license issues

[VaMRainey]

Hi Kiwi,

The package manager in the game will tell you specifics:

Click on this to open Package Manager, and select Clothing from Installed Packages:

This will give you an idea of what licensing you're looking at.

Here's a summary post by Meshed themself.

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. For more detailed information about Creative Commons licensing please see...

hub.virtamate.com

Hope that helps

 

[RandomVAMUser]

note: i was about to write a book down here, than reply by @VaMRainey was posted ...ohh well ?‍ ...send ?

If you include clothes inside package (and you are not original creator) than you have to adress that.
-credit original creator inside package & on overview page of your resource (simple copy-paste of depend.txt is not a proper credit).
-50% of license issues can be resolved by leaving proper attribution/credit (link to original creator on hub, if not on hub than patreon,deviantart,whatever)
-NC & ND content is different, leaving just credit is not enough/solution

-you can be 100% safe only if/and/or:
a) content inside your package is your own creation or content is originally released as public domain - (CC0/FC)
b) you properly credited each creator for redistributed and/or referenced (dependencies) content - (any BY)
c) (paid) you don't release NC content inside own package and/or as referenced (dependencies) content - (NC/NC-SA/NC-ND/PC/PC EA)
d) (free or paid) you don't release (redistribute) ND content inside your own package or content (.zip) - (ND/ND-SA/PC/PC EA)

Even if content is just referenced as dependency, you're still using that content, so you have to give credit (unless FC).
If you are unsure of the content's origin, simply don't use it/redistribute it....or do
...but than you are running the risk of loosing that content and potential ban.

It's true that there's old pre-var content out there,
and they don't have .var license, for those CC BY 'kinda' applies by 'default'
But that still isn't enough, especially if it's paid pre-var content
or some daz ported content (that's clearly licensed).

make sure to check all policies ?

Policy Updates

Here we will post about any updates or revisions to our site Policies

hub.virtamate.com

 

[VaMRainey]

note: i was about to write a book down here, than reply by @VaMRainey was posted ...ohh well ?‍ ...send ?

I appreciate it!!! I just happened to have VaM open already, so...

Between both of our replies I think we covered it!

 

[RandomVAMUser]

can anyone check my uploads for licence issues?, if i have some i will delete them

All your content (at this moment) is mostly paid, that means externally hosted (and not on hub).
There's no easy way to confirm and verify it, to check actual content inside without supporting you first (on patreon).

We can only judge the content based on video/screenshot/info provided on overview page [mods can judge it based on any reports].
Based on that, all "used" content that i see is:

Love Room [Free Stuff] [Scene+Asset] - Scenes -

Hello. This is my favorite room from TK17. Try to port and some modify. Credits Some from cgtrader.com Water asset from from unknown VAM community hero. P.S. Screenshots taken with ReShade and RayTracing shader by PascalGlitcher...

hub.virtamate.com

↑ under CC BY

DoA Bikini Updated - Clothing -

Or download from here http://www.mediafire.com/file/oolxbzwot5dupe6/SupaRioAmateur.DoA_Bikini.2.var/file Free Model From me https://hub.virtamate.com/resources/supas-poster-girl-sharing.93/ DoA Bikini originally imported by GenericMale51, I...

hub.virtamate.com

↑ under CC BY-NC-SA

Wearable Manicures - Clothing -

Each finger can be customized independently, using the copy and paste material you can mix and match design together. there are additional textures in the folder you can try play around to make more interesting designs Thanks to @zajebanan for...

hub.virtamate.com

↑ or ↓

Wearable Nails - Clothing -

04/26: Updated with Futa Version Higher Resolution Preview Download Post Here Idea from Hyperionx on my discord. Thank you for inspiration. Added nails as cloth to make it a bit easier to change nails color and patterns. Including 25 presets...

hub.virtamate.com

↑ both under CC BY-NC-SA

rest of it: clothing, skin textures, etc... are of unknown origin to me

 

[TooManyHats]

c) (paid) you don't release NC content inside own package and/or as referenced (dependencies) content - (NC/NC-SA/NC-ND/PC/PC EA)

Thank you for the breakdown, but I don’t understand this rule…

I’m not saying that you are incorrect, I just think that this is short sighted…

if Creator1 makes a great look/scene/whatever, and uses Creator2’s item in a thumbnail/screenshot, as long as a credit is given and the resource is not packaged inside Creator1’s .var but is merely linked to as a resource, doesn’t that drive downloads and purchases of Creator2’s content? Isn’t this better for everyone?

 

[RandomVAMUser]

Thank you for the breakdown, but I don’t understand this rule…

I’m not saying that you are incorrect, I just think that this is short sighted…

if Creator1 makes a great look/scene/whatever, and uses Creator2’s item in a thumbnail/screenshot, as long as a credit is given and the resource is not packaged inside Creator1’s .var but is merely linked to as a resource, doesn’t that drive downloads and purchases of Creator2’s content? Isn’t this better for everyone?

I mean short sighted or not...but In that case Creator2 can simply use CC BY or CC BY-ND (if he wan't free 'promotion').
There's probably reason Creator2 decide on using NC (NonCommercial). ?‍

Unless i misread the policies about NC

The Creative Commons simple definition of NC is

NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes.

The keyword here is use. Even if the scene only references the NC content, it is still using it. Screenshots with the NC content visible is also a form of using the content.

