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How to protect source code and assets

A topic by Guilherme Raimondi created May 26, 2020 Views: 539 Replies: 6

Viewing posts 1 to 3

Guilherme RaimondiSubmitted4 years ago

My game is almost finished and I started looking on how to submit and was very turned off by the need of sharing source code.
I have concerns on how do I protect my files (MIT license? is it enough?).

This is my first game and I'll pehaps continue it and someday release it as a full game. Sharring my source code and assets seems like a bad move and I'm starting to think of not participating anymore but I really wanted to share with all of you, why cant the source be optional?
Need some clarification here.

LiteTJSubmitted4 years ago

Is sharing source code without a license that detrimental to you?

I've shared many projects on other platforms, most of the time including source code without attributing any license, and I don't think it affects me. Is this bad practice?

Guilherme RaimondiSubmitted4 years ago

Well if I share there is nothing to prevent someone from using it (maybe the art assets) or continuing it as if it were theirs (or there is? i really dont know). I'm concerned because I'd love to complete this game and someday release it.

gameboymarcusSubmitted4 years ago(+1)

The MIT license pretty much allows anyone to take your code as do as they please. That includes taking your code to create a commercial game. Check this out this resource on choosing an open source license that works for you: https://choosealicense.com/

If it helps, your assets can be licensed very differently from your code. So while the code may be free for anyone to use, the art/sound/whatever you created will not be available to them. You can have a look here for choosing the right license for your assets: https://creativecommons.org/choose/.

Guilherme RaimondiSubmitted4 years ago

Thanks for the reply, was very informative! So to restrict it the most (no one should use it) could be this one?
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

I dont want people to use my assets and code. I would just post it for educational purpouses.
So which one is better? I'm not sure

gameboymarcusSubmitted4 years ago(+1)

Hmm, apologies for the mixup. After reading through the CC licenses again it seems that people would still be able to share under that license, but attribution will always go back to you. Not what you’re looking for.

When you write code, you own the copyright to it. If you put your code up without a license, then all we have is your copyrighted code. As such, the code will be read only and belong to you. It wouldn’t stop someone from downloading it and doing their own thing, but they shouldn’t if that’s the case.

That’s not open source, but would satisfy your needs. If you can, check with the organisers to be sure it’s OK.

Guilherme RaimondiSubmitted4 years ago

That's ok! It would be very good if they let share the code as read only... wouldnt hurt the purpouse of the jam.

itch.io

GameDev.tv Community Jam

How to protect source code and assets