Lua script licenses need to be cleared up

[onpon4]

If they're not at least under the GNU GPL v3, they're infringing copyright. But I don't like this situation where none of the Lua files have any sort of license information attached to them. This needs to be addressed somehow. It needs to be made clear that all Lua scripts are licensed under at least version 3 of the GNU GPL. Preverably, every Lua script should have some sort of notice on it.

I was trying to address this with my "copyright" branch, but it was never merged.

[BTAxis]

Perhaps we could have some kind of catch-all license file somewhere? It would mean that we implicitly require all script contributions to use the same license.

[onpon4]

Sure, that would work.

One other thing that should be done, though: everyone who has contributed code should be reached out to, asked to confirm that their contributions can be distributed under GPLv3. It might also be worthwhile to ask if later versions of the GPL can be used, kill two birds with one stone.

[l0k1]

Since I saw this, and maybe to save you some work, all my current and any future contributions can be licensed GPLv3+.

[PhoenixRiver]

Since I saw this, and maybe to save you some work, all my current and any
future contributions can be licensed GPLv3+.

Ditto; all my past and future contributions are licensed GPLv3. The
license files that already exist pretty implicitly suggest that all
contributions are indeed made with some sort of public domain license
being something you have to give however, unless those contributions
are made in bad faith (the legal definition) in which case there is no
legal leg for the contributor to stand on and therefore it's all moot

• especially since we've had these discussions a number of times
  already in one 'forum' (forum, chat, list etc.) or another.

Just my ha'penny worth ;)

Phoenix...

[onpon4]

Same here. Every bit of code I have contributed can be considered under GPLv3 or later.

[ids1024]

I don't know if this is really necessary legally (but licensing is complicated), since it would generally be assumed that all code is under the same license as the rest of the project unless otherwise stated (the LICENSE file may be enough). It certainly wouldn't hurt though. Anyway, I agree that any code I have contributed be avaiable under the terms of the GPLv3 or later.

If this is an issue for the lua code, it probably applies to the xml files as well.

[onpon4]

Alright, I've gone through the list of contributors and looked for the ones who contributed to things in the dat directory without indicating a license explicitly, whose contributions are possibly copyrightable (so none of the people who just committed a couple of misspellings). I also sent an email to those who had an email address listed on their GitHub profile.

This is the list of people who still need to be contacted (I don't know how to do that, does GitHub have a personal messaging system?):

nloewen
nenau
perey
unavowed
Lineth
SudarshanS
fartoverflow
micahmumper
HatlessAtlas
Elderman
Anatolis
Cypher3c
rkulhanek
toams
brognam
AvanWolf
EveColonyCommander
iwaschosen
geekt
Arakash
Zireael07

And this is the list of people who I have already contacted via email:

xales
PhilmacFLy
Scaatis
oldtopman
reynir
Lukc
nikai3d

[reynir]

I received the email. A link to this thread would have been appreciated. I thought all my contributions were gplv3, but I agree to license them as GPLv3. I would probably have ignored the email if I didn't find this thread.

@onpon4 github removed messaging ages ago, but if you hi-light them as I did you they should receive an email unless they've changed that in their notification settings I believe.

[onpon4]

Ah, alright, thanks, reynir. :)

I got a response to the email I sent to Lukc:

I just want to ask two things about the commits you have made to Naev in
the past:

1. Are all of your contributions to Naev (link below) redistributable
   under the terms of the GNU General Public License, version 3?

Well, the project was already under GPLv3 when those commits were added,
and I didn’t object at the time, so I guess… yes?

1. Will you permit distribution of your contributions to Naev under all
   versions of the GNU General Public License later than version 3 as well?

Of course. If bobbens (the project maintainer) asks, I’ll agree as well.

[onpon4]

Alright, so shouting out to everyone who hasn't been contacted yet:

@nloewen
@nenau
@perey
@unavowed
@Lineth
@SudarshanS
@fartoverflow
@micahmumper
@HatlessAtlas
@Elderman
@Anatolis
@Cypher3c
@rkulhanek
@toams
@brognam
@AvanWolf
@EveColonyCommander
@iwaschosen
@geekt
@Arakash
@Zireael07

And those who haven't responded to the email I sent (yet):

@xales
@PhilmacFLy
@Scaatis
@oldtopman
@nikai3d

Please help resolve this issue by commenting here:

1. That your contributions are distributable under the terms of the GNU GPLv3
2. Whether or not your will permit distribution of your contributions under later versions of the GNU GPL

[onpon4]

Email response from Scaatis:

Wow that was a long time ago. I think all images were some variation of CC which may have included non-commercial. Assume it's CC-BY. If that is compatible with GPL3, then you're all good.
If any code I wrote is in there, it can be GPL3

[Arakash]

Do I only have to reply in this comment or make some sort of change ? But either way, everytthing i committed is GPL3.

