Official VAR Licenses

[meshedvr]

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 credit to original creator
• ND - no derivatives
• NC - no commercial use
• SA - share alike - any derivative content must use the same license as the source

Here are some simple rules to follow:

• If you have created a VAR file that references another VAR file, or your VAR file modifies and/or repacks content from another VAR file, you must give credit if that original VAR file has the BY descriptor. Almost every resource has this descriptor, so just give credit every time! It is the right thing to do to keep the community healthy and happy. To give credit, you must list the creator and what you used on your resource description page. Just pointing to the dependencies tab or including the depend.txt file is not enough. Take time to give proper credit and thanks.
• If you have created a VAR file that only references another VAR file and the referenced VAR file uses ND or SA descriptors, those do not apply in this case because that VAR file is just referenced. No changes to the original content were made.
• 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)

Not sure what your VAR file references or what the source licenses are on those references? Just open the <varfile>.depend.txt file that gets created alongside your VAR file. This clearly shows the other VAR files you reference and their license types. You can also look at the dependencies section of the meta.json file that is inside the VAR file that gets created. You can open VAR files with a zip manager like 7-Zip or WinRAR to browse the contents. The depend.txt and meta.json files don't tell you about content you may have modified and packed in to your var. Only you know that. You must keep track of what you are using and the source licenses and make sure you are compliant. Opening your var file in a zip manager can also help you see what was included. Make sure everything in your var file is your original content or has followed the original asset licenses. Our recommendation is to only pack content into your VAR file that you created yourself.

Violation of asset licenses can result in a ban. It is your job to make sure you are following the rules, and we take reports of violation of license terms seriously.

~meshedvr

Please also see the charts below for some more info and clarity:

Virt-a-Mate Specific Licensing
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VaM has licenses specific to our product that are intended to clarify what can be done with Free Content as well as protecting the work of Paid Content creators. If you have any questions regarding licensing, CC or VaM specific, please feel free to reach out to a moderator on VaMHuB or our official Discord.

FC = Free Content: Can distribute, remix, tweak, and build upon work, even commercially, No credit required.

• What it means: FC content is the most flexible VaM specific license. You can use it however you choose, even packaging it in your own var, and you are not required to give credit to the original author (although credit is always appreciated)

PC = Paid Content: Cannot distribute, remix, tweak, or build upon work.

• What it means: PC licensed content is content that was created for commercial sales and should only be found behind a paywall. As a result, any use of PC licensed content either as a dependency, as a modified resource, or placed in the custom folder of a resource and distributed in any way is a violation of our policies and considered piracy which can result in a ban.
• You can freely use PC content as a dependency if the content belongs to you, and only within PC content that you are distributing. If you want to use another creator's PC content. You must receive permission to use it and arrange with them how you can distribute it. Either as a reference that they must subscribe to receive or as a bundled asset included within your var. Keep in mind any bundled PC asset, must maintain that license and remain PC.
• You cannot use PC content as a dependency in Free Content, even if it belongs to you. This is considered to be an advertisement (requiring a paid item in order to use a free item) and is not allowed.

PC EA = Paid Content Early Access: Cannot distribute, remix, tweak , or build upon work until the EA (Early Access) end date, at which point the specified secondary license is in effect.

• What it means: PC EA content should be treated the same as PC content until the Early Access period has expired. After that date, the Hub will automatically read the "secondary" license and the content will adopt whatever license the author has indicated from that point on.

Questionable and/or MISSING = Should not distribute

• What it means: The content's origin cannot be determined. As a result, you must take responsibility for sharing the content or using it as a dependency by clicking an acknowledgement checkbox when uploading your resource.
• If a license is "MISSING", then it implies the license information has been stripped from the VAR. If there is existing license information for that content on the Hub, the license will be restored automatically when it is used as a dependency.
• Questionable and/or Missing content cannot be used in PC or PC EA content either as a dependency or included in the custom folder, and can result in negative actions from the moderation team.

Creative Commons License Definitions ​

ATTRIBUTION: CC BY = This license lets you distribute, remix, tweak, and build upon the original work, even commercially, as long as you credit the original creation. This is the most accommodating of licenses offered.

• What it means for VaM: You can modify CC BY content and/or include CC BY content as a dependency or packaged in the custom folder of your resource, but you must give credit to the original author with both a link to their profile (or website) and a link to the original content. Adding the content as a dependency in your scene will allow Hub systems to automatically generate the required credit links if the content is available on the Hub. CC BY content can be used in both FREE and PAID resources. An example would be using a Hub CC BY resource as a dependency, or porting a "CC Attribution" asset from Sketchfab.

ATTRIBUTION-SHAREALIKE: CC BY-SA = This license lets you distribute, remix, tweak, and build upon the original work, even for commercial purposes, as long as you credit the original work and license your new creations under the identical terms. This license is often compared to “copyleft” free and open source software licenses, so any derivatives will also allow commercial use. This is the license used by Wikipedia.

