Question on a public domain resource here at idev

[Najdorf]

I am using in my game the "RPG Character Sprites" resource from iDev (posted november 14 2000). In the license it says that it' s public domain. However, in the Read Me, it says:


The content of these sprites is beleaved to be in the public domain. As such you may use them freely provided that... that you don' t resell them to a third party NOR RESELL THE FINISHED PRODUCT THAT CONTAINS THEM


I think this is actually not true of public domain things: you can very well sell them (if, of course, someone wants to buy a thing that is free), and resell the product that contains them.

On another public domain license, I read:

Public Domain Software

"CK Game Factory Sounds" by Chikara Kojima

The Software specified by name above and contained within the same directory as this document or various subdirectories of that directory is hereby placed in the Public Domain. Allowing free and unrestricted use of both the Software or any part of the Software in any manner you see fit. The author hereby relinquishes any copyright previously placed on the Software and although no rights are formally reserved over the Software's use it is hoped
that you will:

* Provide credit to the above author where appropriate.

* Not use the Software or any part of the Software in a malicious manner.

* Not charge an excessive distribution fee for the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
AUTHORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN
ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION
WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.

that does not mention anythhing on the impossibility of reselling.
What do you think?

[gatti]

Check this out:

http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-definitions.html
Where is the public domain?
The public domain is not a place. A work of authorship is in the ìpublic domainî if it is no longer under copyright protection or if it failed to meet the requirements for copyright protection. Works in the public domain may be used freely without the permission of the former copyright owner.

The content of these sprites is beleaved to be in the public domain. As such you may use them freely provided that... that you don' t resell them to a third party NOR RESELL THE FINISHED PRODUCT THAT CONTAINS THEM


is a copyright statement.

[Carlos Camacho]

Is it spelled as...

"beleaved to"

???

Ouch, we need to fix that.

For "CK Game Factory Sounds", that was what she wrote, so that is what I kept. She may be right or wrong, but I thought it best at the time to keep what she had.

that you don' t resell them to a third party NOR RESELL THE FINISHED PRODUCT THAT CONTAINS THEM
I think that bit came from are old Assistant editor (yeah, blame someone else! that's the ticket.)

I think if you look at recent public domain assets here, you won't find the above text file but a standard public domain "statement", not copyright.

There are 2 or so cases on public domain...
1. Someone gives me something and says one of the following..
a. It is freeware/free (and in some cases, "but I want credit")
b. It is public domain
2. I find something on the net and after as much research as I can do, find them to be public domain. The bit about "We beleive them to be PD...." is/was a way to say, "Ah, we didn't know that you owned the rights, sorry, we will destroy the file immediately."

Mosy people here no I am very against ripping assets, and I go out of my way NOT to post things like sprites from SNES games.

If there is a lawyer in the house, I am happy to insert a new public domain message, along with a new "We do our dam best to make sure it is PD, but use it at your own risk" message.

Frankly, I have considered deleting anything that we have that is PD because it is so hard to be 100% certain. The stuff I make I know I made but PD stuff... unless someone hands it to me, I feel a little uneasy about.

Anyhow, on my to-do list is to go through all non iDG game assets and ditch what I am unsure about, or fix the PD messages.

This is a large project which is on my to-do list, but you all know I am always busy so I could use a hand here.

Cheers

[Najdorf]

Oh, so I have to use them at my own risk eh? Well, I think a donationware game won' t make tha author mad if he ever discovers it... or not?