[onpon4]

@PhilmacFLy responded:

As they are only XMLs for medium and large cargo pods and as such more or less
copied from the small cargo pod yeah its redistributable and yeah I'll permit
the distribution.

The second question I asked was about versions of the GPL later than 3, so that means (if I understand correctly) his contributions can be GPLv3+.

[onpon4]

Do I only have to reply in this comment or make some sort of change ?

Just the reply. Thanks! :)

[Elderman]

Hello Julie Marchant,

My contributions such as they were are distributable under the terms of
the GNU GPLv3 and I'm happy for them to be distributed under later
versions as well.

I'll come and take a look at the progress on the game sometime soon. I
always wished I'd been able to make more substantive contributions.

Yours sincerely,

Elderman

On 11/08/2016 13:37, Julie Marchant wrote:

Alright, so shouting out to everyone who hasn't been contacted yet:

@nloewen https://github.com/nloewen
@nenau https://github.com/nenau
@perey https://github.com/perey
@unavowed https://github.com/unavowed
@Lineth https://github.com/Lineth
@SudarshanS https://github.com/SudarshanS
@fartoverflow https://github.com/fartoverflow
@micahmumper https://github.com/micahmumper
@HatlessAtlas https://github.com/HatlessAtlas
@Elderman https://github.com/Elderman
@Anatolis https://github.com/Anatolis
@Cypher3c https://github.com/Cypher3c
@rkulhanek https://github.com/rkulhanek
@toams https://github.com/toams
@brognam https://github.com/brognam
@AvanWolf https://github.com/AvanWolf
@EveColonyCommander https://github.com/EveColonyCommander
@iwaschosen https://github.com/iwaschosen
@geekt https://github.com/geekt
@Arakash https://github.com/Arakash
@Zireael07 https://github.com/Zireael07

And those who haven't responded to the email I sent (yet):

@xales https://github.com/xales
@PhilmacFLy https://github.com/PhilmacFLy
@Scaatis https://github.com/Scaatis
@oldtopman https://github.com/oldtopman
@nikai3d https://github.com/nikai3d

Please help resolve this issue by commenting here:

That your contributions are distributable under the terms of the GNU
GPLv3

Whether or not your will permit distribution of your contributions
under later versions of the GNU GPL

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[PhilmacFLy]

The second question I asked was about versions of the GPL later than 3, so that means (if I understand correctly) his contributions can be GPLv3+.

Yep that was exactly what I meant :)

[BrknRobot]

Yes and yes

[perey]

Yes, "GPLv3 or later" for whatever I've contributed.

[rkulhanek]

You can attach whichever GPL you want to my contributions.

[AvanWolf]

Yes to both

Havent seen activity here in a while. If those issues that were blocking me
ever get resolved, reach out and I'll see about finishing what i started
(The Thurion)

On Thu, Aug 11, 2016 at 6:39 AM, rkulhanek notifications@github.com wrote:

You can attach whichever GPL you want to my contributions.

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[micahmumper]

Yes and yes to both.

-Micah

On Thu, Aug 11, 2016 at 10:08 AM, AvanWolf notifications@github.com wrote:

Yes to both

Havent seen activity here in a while. If those issues that were blocking me
ever get resolved, reach out and I'll see about finishing what i started
(The Thurion)

On Thu, Aug 11, 2016 at 6:39 AM, rkulhanek notifications@github.com
wrote:

You can attach whichever GPL you want to my contributions.

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.

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Micah Mumper, M.A.
Cognitive Psychology
Stony Brook University
808-389-5034

[toams]

Yes to both

[ids1024]

@AvanWolf What specific issues prevented you from continuing development of the Thurion?

[SudarshanS]

All contributions I made to Naev on or before July 10, 2016 are distributable under the conditions of the GNU GPL v3. They are also distributable under any later versions of the GPL, or under any OSI approved license this project moves to in the future.

To the best of my knowledge, I have not made any contributions after July 10, 2016 but I started employment on July 11, 2016 and I want to ensure that I don't accidentally relicense something I don't have the rights to.

[nikai3d]

Please help resolve this issue by commenting here:

1. That your contributions are distributable under the terms of the GNU GPLv3
2. Whether or not your will permit distribution of your contributions under later versions of the GNU GPL

Sure, no problem.

[nenau]

I aree that my contributions can be distributed under GPLv3 and later.

[PasternakMichal]

Yes to both as well.

On Fri, Aug 12, 2016 at 3:22 AM, nenau notifications@github.com wrote:

I aree that my contributions can be distributed under GPLv3 and later.

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• Michal

[xales]

My contributions may be distributed under the GNU GPLv3 and any subsequent versions of that license.

[oldtopman]

Sorry about the wait.
My contributions may be distributed under the GNU GPLv2 and/or any subsequent version of the GNU GPL license.

