Solved How to properly cite the author without offending him?

[HollyPussy]

Hey, everybody!
Pardon my bad English.
So, I created a visual novel on renpy engine and in the “About Game” menu I really want to list all the authors whose assets, clothes and so on I used.
The problem is that the novel is quite large and the number of things used is quite huge.
So the question is whether it is possible not to specify each used thing from the author, and just add the name of the author and a link to his patreon or other used platform (if any)?
The novel is not commercial, will be distributed for free, and the only source of potential income will be donations (I do not know if it matters in this question).

 

[atani]

This is not Academia (thank god ), so there's no generalised highly formated strict way to give credits as far as I know. There could be on the site you're uploading that novel, so check that website rules.
The minimum is the name of the author, then you can add more information if possible or reasonable based on your limitations.

 

[hazmhox]

So the question is whether it is possible not to specify each used thing from the author, and just add the name of the author and a link to his patreon or other used platform (if any)?

It is. The CC way of doing it is to credit the person and url source of the asset used.
In the context of a game, I would probably credit the person, patreon link if any or hub link (for someone like me for instance).

And I would provide a thorough and complete text file with the full credit with the Name/Asset and Hub Url of the resources.

The novel is not commercial, will be distributed for free, and the only source of potential income will be donations (I do not know if it matters in this question).

Be careful. If donations can be directly tied to the game, you might need to have a proper license for Daz assets used.

 

[atani]

It is. The CC way of doing it is to credit the person and url source of the asset used.

Well, seems like it's more formalized than I expected.

 

[MacGruber]

The novel is not commercial, will be distributed for free, and the only source of potential income will be donations

Be careful. If donations can be directly tied to the game, you might need to have a proper license for Daz assets used.

This! If you have donations, it means everything you do is commercial!
Make sure to not use content with non-commercial licenses, e.g. CC-BY-NC.

 

[hazmhox]

Well, seems like it's more formalized than I expected.

It's a "recommandation"... but you can be an ass if you want

 

[atani]

It's a "recommandation"... but you can be an ass if you want

That page would go really well on this one:

Official - VAR Licenses

There has been quite a lot of confusion and repeated violation of source licenses in (mostly paid) resources posted here on the Hub. Most resources posted on the Hub are using the CC (Creative Commons) licensing scheme. Here are some of the CC descriptors and their definitions: BY - must give...

hub.virtamate.com

Can you add it in?

 

[HollyPussy]

Thanks so much for the replies!
In the end I decided to leave the list of used assets, authors and links to them directly in the game, so that no one would be offended.
But I didn't quite understand the point about the non-commercial basis. Donations are purely voluntary to me as a person, no paid early access, content for money and so on and so forth. That is, the product itself and its distribution will be available to all and always.
Isn't this a non-commercial product?

 

[hazmhox]

But I didn't quite understand the point about the non-commercial basis. Donations are purely voluntary to me as a person, no paid early access, content for money and so on and so forth. That is, the product itself and its distribution will be available to all and always.
Isn't this a non-commercial product?

Reframe this from a standard point of view. Let's assume you're a nobody, and you don't work. Do people make random donations to you? I guess not.
Now, let's imagine you're making cheese... or bread... but you do it for free, and the only thing you ask is a donation if they like your bread. You get some donations... what do you think the donations are for? Your cute persona ? Or you cheese/bread?
Spoiler: it's for your product, not you.

The same thing applies to "random project with actual softwares". The moment you go down the road of letting people giving you money, you're earning incomes for that specific purpose. They're not giving you money because you're "you".
Which falls down under commercial purposes.

"Donations", is something of the early internet. It was a nice way to circumvent taxes and real income. But if you want to be legit and avoid ANY potential lawsuit/DMCA/takedows, any form of income makes you commercial. You need to have your licenses... there is no world where you get money from random people out of compassion/friendship/whatever you'd call this. If you get money from random people, you are a business, you need to clear your licenses.

 

[atani]

Hold on. So the NC applies not by resource but to the creator?

1. Creator with a mix of paid and free resources:
   • Has a paid resource that uses a NC licensed VAR
2. Creator with a mix of paid and free resources:
   • Shares a free resource that uses a NC licensed VAR
3. Creator with only free resources that has a "support me" link to Patreon (free resources only) for those that want to be patrons:
   • Shares some free resources that uses a NC licensed VAR
4. Creator with only free resources and no "support me" link:
   • Shares some free resources that uses a NC licensed VAR

As I understood it, I thought only 1 was breaching the NC license, but then so is 2 and 3 as well?

 

[MacGruber]

Hold on. So the NC applies not by resource but to the creator?

1. Creator with a mix of paid and free resources:
   • Has a paid resource that uses a NC licensed VAR
2. Creator with a mix of paid and free resources:
   • Shares a free resource that uses a NC licensed VAR
3. Creator with only free resources that has a "support me" link to Patreon (free resources only) for those that want to be patrons:
   • Shares some free resources that uses a NC licensed VAR
4. Creator with only free resources and no "support me" link:
   • Shares some free resources that uses a NC licensed VAR

As I understood it, I thought only 1 was breaching the NC license, but then so is 2 and 3 as well?

Only option 4 is non-commercial. As soon as you make money in whatever way related to your VaM identity...everything you do in VaM is commercial.
By the way, it also means you might have to pay income tax on your "donations" or whatever is needed in your country.

 

[hazmhox]

As I understood it, I thought only 1 was breaching the NC license, but then so is 2 and 3 as well?

Don't confuse the resource by itself AND the business.

If you release a free resource, you are allowed to share it and use NC elements from the community / hub. As it will be freely available. This is somewhat a "grey area" and is accepted overall... as everyone on patreon does that (for any kind of content, not VAM specifically). For instance having a patreon that releases "free content" but can be supported by people. A ton of PC creators release assets free/cc-by with NC content tied to it.

Technically, as Mac says... we shouldn't (as the "royal we" for creators/patreon owners). As having a patreon IS a source of income and is a commercial business. But this is tolerated... and if it wasn't, this would mean that not a single patreon could release free content and use the community assets... even tho the final product will be completely free. So there's a slight bit of room allowed on the matter.

BUT, on the software aspect, or commercial assets ( Daz assets / 3D Softwares / etc... ). They do not care about that, you need to have your licenses.

So yeah, you are right, if we were enforcing the licensing system like commercial softwares or assets... most PC creators shouldn't even use NC in free content they're creating... because it is still an incentive to give them money.

But this is interesting to raise the question... everyone is gonna hate you if the discussion with the team goes in the wrong direction

 

[atani]

Ok, then regarding the Hub, 2 and 3 are tolerated as long it's not made abusive, and 1 is definitely not, but only 4 is a true non-commercial.