I have lots of new unit models for both WW1 and WW2
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Hallo! I have bought 4 games on Steam:
- Commander: The Great War (release date on 12.11.2012 and the game is officially not supported any more);
- Strategic Command WWII War in Europe (release date on 17.11.2016);
- Strategic Command WWII World at War (release date on 06.12.2018);
- Strategic Command World War I (release date on 05.12.2019);
All these games have lots of unit models suitable for TripleA. All units are already 2D in .png format.
I have several questions:
1.) How do we deal with copyright within the TripleA community?
Please let me know whether I am allowed to upload the unit models from these games or not.2.) Where and how can I upload these unit models?
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Thanks for the inquiry. We need to be sure any images used are either original artwork or licensed for public domain use. Considering the games were purchased, the images are likely to be copyrighted.
We have a repository to collect various images that map makers can use: https://github.com/triplea-game/map-maker-assets, otherwise it is the specific maps that usually carry their images and would need to be updated directly, see: https://github.com/triplea-maps/
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Dear @LaFayette, thank you very much for your feedback!
1.) TripleA is a free open-source non-commercial game? Do you know whether copyright law also prohibits non-commercial use? If TripleA map-makers mention Slitherine Corp. in the TripleA game notes, will it be possible for our map-makers to use the unit models from Slitherine Corp. games?
2.) Commander: The Great War is officially not supported anymore since 2015. And the game has lots of detailed WW1 unit models already in 2D in .png format.
If I upload and share for free these unit models with the community, what risks will be for the TripleA? Delete these unit models - O.K. But other kind of penalties?
I do not want to harm the TripleA community and that's why I ask you whether the community had already had some cases with copyright claims? How have the community managed to solve these problems with third parties? -
Re: 1) really depends on the copyright that Slitherine Corp is using. They very likely have a commercial copyright. TripleA is GPLv3. Simply attributing the images is not enough.
Re: 2) Uploaders generally assume any copyright risks. Copyright infringement is bad news "The law provides a range from $200 to $150,000 for each work infringed." Best case you're given a cease and desist, worst case you are sued for copyright infringement.
Unless you have written permission that the images are in public domain, I don't think you can nor should use them.
