Saturday 28 June 2014

Can we be? - ħomk
 

Sup fellas, ħomk here. Pickrandom, btw.

Well, Steel has introduced himself, so I'll keep it up, but more briefly.
It's me writing this because the whole mod is my fault. In some sense it’s an excuse to 4LS for our creativity.

I decided to discourse about the legality of Cat`s Paw`s being.
Katawa Shoujo registered under a non-free license CC BY-SA-ND.

First of all, I do pay big attention to licensing. Free (and not really) programs are making my life better and easier, and I respect the author’s right to choose a license of his own liking. But there are a number of cases where this particular violation has an excuse.

Okay, so where and what did I violate. CC BY-SA-ND license says that KatawaShoujo can distribute on three conditions: Attribution (BY), under the same license (SA) and without any changes (ND).
Creating the routes of Rika and Saki is a violation against the last condition. I admit it: mod changes the game, if we speak about the letter of the law, so it is.

But, I’ve decided to violate it, and here’s why.
The point of CC ND is that if every regular citizen will edit Picasso, there will be no Picasso left in the long run. Art expresses personal feelings of the author and it’s awfully bad for somebody else to change them: they’re personal.
A perfect illustration here would be Howard Roark. He has forbidden making changes in his own blueprints not because those changes were bad, but because these were his blueprints.

Let’s get back on the point. The whole mod for Rika/Saki is another branch that’s connected to main plot only at one point: the Thursday. Overall, all of my editing relates to the code, which of course is not a personal feeling and I think that licensing of the code under CC *-ND-* doesn’t correspond to the spirit of the license.
I didn’t edit the text. I didn’t change the lines, I just created a single point and everything else is just a consequence.
As an example of rude violation of the license I can suggest a mod from CGainmated1227 which completely rewrites the story semantically and linguistically. In my opinion that’s a direct violation of the license and dude, that’s a shame.

And my only violation as a result of this view of CC BY-SA-ND is to create a single branch point in the plot. I think I can accept such a sin.

13 comments:

  1. Are you saying you can't (or didn't) enjoy my mod because it's a "rude violation"? I have an article on my ModDB page that explains why I did it. I saw many coincidences that reflected my own life from small ones to big ones in KS (especially Hanako's route) that made it feel like a dream taken from my mind. I knew that people would react negatively to it, but I continued to do so anyway because it felt right with me to share it with everyone. I originally was something to show just my friends for private use, but I wanted to show how I felt with everyone. I'm sorry if you still think my personal emotions are rude, but I don't fault you for it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. > you can't enjoy
      No, I enjoyed, btw, you work was for me first step, first idea, that someone can change the game. I just can`t understand you.

      Maybe I`m too free-license-guy, but, creating this mode, I understand, that, actually, I commit a crime.
      And I still trying to downplay my blame. You - not. I don`t understand exactly this.

      Delete
  2. Dear editor, you sir are a dumb-ass. I use that word because this is one of the few times I am able to type such a word. As a lawyer, I can say that modifications to a program are legal and are what keep games and some software useful and entertaining. With that said I would like to mention the attention that mods bring to certain games. I have viewed the mod by CGanimated and have seen no direct violation as he takes no credit for the original program in question. Now the modification created by CG is not in violation but KS itself is in violation of the law in many countries for offering its program on to be downloaded on a torrent software. With said I would like to say is your modification is no different from CG's due to the fact that you have both edit the program in similar ways. The difference is that he edited a path while you added a path. You yourself has simply re-invented the game by adding a path while he re-invented the game by adding a path. Legally there is no difference.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. > modifications to a program are legal
      Wat? CreativeCommons NoDerivativeWorks mean, that I can`t edit anything in game.

      Delete
    2. But mod's creator is not editing anything. He just provides some files.

      It's the player that mixes those additional files together with the original game to create a derivative work.

      Delete
    3. He's a dumbass for not wanting to step on the toes of the games' creators?

      He's a dumbass for trying to be careful?

      And great honking lumps of BS are you a lawyer.

      Delete
    4. Properly, you cannot distribute modified games, but can distribute the code and tools to enable people *to* modify their own copies of a game in a prescribed manner. Attempts to block this have been shot down in court, all the way up to the supreme court.

      So, they can make a mod, so long as they don't distribute the game itself, post-modded.

      Delete
  3. A colleague of yours has informed me that you and a team are working on a mod for Katawa Shoujo. I contacted your colleague because I was quite fond of her art-style and how it closely resembles the original art-style. I am contacting you because I am forming a team together to create the next KS game. Sadly 4LS does not want to make the next game so it will be completely fan-made (even though the original KS was also a fan-made game). I was hoping that we could work together on this project.

    -Sincerely, Helten

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Is it going to be based on the Saki/Rika's stories?

      Delete
    2. Yeah...hows that whole KS2 thing working out for you Keiran?

      Delete
  4. This has been discussed at length on the KS forums and I've personally spoken with some of the devs about it, given that there have been several attempts to put fan-made routes into KS and I'm currently writing a Saki route.

    The main issue comes down to the use of the original assets - the artwork, the music, the coding that was done in the engine itself, etc.

    In short, if it was presented as a new game set at Yamaku Academy, complete with new assets - new sprites, movies, music, and backgrounds, it would be okay and the developers don't have a problem with it - as long as it's not presented as an official KS or 4LS sanctioned thing and it would have to be a standalone product that is not associated with (or modified into) the original game.

    That's where the main issue lies. It's impressive you're doing new sprites, but you'd have to do everything from scratch to do it legally.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Are you saying that you're making a script for a route that is to be added to the game?

      Delete
    2. Actually there were some people trying to do a sequel and long story short they were told to stop by 4LS and were threatened with legal action if they were to use anything resembling the original game, including "Yamaku Academy".

      Delete