I'm only sharing my understanding (to be on the safe side).
If i'm wrong about any of it, someone please correct me. ?

EDIT: Totally understand your PoV, i had similar views about content usage inside pics...so yeah (gray area, but it is what it is).

 

[TooManyHats]

I guess in a perfect world, Vam would use something other than a .var that couldn’t be unpacked, so the ONLY way creator1 could use someone else’s creation would be to link to creator2’s creation. This would incentivize creator2 to use CC-BY since anyone who wanted creator1’s content would HAVE to go to creator2 to get the extra bits. In this case there is still the issue of the screenshot though.

as it stands right now, the minute someone thinks they might want to be a creator, they have to either do it entirely altruistically for free, or learn all the intricacies of all aspects of clothing, hair, 3d modeling, Unity, etc in order to sell it, even if their goal was merely to make just enough money to break even on the time they would have to spend on all that.

Un/related, On a complete tangent: In some ways, this explains part of the reason Patreon is used to sell vam assets. Aside from the obvious issues of certain types of content not being allowed on other selling platforms, Patreon can be used as a loophole for sellers who can claim “by supporting me on Patreon, you’re fostering my choice to make cool things and you want me to keep doing it.You’re not buying any one particular item that I’m obligated to support or fix for you if it isn’t working or parts of it are missing in the future, however long after I posted it and you just now saw it on the hub months later and think you’re entitled to it after giving me a few bucks and canceling your Patreon contribution immediately after downloading my entire back catalogue”

 

[TooManyHats]

All this being said, it would be useful if the license of an item was visible on the Hub prior to download. If this is the case, I must be missing it, but right now I have to download an item and check it in the package manager to see if I can use it in a screenshot of my creation, and if I can’t I have to go back to the hub and look for an alternative and repeat the process.

Or perhaps the license could be required as part of the naming convention of an item…
I’m not by my computer at the moment so I don’t remember if there is an easy way to see the license of packages already in my addonpackages folder while sliding morphs, adding clothes or hair either. So right now, I just have to make a thing, package it, and see what licenses I’m violating at the end.

 

[TooManyHats]

…used as a loophole for sellers who can claim “by supporting me on Patreon, you’re fostering my choice to make cool things and you want me to keep doing it…

To clarify, I did not mean for this to sound as if I didn’t agree with it. The choice of the word “loophole” may have made it seem like I think this is a cop out by patreon sellers, but I actually believe in the statement inside the quotes. I wish more buyers understood what they were getting when putting money into a sellers patreon.

“Seller” and “Paid Look/Scene” are incorrect terms on the hub, but “Support this Creator on their platform of choice to gain access to the things they are creating” doesn’t fit on a button well…

ok, I’ll shut up now

 

[RandomVAMUser]

ok, I’ll shut up now

I don't mind, you can keep venting...let it out, just do it! ?

'in a perfect world'....yeah ...no such thing, only wishful thinking.

Usually i try to steer away from patreon (paid) discussions or what 'shady' business is or isn't going on...rly not my cup of tea.

I agree about hub(site) to display .var license somewhere (for hub hosted packages), without need to download & look inside meta.
i mean...dependencies tab shows individual licenses,
client hub shows package license & dependencies licenses,
also on some of the custom content (var), you can quickly glance to check license (only for clothes, hairstyles, morphs).

Spoiler: example

 

[TooManyHats]

Ah, yes! Inside VAM is the better way to download I suppose… I was actually talking more about the browser version of the hub, as sometimes on slow days at work I’ll peruse the hub on an iPad looking for items which might suit my needs so I don’t have to waste what little time I have to create when I get home. Or if I’m planning on packaging a var after work, checking the items’ licenses in the browser hub ahead of time is not possible.

ps. I checked out the official meshedvr post on NC that you or someone linked to above and it all made more sense once I realized that LINKING to Creator2’s content wasn’t an issue until some lowlifes ruined it for everyone by posting loweffort paid content!

 

[TooManyHats]

OK, so there aren't a lot of forum posts with License in the title... (or search isn't working well) so one more question here

• If you have created a VAR file that modifies and/or repacks content from another VAR file, then the ND and SA descriptors come into play. If ND is present, you cannot modify or repack that content. If SA is present, your VAR file must include the same license as the other VAR.
• If you have created a VAR file that you are posting in the paid area, you cannot reference, modify, or repack any content from another VAR file that has the NC descriptor (please see https://hub.virtamate.com/threads/new-non-commercial-nc-license-policy-enforcement.11860/ for more info)

So if I want to sell a look, obviously I have to get rid of or replace any resource that has an NC in the license.

The actual Look has only builtin morphs, builtin Female2 Victoria Skin, my own face/torso/limb textures and one custom morph that I created.

To look her best, I use third party hair and clothing items that have CC-BY-SA, so my .var has to be CC-BY-SA

So could I:
1. Create a naked Look/Scene, Package that as CC-BY-NC-SA
2. Post Paid look to the hub and link to my patreon, behind a paywall
Others can tweek the body, skin, what have you, and they can put it back out there NonCommercially
(here's the questionable part)
3. Create a Scene referencing the CC-BY-SA clothing, and references my Naked Look .var and package that with CC-BY-SA, so as to preserve the SA portion of the third party items' license
4. Post this as free on the Hub, driving downloads of my Look, and allowing screenshots that represent the full potential of my look with hair and costume