filler wrote:
I believe all that would be required would be to add a copyright/copyleft statement to the distributed materials. The way we operate now, a Creative Commons license (
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/) such as "Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs CC BY-NC-ND" or "Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike CC BY-NC-SA" might be most appropriate, unless we want to consider what open-source means in the context of this work, then we could consider GPL (
http://www.gnu.org/licenses/).
There is information here on marking a work with a CC license:
https://wiki.creativecommons.org/Markin ... CC_licenseand specifically marking a derivative work:
https://wiki.creativecommons.org/Markin ... ative_workI don't know if it would be appropriate to try to add it retroactively to previously release patches, but it could at least be added to future releases. As for the effect this has, whether or not repro makers follow the license it, 1. makes our intentions clear, and 2. technically gives us the right to sue a repro maker using our work outside of its license. As it stands now,
not making our intentions clear could be seen as putting less liability on the repro maker.
Kind of like putting locks on your doors. It doesn't keep people from getting in, but it
clarifies your intention to keep them out.
Heh, you really have the details well categorized, Matt!
About all I put out any more in readmes is that our patch contains all original work, that to use our material, I suggest a player order a Japanese game cart, find a way to preserve the game in backup form, and employ a number of devices to merge the backup image with our file so the game will be rendered in English. As long as a cart owner doesn't play the preserved (backup) image and the cart version simultaneously, legality should never be an issue.
In reality, we all know what many players do - and people who pirate patched ROMs into carts - And ROM site people who provide links to patched ROMs.
But these "corner-cutters" are doing people a disservice. Rarely is anyone considerate enough to stay on top of revisions. In the end, some flawed works flow into the mainstream for those who don't bother to download updated material from our site that maintains the patches.