Hi, I have some question about references on used libraries and their licenses
I would like to know:
I would like to list all used assets , but I don’t know how I do this properly.
https://github.com/defold/defold/blob/dev/COMPLYING_WITH_LICENSES.md
This document lists the licenses you need to include with your game. You can include them in any way that would be accessible to a normal user. For our game Big Klondike we have a Licenses screen which loops through every license necessary to mention (we also include mentioning software used we are not required to mention).
For libraries / extensions there may be some which have licenses that require you to mention them. You’ll need to read them to find out which may require this. Many of them are Creative Commons — CC0 1.0 Universal for those you don’t need to mention.
Hello @UzelDev,
@Pkeod has posted the link to the licenses in conjunction with Defold you need to include in your game.
As for assets, I assume you mostly use free ones. Usually, these assets provide a link to the license where you can find more details. Many of them are Creative Commons Licenses - maybe looking at their FAQ page helps you: https://creativecommons.org/faq/#what-are-creative-commons-licenses.
Like @Pkeod, I have a dedicated screen in the app for the licenses and if I had used third-party assets, I would have put the attributions there, too.
And like @Pkeod, I try to mention everything I used, even if no attribution is needed, because I think it is polite to do so.
According to The Defold License
The license requires that you do the following:
- You must include the Defold license and copyright notice in any work you create
There are multiple references on that page to including the licence and notice.
However the ‘Defold’ section at https://github.com/defold/defold/blob/dev/COMPLYING_WITH_LICENSES.md contains only the text of the 5-line copyright notice, but labels it “The license for the game engine itself.”
It’s not common for full licence text to be required, and the Apache License on which the Defold License is based doesn’t require it.
I believe what it refers to is the last section of text on that page (the short copyright+license notice), not the full license. I’m referring to this section:
Copyright 2020 The Defold Foundation
Licensed under the Defold License version 1.0 (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
You may obtain a copy of the License, together with FAQs at
https://www.defold.com/opensource
Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under the License.
There are two pieces of text:
If the second of these is sometimes referred to as ‘the license and copyright notice’ then that’s not obvious or useful. Clarity matters for legal documents.
I will make sure we clarify what to include and when. Let me get back to you on that.
Are you sure about that statement by the way?
“HOW TO APPLY THE APACHE LICENSE TO YOUR WORK
Include a copy of the Apache License, typically in a file called LICENSE, in your work, and consider also including a NOTICE file that references the License.”
https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0#apply
I interpret that as the full license should be included.
Haha no I’m not sure! I think you’re right.
The only Apache-licensed work we use is the DefAppsFlyer extension and I notice we already include he full licence text.
“and consider also including a NOTICE file that references the License”
https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0#apply
I don’t like when something is optional… And this then comes back as one of the requirements of redistribution in point 4d of the Apache license:
" If the Work includes a “NOTICE” text file as part of its distribution, then any Derivative Works that You distribute must include a readable copy of the attribution notices contained within such NOTICE file, excluding those notices that do not pertain to any part of the Derivative Works, in at least one of the following places: within a NOTICE text file distributed as part of the Derivative Works; within the Source form or documentation, if provided along with the Derivative Works; or, within a display generated by the Derivative Works, if and wherever such third-party notices normally appear. The contents of the NOTICE file are for informational purposes only and do not modify the License. You may add Your own attribution notices within Derivative Works that You distribute, alongside or as an addendum to the NOTICE text from the Work, provided that such additional attribution notices cannot be construed as modifying the License."
The notice file is this:
https://www.apache.org/legal/src-headers.html#notice
"Apache [PRODUCT_NAME]
Copyright [XXXX-XXXX] The Apache Software Foundation
This product includes software developed at
The Apache Software Foundation (http://www.apache.org/)."
Note that we decided to not include a NOTICE file in the main Defold repo. So there’s no requirement to include a NOTICE file, only the full license.
you guys made me slightly nervous and a bit confused about what must be included in our apps.
Like @Pkeod, I have included the texts in https://github.com/defold/defold/blob/dev/COMPLYING_WITH_LICENSES.md.
Now, is this sufficient or do we have to include the full license texts - for instance the Apache License - as well? I would rather not make mistakes in legal matters. 
Yeah same here.
It would be interesting to know the approach of other developers with published games.
Anyone wants to share?
Since the Defold License is based on Apache 2.0 License we have after some review decided to add such a NOTICE file. This is what basically every Apache 2.0 licensed project does and it aligns with the text in the actual Apache 2.0 license, section 4d (or 4e in the case of the Defold license):
If the Work includes a "NOTICE" text file as part of its
distribution, then any Derivative Works that You distribute must
include a readable copy of the attribution notices contained
within such NOTICE file
Sorry about that!
According to the Apache 2.0 and Defold License you actually need to include a full copy of the license (and a copyright notice). This was not accurately reflected in the COMPLYING WITH LICENSES text. We have updated this document to include this requirement.
Thank you @britzl.
Aha, the copyright texts need to be included in an app plus the full licenses if required. These should be the ones where you provided the new links to (Apache License and Defold License), is that right? So, for MIT, BSD, LGPL copyright notices only are sufficient?
P.S Sorry, just noticed that in the case MIT, BSD, LGPL, the copyright notices are actually both (copyright notice and license in one) - at least I think looking at the updated page.
Correct. The MIT license is a lot shorter than the Apache license.
That’s a relief - so much more text to add already in my app! Sigh, this is going to be a monstrously long scrolling text 
Do you think this topic/changed page would warrant some kind of sticky thread or a topic so that no-one misses the changes? Since this is legal stuff, I suppose it’s rather important that everyone is aware of it.
A premade Monarch screen with all licenses required included in an easy way to view would be a good addition to include as standard in Monarch.
I wonder if it might be enough to:
It’s not immediately visible in a screen in your game, but it seems to be an acceptable way to comply with the licenses.
It is enough to do that on PC but not mobile/HTML5/consoles.