Copyright notices #499

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2024-11-26T20:12:30Z

NQNStudios commented

2024-11-26 20:12:30 +00:00

(Migrated from github.com)

I changed the copyright notice "Copyright 1997, All Rights Reserved" in the startanimation to say "Created 1997, Free Open Source" which I like because it puts the open-source-ness first, which is the coolest part.

That said, the same original copyright notice appears all over the place--including the startup menu. Should it be changed everywhere?

Now, this also got me thinking--was it even legal for me to change that part of the startanim in the first place?

(I'm not a lawyer but...)

My understanding of open-source licenses is that when you release something open-source, you still own the copyright. You're just sharing it with others conditionally according to the license you chose.

But for story and world elements of Blades of Exile, I'm not even sure open-sourcing the code actually shares ownership of those things at all. Maybe Spiderweb Software still completely owns the story and world of ~~BoE~~ the built-in BoE scenarios. And when a copyright notice appears in the menu, is the All Rights Reserved referring to the story and content of the thing, which they could still reserve all rights on? It's not obvious that it would be referring the source code.

The question of copyright on the story and stuff is kind of irrelevant--the main point I'm thinking here is that I should ask Spiderweb for explicit permission to change the copyright notices to say "Free Open Source" instead of "All Rights Reserved".

I changed the copyright notice "Copyright 1997, All Rights Reserved" in the startanimation to say "Created 1997, Free Open Source" which I like because it puts the open-source-ness first, which is the coolest part. That said, the same original copyright notice appears all over the place--including the startup menu. Should it be changed everywhere? Now, this also got me thinking--was it even legal for me to change that part of the startanim in the first place? (I'm not a lawyer but...) My understanding of open-source licenses is that when you release something open-source, you still own the copyright. You're just sharing it with others conditionally according to the license you chose. But for story and world elements of Blades of Exile, I'm not even sure open-sourcing the code actually shares ownership of those things at all. Maybe Spiderweb Software still completely owns the story and world of ~~BoE~~ the built-in BoE scenarios. And when a copyright notice appears in the menu, is the All Rights Reserved referring to the story and content of the thing, which they could still reserve all rights on? It's not obvious that it would be referring the source code. The question of copyright on the story and stuff is kind of irrelevant--the main point I'm thinking here is that I should ask Spiderweb for explicit permission to change the copyright notices to say "Free Open Source" instead of "All Rights Reserved".

NQNStudios commented

2024-11-27 14:44:55 +00:00

(Migrated from github.com)

Message sent to Jeff and Mariann.

NQNStudios commented

2024-11-30 15:01:30 +00:00

(Migrated from github.com)

We have permission to do this.

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Reference: openboe/oboe#499