to make
  or distribute copies of this software. No part of this software may be
  reproduced, transferred, translated or reduced to any electronic medium or
  machine-readable from without the prior consent of _____. This game may
  not be hacked, cracked, or modded in anyform whatsoever. This game is
  the copyrighted product of _____ and as such no one is allowed to claim
  ownership or use this product in part or in full without the express written
  permision of _____.

FREEWARE DEFINITION

  This computer game software is considered FREEWARE and cannot be distributed
  for commercial profit.

  This game may be redistributed on websites focused on video games or computer
  software as long as it includes all of its original files and documentation.
  It may also be redistributed in a disc bundle attached to a software or video
  gaming magazine under the following conditions:

  i)   The magazine publisher has prior written consent from _____
  ii)  The game is featured in the magazine itself
  iii) The game is redistributed with all of its original files and documentation
  iv)  The game is strictly marked as FREEWARE

  If you, the user, have acquired this game from none of the means above, or have
  paid any amount of money for this game or a collection with this game included,
  then return it immediately and contact _____ at _____ for a free copy of the
  game.

DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY

  The software is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind. To the maximum
  extent permitted by applicable law, _____ disclaims all warranties, expressed
  or implied, including, but not limited to, any implied warranties of performance,
  merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and noninfringement. To the
  maximum extent permitted by applicable law, in no event shall _____ be liable
  for any direct, indirect, consequential or incidental damages (including, but not
  limited to, damages for loss of business profits, business interruption or loss of
  business information) arising out of the use of or inability to use the software,
  even if _____ has been advised of the possibility of such damages.

FULL NAME

EMAIL ADDRESS

WEB SITE

[edmundito]

My disclaimer of warranty looks exactly the same! Copycat

[jetxl]

I like the one Rodekill is using.

This Game is Lickmysweatyscrotumware

Lickmysweatyscrotumware is a response to people who think they are being smart by making a quick buck off of other peoples work without said other people knowing about it. It is not meant as an insult to the good people out there that just want to make it readily available to the masses. Those people are cool. They promote free stuff, which is great, so go and click on their web banners and junk. Let it be known that they don't have to lick my sweaty scrotum. Unless they really, really want to. Which I wouldn't if I were them. Even I don't know where it's been.

This game may be distributed freely, provided the following:

- The contents of the game are not modified in any way.
- The contents of the original distribution package (The original one that I put together, I being Shawn Guzzo, and not you, being, whoever) are not modified in any way, including adding your own little crappy text files.
- You are not a greedy whore just trying to make a quick buck off my work at the expense of unknowing consumers who are unaware that you can download it free on the internet. This does not include websites that make money from advertising (like www.the-underdogs.org), even though pop-up ads are annoying.

These rules may be circumvented by contacting the author (moi) and discussing it like intelligent people. If deemed a non-asswipe, the author (moi) will then grant you permission to do whatever it is you want to do with the game. In fact, there's a good chance he will, just because you were nice enough to ask.

If you purchased this game as part of a compilation or whatever, I can only hope that the distributor made it clear that this game is in fact free. You paid for a cd or download or something, not the game. If this is not the case, feel free to let me know, and I'll do what I feel is appropriate. I will not refund your money. I didn't get any of it in the first place.

If reading all of this has annoyed you, well, you can blame that lovely entity known as Greed. I don't think the simple courtesy of asking permission to include someone else's work with your own is much to ask or unreasonable. Some people seem to think otherwise.

Thanks for understanding.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

:o

[Haddas]

---------License-----------
You are NOT:
- Allowed to sell this game*
- Allowed to claim it as your own
- Allowed to Modify the contents of this game

You ARE:
- Allowed to distribute it freely
- Allowed to wear womens underwear in public**

*This game is FREEWARE. If you have spent ANY money on this game then I suggest you should try to claim your money back, not from me though.
**Not recommended

[TerranRich]

That's much simpler, Haddas, and better.

Actually, my EULA is there because I'm sellng my game and includes non-copy rules. So I basically contradicted myself by saying 'don't redistribute it!' and also saying 'this is freeware!' Forget what I posted above!

[YOke]

I think I'll go with:
"If you paid any money for this game you got ripped off! Find the sucker who sold it to you and get your money back!"

This is not a cheap joke. I'm serious. Never been too fond of lawyer-talk... It's not like I will bother with sueing anyone breaking this rule or anything. I'll propably never even know it has happened, so why bother pretending to be a lawyer?
Maybe I just had too much coffee and work in a shitty job. Dunno. But I'll never stick a three page disclaimer in a freeware game.

[kl4Uz]

i think the GNU copyleft license is still the best out there and I always stick to it when I release my software.

http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/copyleft.html

[networkey]

I thought that in all GNU licenses the word Free means that the user is free to do whatever with it. People may take it and sell it if they want to as long as they modify it (hey, changing an icon is technically modifying...). Don't you have to distribute it with the source code as well? 

So, Here are the three restrictions:
You can't modify the game package from the way I did it and re-distribute it.
You can't decompile the software (you can get my permission if you really want the source)
You can't sell the software. You can put it in a magazine disc if the game is featured an article in the magazine issue that includes the disc, but that's about it. You can redistributed it on a website as long as its free of charge and the user doesn't have to pay for subscription in order to download it.... (I got that one from shawno)

Oh, and we' re not responsible for refunds. we clearly marked this as freeware.

I think that Rode Kill was available on some compilation disc once, wasn't it? I believe Rob Blanc (A MonkeyGames Empire Child) was, too, but I think there was a loophole in my old "Terms of Use". And this is why I want to have a very strict license. I don't want people to make money out of the stuff I purposely do for people to play for free.

[kl4Uz]

I thought that in all GNU licenses the word Free means that the user is free to do whatever with it. People may take it and sell it if they want to as long as they modify it (hey, changing an icon is technically modifying...). Don't you have to distribute it with the source code as well? 

no, not necessarily... the GNU license compared with the copyleft licenses, means you can modify it, but you're NOT allowed to sell it for money...

Yes you have to provide the sourcecode and I'll provide the game template (if I ever finish my game), so everybody can modify it with AGS.

I don't care if someone would take or rip stuff that I created - as long as this person sticks to the license.

[viktor]

a slovene magazine just published lucasfans remake of Maniac Mansion.  They gave all the credits and all. But I don't think they actualy spoke with lucasfan.

[kl4Uz]

a slovene magazine just published lucasfans remake of Maniac Mansion.  They gave all the credits and all. But I don't think they actualy spoke with lucasfan.

I don't think they actually spoke with Lucas Arts, which could be a much bigger problem imho

[LucasFan]

a slovene magazine just published lucasfans remake of Maniac Mansion. They gave all the credits and all. But I don't think they actualy spoke with lucasfan.

Well, we received emails from several magazines. If the name of your magazine is Sector, they did contact us.Ã,