[fartoverflow]

Same for me, best!

On 12/08/16 23:57, Old T. Man wrote:

Sorry about the wait.
My contributions may be distributed under the GNU GPLv2 and/or any
subsequent version of the GNU GPL license.

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[Anatolis]

Same for me:
My contributions may be distributed under the GNU GPLv3 and any subsequent versions of that license.

[Lineth]

I must have missed this when clearing out my (underused, old) Email. My bad. :(

I don't really recall adding anything worth copywriting, but if so, then GNU GPLv2 applies to them.

[AvanWolf]

It looks like this didnt go through, it was jut saved as a draft

The engine was missing support for features that they needed in their
gameplay mechanics (like some weapon mechanics such as non-ammo tracking
projectiles, and so on)

Furthermore, apparently putting the spritesheets on git was overburdening
it or something - at least thats what i had been told in the irc, so I
remember that was another issue blocking the development of further ships.

On Thu, Aug 11, 2016 at 8:24 AM, Ian D. Scott notifications@github.com
wrote:

@AvanWolf https://github.com/AvanWolf What specific issues prevented
you from continuing development of the Thurion?

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[BTAxis]

Putting the sprite sheets on git doesn't exactly overburden it, but the memory footprint caused by using sprite sheets is getting too large, so we need to switch to 3D model rendering.

[ids1024]

@AvanWolf I think the homing weapons (#298) should be fairly simple to implement. I may take a shot at implementing them when I have time.

Using 3D models instead of sprite sheets will be necessary for adding many more ships. #511 partially implements it, but still has issues. Among other things, we'll need to actually have all the 3D models, which is a problem for some. @Deiz may have them, but he hasn't been around lately.

@Deiz Are you reading this?

[onpon4]

So @bobbens or @BTAxis, how about adding that license notice, probably to the readme? It doesn't need to be anything complicated, just something like "everything in this repository is under at least version 3 of the GNU General Public License (see LICENSE), with the following exceptions: {list of exceptions}".

[bobbens]

I can add it to naev.h as currently done, and also to the (new) Readme.md. However, I am not sure what files are exceptions besides the data stuff, which are tracked separately.

[SlySven]

Just passing by - hunting for information about practical situations where the GPL is interacting with Lua scrip situations and I spotted a glaring issue that will bite you if not resolved: as written here @Lineth specifically licensed their contributions as GPL version 2 ONLY which is not compatible with GPL version 3 (or, at the user's option, any later version)... :

I must have missed this when clearing out my (underused, old) Email. My bad. :(

I don't really recall adding anything worth copywriting, but if so, then GNU GPLv2 applies to them.

[onpon4]

Reynir sent me an email response:

Hi [redacted],

Sorry for the (extremely) late response. Yes, my contributions can be
distributed under GPLv3 and later versions.

Apologies if I have already replied - I could not find any in my mailbox.

• Reynir

The only significant thing about this is that he said he would be okay with newer versions of the GNU GPL as well as version 3 (his original post here only said "GPLv3").

[2ndBillingCycle]

These are still uncomfirmed:

• @unavowed
• @HatlessAtlas
• @Cypher3c
• @brognam
• @EveColonyCommander
• iwaschosen
• @geekt
• @Zireael07 ✅

Potential issues:

• @Lineth: Listed as only GPLv2, need confirmation for GPLv3+
• SudarshanS: Only explicitly licensed contributions up to 2016-07-10; any made after have not been explicitly licensed
  No contributions after 2016-07-10 ✅
• Arakash: Only explicitly mentioned GPLv3, without including later versions ✅
• Scaatis: mentioned CC-BY without listing an explicit version, while only v4 is listed as a compatible license
  v4 of CC-BY was released on 2015-10-15
  Scaatis' reply was received after 2016-08-10
  Not an issue

[Zireael07]

Ok, I forgot I contributed, thanks for pinging. Yes and yes to both questions.

[Arakash]

since I saw myself, in the "potential problems" box, and I hope i can make this official here:
use any of my code in any way you want - Copyright is GPL3+
Hope this helps :)

[onpon4]

Scaatis: mentioned CC-BY without listing an explicit version, while only v4 is listed as a compatible license

Probably they meant v3, but GPL compatibility isn't needed for artwork (projects mix GPL code with CC artwork all the time). Artwork licenses are actually documented very well under ARTWORK_LICENSES.

I think it would be perfectly fine at this point to just put a statement of intent in the readme that all Lua and XML files are GPLv3 unless otherwise noted.

SudarshanS: Only explicitly licensed contributions up to 2016-07-10; any made after have not been explicitly licensed

They haven't made any contributions in that time period so that's fine.

