Licence question

[main7194]

I know the licence is being changed and worked upon but I don't have time to wait for the new licence, so It would be really helpful if someone could clarify some things for me about the current licence. I plan to make closed source commercial games with Make Human. I have some question about the licence, I think I have it figured out, but I'm a paranoid dude so would help if I get some confirmation on this.

1. If I use the MakeHuman Community, create a character, then export it in a mhx2 format by selecting MakeHuman Exchange as an export option, the model becomes CC0 upon export, right? From my understanding it wasn't CC0 before as mhx2 export was a separate plugin but now it got merged with the official MakeHuman? Or is the export still agpl if it somehow contains some code that I'm unaware of?

2. If I then use the MHX2 Runtime inside blender to import that model, rig it to an mhx rig and then animate the character and import it into UE4 for example, that model still remains cc0? From what I read on Thomases website that appears to be true https://thomasmakehuman.wordpress.com/l ... formation/

Extra content added by the MHX2 importer, in particular the various rigs, is released under is released under Creative Commons CC0. You can copy, modify, distribute and perform the work, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission.

So the model remains CC0 when exported from Blender with the rig?

3. What happens if I download a cc0 asset from here http://www.makehumancommunity.org/conte ... ssets.html and apply it to a character before exporting. Does that turn the MakeHuman version into a modified one and therefore turns the model into AGPL, or does it remain cc0?

4. This made me really paranoid, if the models are CC0 why is this stated in here http://www.makehumancommunity.org/conte ... ation.html

I'm an indie game developer. You are evil for forcing me to adhere to AGPL since I want to make a closed source game with a character generator. Can't I get a special exception?
Our product, our rules. MakeHuman is an open source product. We intend for it to remain open source. Eventhough we would be legally allowed to make exceptions (copyright holders can always assign a different copyright to assets they own) we are not doing so at this time.

This might change when/if we can think up a good legal scheme for it, but don't hold your breath.

From everything I read so far it seems that you're only trying to protect yourself so someone doesn't make a closed source character generator of your work. However, the agpl3 licence makes me really, really paranoid because it's so viral and my fear is that somehow on accident I could make my game agpl3 together will all the worldbuilding, story and characters and everything else that gets put into it.

[RobBaer]

I know the licence is being changed and worked upon but I don't have time to wait for the new licence, so It would be really helpful if someone could clarify some things for me about the current licence. I plan to make closed source commercial games with Make Human. I have some question about the license, I think I have it figured out, but I'm a paranoid dude so would help if I get some confirmation on this.

1. If I use the MakeHuman Community, create a character, then export it in a mhx2 format by selecting MakeHuman Exchange as an export option, the model becomes CC0 upon export, right? From my understanding it wasn't CC0 before as mhx2 export was a separate plugin but now it got merged with the official MakeHuman? Or is the export still agpl if it somehow contains some code that I'm unaware of?

The source of the mhx download probably makes no difference. Thomas Larsson and the MH team never had any intent to make the mhx exporter impose additional license restrictions. What you produce with MH is CC0 (at least if you use CCO assets, if you use CC-By assets then I guess attribution is in your future).

2. If I then use the MHX2 Runtime inside blender to import that model, rig it to an mhx rig and then animate the character and import it into UE4 for example, that model still remains cc0? From what I read on Thomases website that appears to be true https://thomasmakehuman.wordpress.com/l ... formation/ "Extra content added by the MHX2 importer, in particular the various rigs, is released under is released under Creative Commons CC0. You can copy, modify, distribute and perform the work, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission." So the model remains CC0 when exported from Blender with the rig?

If you use a CC0 rig this sounds true to me.

3. What happens if I download a cc0 asset from here http://www.makehumancommunity.org/conte ... ssets.html and apply it to a character before exporting. Does that turn the MakeHuman version into a modified one and therefore turns the model into AGPL, or does it remain cc0?

Not in my mind. You did not make a modified version of the software. You put assets on a model.

4. This made me really paranoid, if the models are CC0 why is this stated in here http://www.makehumancommunity.org/conte ... ation.html "I'm an indie game developer. You are evil for forcing me to adhere to AGPL since I want to make a closed source game with a character generator. Can't I get a special exception?
Our product, our rules. MakeHuman is an open source product. We intend for it to remain open source. Eventhough we would be legally allowed to make exceptions (copyright holders can always assign a different copyright to assets they own) we are not doing so at this time.

This might change when/if we can think up a good legal scheme for it, but don't hold your breath.

From everything I read so far it seems that you're only trying to protect yourself so someone doesn't make a closed source character generator of your work. However, the agpl3 licence makes me really, really paranoid because it's so viral and my fear is that somehow on accident I could make my game agpl3 together will all the world-building, story and characters and everything else that gets put into it.

A cautious person might think about formal legal advice if there is a whole lot riding on it. The MH team wants to make life easier for people. Most of this license stuff is a pain to us, but there are "takers" in the world that need checks to keep them from taking and not giving back. Hence the whole license industry.

[joepal]

I don't see anything in the setup or procedure you describe that'd make AGPL kick in. We consider MHX part of the software, downloading a new asset does not count as a modification, and Thomas have explicitly said both that the rigs are CC0 and that in his mind the MHX GPL license does not apply to any graphical asset that is merely imported/exported by MHX.

[main7194]

Thanks for the responses, this puts my mind at ease