Proper Use of GPL - For OpenSource or Commercial Gain

[QuakeRoot]

As we all know, thread topics move and evolve. What started as Tea Monster showcasing his Ogre model "Work-In-Progress," became a free for all love-fest ranging from religious interpretation to GPL use debates.

I don't want to hijack his thread, so I've created this one. I don't care if it gets off topic from time to time, but as usual - lets try to keep it "together."

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I'm not a lawyer, I've just some shmuck who did a lot of research. If you misinterpret, misread, assume, or only hear what you want to hear - you will likely get sued, or be issued a "Cease & Desist." Even if you do everything I say to the letter, you can still be sued. Welcome to life, people are "sue happy."

That being said, if you let your fear - and the collective fear of others influence you to do nothing....

Why bother:
Flirt with women (They might be mean!)
Sign a mortgage (You could lose your house!)
Have kids (Those punks would never listen to me!)
Get an education/job (I'll pay a fortune for school & No-one will hire me!)
Get married (She'll make me take out the trash! Then after doing everything she says - she'll just be a moody mystery, and I'll never get laid!)

It's the things that go wrong that make you a quality person. Going through nothing but "Fun" makes a man a pathetic sack. Going through Hell turns a man into a Hero-God (IF he's got "The Stuff" to overcome it).

You can get any of the engines mentioned below here:
Github ID Engines

If you want to design a game, of any kind, using:

IDTech0 (Doom & Doom II)
IDTech1 (Quake - This is the only engine I'm aware of, where the maps for single play/multi-play have been release to GPL, see John Romero's Website for more information)
IDTech2 (Quake II)
IDTech3 (Quake III & Return To Castle Wolfenstein)
IDTech4 (Doom III)

These engines are all released to GPL - meaning "Gnu Public License." Below is an excerpt from the GPL Quake1 Readme.txt

"You should read the entire license, but the gist of it is that you can do anything you want with the code, including sell your new version. The catch-is that if you distribute new binary versions, you are required to make the entire source code available for free to everyone."

So... you can legally make your own Open-Source projects or even Commercial Release from any of the engines listed above. BUT YOU MUST BE WILLING TO RELEASE YOUR CODE UNDER GPL - & it cannot be a direct clone, with a few things changed. Id Software has retained the rights to all object, models, textures, and levels. You have to make your own. As long as you don't rip off, or make derivative examples of their original: objects, models, textures, levels - (again note, the for IDTech1 only, the maps were released to GPL) You're Safe.

However, as golden_boy has pointed out, and it is a very valid point:

A lot of people seem to think that if you recreate something from scratch, it is not derivative or is not a copyright infringement.

I beg to differ. A lot of companies in the past have successfully sued other companies over from-scratch copies of their products.

This means don't copy, don't make derivative works from existing, copyrighted, games, and don't even make something from scratch that looks alot like and moves almost like - that one thing that you just love.

Make Something Obviously Different & New, otherwise you will suffer wrath, lawsuits, and psychological pain.

As indicated in the GPL Readme.txt quote, John Carmack recommends you read the entire GNU/GPL license, I suggest you do so here (or at least research their FAQ):
The GNU General Public License v3.0 - GNU Project

These are the guidelines I recommend you follow. I will be updating this post from time to time.

[Mindf!3ldzX]

Level designs are GPL'd too, thanks to Romero http://quakeone.com/forums/quake-tal...p-sources.html

!!!!!

[QuakeRoot]

Level designs are GPL'd too, thanks to Romero http://quakeone.com/forums/quake-tal...p-sources.html

!!!!!

.....WOW. I had no idea. Hell Yes. Thank you for sharing this Mindz.

For the sake of my own paranoia, I'm need to track down definitive sources for this. I'm not saying I doubt you, or Baker, I just want to make sure it's truly legal for me to use. I will update the original post when I get more information.

Thanks Again Mindz!

------EDIT-----
Updating original post to include this information.

[Mindf!3ldzX]

No problem QuakeRoot.

planet rome.ro: Quake Map Sources Released! <- this should be proof enough broseph, straight from Romero's site

ps : any where I can help,feel free to ask because I believe in your endeavors.