[2ndBillingCycle]

I'm not sure how helpful this would be, but I tried to find everywhere that the mentioned contributors show up in git blame in the current state of the repository (ac520e3):

• unavowed

  • Makefile.am
    • 1-2, 5-7, 30, 46, 50, 64-68, 70-71, 75, 83, 88-92, 94-96, 98-103, 105-109, 113-119, 121-124, 127-128
  • autogen.sh
    • 1
  • build/shave.in
    • 1-109
  • configure.ac
    • 12-13, 32-71, 77, 87, 89, 96, 98, 100-114, 116-118, 139-140, 143, 149, 156, 163-165, 169, 171-173, 175-184, 186-199, 201-209, 261-269, 271-274, 409, 415, 419-426, 428-430, 476-479, 483, 485-487, 495, 498, 503-504, 506-507, 509-510, 519-524, 536-538, 541-544, 552-562, 564-569, 589, 594, 609-617, 619-621, 624-634, 636-641, 644, 653-657, 663-664, 670-671, 678, 680-688, 698
  • docs/Makefile.am
    • 1-15, 17-25
  • m4/openal.m4
    • 1-24, 26-52
  • m4/opengl.m4
    • 56-63
  • m4/shave.m4
    • 1-102
  • naev.6
    • 1-3, 5-13, 15-20, 22-28, 38, 40-41, 43-44, 46-47, 49-50, 52-53, 55-56, 58, 61, 64-65, 70-71, 73-74, 76-77, 79-80, 82, 90-91, 94-96, 98-99
  • src/Makefile.am
    • 8
  • src/music_openal.c
    • 124, 126, 480, 519, 543, 554-555, 562-563
  • src/naev.c
    • 28, 37, 304

• HatlessAtlas

  • dat/ai/include/atk_fighter.lua
    • 1-5, 8-9, 11-16, 25-26, 28-29, 33, 36-38, 41-43, 77-81, 83-84, 88-90, 93-96, 98-101, 103-115, 117-138, 140-141, 143-147, 149-157, 159-172, 175-179, 181-189
  • dat/ai/include/atk_target.lua
    • 1-47, 49-52, 54-57, 61, 64-68, 71-75, 78-82, 85-90, 94-105, 107-108, 110-113, 119-120, 122-124, 127-130
  • dat/ai/include/attack_generic.lua
    • 136-137, 139-142, 180-185, 187-188, 190-193, 195-198, 202-205, 207-217, 221-222, 224-227, 229-232, 234-254, 256-259, 263, 266, 268-270, 274-320, 322-325, 327-330, 334, 337-341, 344-348, 351-355, 358-363, 367-377, 416-417, 419-433, 464-469, 478-490, 530-531, 535-550, 557-602, 606, 612, 617-632, 636-685, 689, 695, 700-715, 717-718, 720-764, 767-768, 773-777, 781, 787, 792-808, 812-866, 869, 875, 880-884, 888, 894, 899-906
  • dat/ai/include/attack_profiles.lua
    • 1-12, 29-30, 34-42, 53-58, 67-79, 89, 93, 97-98, 102-105
  • src/ai.c
    • 166, 168, 188-190, 219-220, 225-227, 267, 269, 284-286, 308-309, 314-316, 1302, 1304, 1306-1332, 1334-1336, 1369, 1373-1377, 1379-1381, 1384, 1388-1390, 1393, 1395-1401, 1993-1994, 1998-2002, 2006-2007, 2013-2015, 2018-2020, 2022-2027, 2032-2035, 2037-2038, 2042-2045, 2047, 2057, 2060, 2075, 2092, 2099-2100, 2102-2104, 2108, 2111-2118, 2140, 2882, 2887-2889, 2891-2898, 2900-2902, 2906-2907, 2909-2910, 2912, 2915, 2922-2925, 2929-2933, 2936, 2938-2939, 2941-2943, 3039, 3041, 3045-3050, 3052-3059, 3061, 3065-3070, 3072-3079, 3081, 3085-3086, 3088-3090, 3092-3098, 3202-3203
  • src/pilot.c
    • 308-310, 312-313, 315, 325, 327-328, 339, 341, 343-345, 349-350, 352, 356-358, 363-365, 367, 377-379, 381-383, 385, 3169-3172, 3174-3182, 3186-3189, 3195, 3209, 3222-3223, 3227-3231, 3233, 3237-3239, 3243
  • src/pilot.h
    • 450, 460-463

• Cypher3c

• brognam

  • dat/mission.xml
    • 235-237, 242, 754-755, 860-861, 867-869, 988, 1282-1283

• EveColonyCommander

  • dat/assets/long_rock.xml
    • 28

• iwaschosen

  • dat/mission.xml
    • 1139-1140, 1149, 1152-1153, 1190-1191, 1202-1203, 1209, 1211-1212

• geekt

  • dat/mission.xml
    • 1127-1129, 1162, 1179-1180, 1215-1219