• What it means for VaM: All of the rules for CC BY apply here, with the following exceptions: If you are just using this content as a dependency, then it is treated as CC BY and you don't need to worry about changing your own license but you do still need to give properly linked credit as with all CC licenses.
• If you are including this content in the custom folder of your resource and you have modified it, you must also create a separate standalone resource with the modified asset and it must be licensed CC BY-SA.
• If you are modifying and redistributing this asset as a standalone resource, then your new resource based on the original must be licensed CC BY-SA.

ATTRIBUTION-NO DERIVATIVES: CC BY-ND = This license allows for the redistribution, commercial and non-commercial, as long as it is passed along unchanged and in whole, with credit to the original work.

• What it means for VaM: All of the rules for CC BY apply here, with one important exception: you cannot modify ND content. This license is most commonly used for Plugins, implying that the code cannot be modified in any way if redistributed. However, if the license is used on a look, hair, clothing item, etc, it means that if you use the files directly in your custom folder or if you redistribute the files in any way, then the character, hair, or clothing must remain identical to the original in every way.
• If used as a dependency and only referenced by your resource (no files are packaged or distributed) then you may treat this as CC BY.

ATTRIBUTION-NON COMMERCIAL: CC BY-NC = This license lets you distribute, remix, tweak, and build upon the original work, non-commercially. Your new works must be non-commercial and acknowledge the original work, but you don’t have to license your derivative works on the same terms.

• What it means for VaM: "NC" means "Non-Commercial". This means that you cannot sell this content or put it behind a paywall without written permission from the original author. If you use any content with an "NC" in the license in your Paid Content, then the Hub will automatically ask that you acknowledge that you have permission from the original author to use this non-commercial dependency. Being false in the acknowledgements can result in an immediate ban.
• "Non-Commercial" also means you cannot use NC licensed content in screenshots, videos, or other forms of advertising for your Paid Content without written permission from the original author. (For example: A Paid "Look" with screenshots of the model wearing NC licensed clothing, with a disclaimer that says "clothes not included" will still result in the resource being removed from the Hub and the author given a warning or other moderator action)
• The "CC BY" part of CC BY-NC means that all of the rules for CC BY apply, including having properly linked credits to the original author.
• If the author can no longer be contacted or has been absent for some time, the Hub still recognizes the NC license in perpetuity, meaning you still cannot use it in Paid content.

ATTRIBUTION-NON COMMERCIAL-SHAREALIKE: CC BY-NC-SA = This license lets you distribute, remix, tweak, and build upon the original work, non-commercially, as long as you credit the original work and license your new creations under the identical terms.

• What it means for VaM: If you are using the item as a dependency, then it carries the same rules as CC BY-NC. If you are packaging the item in your custom folder and redistributing it, then you must also release a separate standalone version that is itself licensed CC BY-NC-SA.

ATTRIBUTION-NON COMMERCIAL-NO DERIVATIVES: CC BY-NC-ND = This license is the most restrictive of the six main licenses , only allowing you to download the original work and share it with others as long as you credit the original work. You can’t change the original work in any way or use it commercially.

• What it means for VaM: This license carries all of the rules of the CC BY-NC license with one important exception: you cannot modify any content with an ND license. If it is included as a dependency and is only referenced (no original files are being redistributed) then you may modify whatever settings you wish in your scene. However, if you put this content in your custom folder or redistribute the files in any way, they must remain identical to the original.

CHANGING A LICENSE

• CC Licenses can be made less restrictive, but they cannot be made more restrictive. For example: You can change a CC BY-NC-ND license to a CC BY license if the content belongs to you, but you cannot change a CC BY license to any other CC license once it has been published. Think carefully when choosing your license and make sure you're comfortable before publishing your content.

REDISTRIBUTING LICENSED CONTENT

• If you are including licensed content or resources in your custom folder rather than as a dependency (we call this packaging), then you are required to clearly mark which parts of your resource carry a different license. We recommend removing that content from the custom folder and adding it as a dependency so that the Hub systems can take care of all of the proper credits and attribution for you automatically. Using dependencies correctly has the added benefit of providing downloads and reactions for the original author, and can protect you from having your content removed or being issued a warning.

Recommendations for a healthy VaM community

• We recommend always giving properly linked credits when you're using content you didn't create. The only license we allow that does not require credits is the "FC" license.
• It's a good idea to ask permission from the author if you're going to redistribute (host, custom folder, new resource) their content.
• We prefer that you don't host or distribute other people's content off-site (For example: Providing dependencies for download from your Patreon or Mega). We always recommend letting your subscribers download those dependencies from the Hub so those authors can enjoy the same downloads, reactions and reviews that you enjoy in your own content. If there is a specific version that works with your scene, make sure your meta.json file specifies the version number. The Hub also does not allow deletion of resources if they're being used as a dependency in other content in order to help prevent broken scenes from missing dependencies. If there is content that is not available on the Hub that you think should be hosted on the Hub, contact a staff person! We may be able to get it hosted for you.

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~The VaMHub Moderation Team