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Licensing: the whole thing in three minutes
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Licensing: the whole thing in three minutes

Can you use this track in a level, and what it takes

Warning

There is no official server or site for levels yet, they are in development. The rules below are already written, but the game has no publish button yet

In short

You can use a track if one of two things is true:

  • it has an open licence as free as CC BY-NC or freer, for example CC0, CC BY, MIT or SIL OFL 1.1
  • its author has directly allowed you to use it in the level

A track from YouTube, SoundCloud or Spotify cannot be used without its author's permission. Those services issue no licence to anyone

The same rule applies to images, fonts and any other file in a level. More - Two ways a resource qualifies

Nothing is checked at home

A level on your disk is not checked. Not on create, not on save, not on load. A level for yourself can be built from any files at all, the editor sets no conditions

Checking switches on at one moment: when a level is offered to a service

The order of work

  1. Pick a source before you build the level - Where to get resources
  2. No suitable licence? Ask the author, also before you build - Asking an author for permission
  3. Fill in the resource's record as soon as you add the file - A resource's record
  4. Check the level before publishing - Readiness to publish

The level's licence

Levels are distributed under CC BY-NC:

  • CC - Creative Commons
  • BY - attribution required
  • NC - non-commercial use only

That licence covers your work: the layout, the timing, the keys, the composition. It does not relicense other people's files inside the level. Every external resource keeps its own terms, recorded separately, per resource

Every resource has to qualify

A level qualifies only if every resource in it does. If even one satisfies neither of the two options, the level cannot go onto the official server

What the licence does not cover

The service terms cover this:

  • your assertion that you hold the rights you claim
  • the operator's right to moderate and remove levels
  • the right to show a level's name in listings
  • the disclaimer of liability

Why non-commercial

The developers do not stand in the way of levels being shared freely. The only thing they are against is commercial use

Worth knowing

The game is free: no purchases, no ads, no paid content, no donations tied to what is hosted. So the non-commercial condition is satisfied for the platform itself. CC 4.0 licenses every recipient directly from the author, so the chain author - server - player needs no additional grant

Next: Two ways a resource qualifies, Where to get resources