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Bug 830664 - games-simulation/simutrans-paksets: Unsure about license, need legal advice
Summary: games-simulation/simutrans-paksets: Unsure about license, need legal advice
Status: RESOLVED CANTFIX
Alias: None
Product: Gentoo Linux
Classification: Unclassified
Component: New packages (show other bugs)
Hardware: All Linux
: Normal normal
Assignee: Licenses team
URL:
Whiteboard:
Keywords:
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
Reported: 2022-01-06 06:58 UTC by tea
Modified: 2024-05-09 15:33 UTC (History)
3 users (show)

See Also:
Package list:
Runtime testing required: ---


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Description tea 2022-01-06 06:58:06 UTC
Parts of a game asset pack from <https://github.com/gentoo/gentoo/pull/23669> has an unusual license[1][2]:

> Unless otherwise specified the objects in this compilation are only to be
> used for Simutrans, FreeTrain and related games. The respective copyright
> notices must be obey, or the copyright must be acknowledges in another way.

I have put the license into the EULA group and added RESTRICT="bindist mirror" to the ebuild, but I'm not sure if that is right.

[1] <https://github.com/gentoo/gentoo/blob/541bae1/licenses/FreeTrain>
[2] Original: <https://sourceforge.net/p/simutrans/code/HEAD/tree/pak64.japan/license.txt>
Comment 1 Ulrich Müller gentoo-dev 2022-01-06 10:44:25 UTC
FreeTrain:
With such little information, this isn't really a license. The phrase "only to be used for Simutrans, FreeTrain and related games" could be read as a usage restriction.

> I have put the license into the EULA group and added RESTRICT="bindist
> mirror" to the ebuild, but I'm not sure if that is right.

Yes, this would be my conclusion too. There's nothing that would give us the right to redistribute. If we believe the usage restriction to be real, it is more restrictive than all-rights-reserved and should therefore be added to the EULA group.


PAK128.German:
This says that "The complete Set PAK128.German can be distributed unlimited as a whole." There are also some modification rights being granted, but it's not enough to make it a free license. However, it could be added to the BINARY-REDISTRIBUTABLE group.
Comment 2 Ulrich Müller gentoo-dev 2022-01-06 10:45:23 UTC
Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer, so I cannot give you any legal advice.
Comment 3 tea 2024-05-09 15:33:00 UTC
whoops, forgot to update this. IIRC: after a discussion on IRC, i ended up not including the asset packs.

the package becomes obsolete with simutrans 124.0 since that includes a downloader for the packs.