Question about the defold license

CrazyAmphibian · September 16, 2023, 1:50am

i have a game that is getting very close to release, and, to avoid legal issues, i’d like to make sure i abide by the defold license, but i’m no lawyer and have a hard time wrapping my head around the legalese.

i’m reading up on the page (The Defold License) and have questions
do i really just only need a text file in the game distribution?
there’s the defold license, but also a copyright notice. do i need both?

Crank1d · September 16, 2023, 11:44am

Defold license.txt and copyright.txt should be included in same folder with game distribution. Other ways to include license are:
1.) game credits screen
2.) ingame popup dialog
3.) print license to app start log
4.) put license in same folder with game distribution (what you asked)
5.) put license in printed manual included with game

CrazyAmphibian · September 16, 2023, 7:19pm

ok, thank you

britzl · September 16, 2023, 7:41pm

The correct way to comply with the Defold license and the other libraries that make up the Defold engine can be seen here:

github.com

defold/defold/blob/dev/COMPLYING_WITH_LICENSES.md

# Complying with licenses

Defold is created and distributed under the developer-friendly Defold License. The Defold License is derived from the popular Apache 2.0 license. The license in its entirety can be [read here](/LICENSE.txt) with additional information to help you understand the [difference from the standard Apache 2.0 license here](https://defold.com/license/).

Defold itself contains software written by third parties. Some of the software is used in the Defold editor and command line tools ([learn more](/TOOLS_LICENSES.md)) and some of the software is used in the Defold engine. The software included in the Defold engine will be included in the games and applications created using Defold and require the inclusion of their respective license in derivative work.

**If you use Defold to create games and applications it is your responsibility to include the required licenses in your work.**


## How to include required licenses in your work

Some ways in which you can include required licenses in your work:

* Show the license and notice at the end of a credits screen if your application has one
* Show the license and notice from a dedicated license screen or popup in your application
* Print the license and notice to an output log when your application starts
* Put the license and notice in a text file and include it with the distribution of your application
* Put the license and notice in a printed manual included with your application

This file has been truncated. show original

arly · September 19, 2023, 5:52am

This makes me even more confused. So I got to include all licenses from Required license inclusion one by one, or just include the long text from the The Defold License?

Secondly, a concrete example, if I create a game using Defold on Android, and I pick option “Put the license in a text file and include it with the distribution of your application”, that means having the TXT file containing the license(s?) inside the APK should suffice?

Thanks.

britzl · September 19, 2023, 7:35am

Yes, I believe this is enough. Also, if you wish to show the license texts within the game, these could be tucked away in some settings menu or something similar. For apps, you typically find the license texts under a Legal menu option or similar. Here’s Uber and Google Home: