Ethical

[Unkownsoldier]

I would like to have a discussion on whether content should belong to developers, the server it was made for, or Graal as a whole for everyone to use. If content is free for use throughout Graal, or even used on a single server, should the content have accreditation tagged to it for the developer of said content? Graal has had a lot of content floating around and people always claimed this is theirs, or that's someone else's, etc. There has been theft and accusations of theft, is it even stealing? I want your opinion on how content should used, organized, and presented. I know the current content system has worked fine for the longest time, but don't you think people should receive credit for their projects? Seeing as most of the time there isn't any credit given. Discuss.

[Fulg0reSama]

I wish there was an A and B option in this poll. Because that's how I feel.

To the anonymous repper:

Originally Posted by Anonymous

Why do you keep busting on this guy? You have no meaning full opinions.

I'm sorry you feel this way, I did not even intend to "bust" on this guy with this message, I merely stated I wish there could be an option like that, it's nothing towards him, more importantly, I said it's how I feel on the subject, meaning I was saying that I feel that I think the way ownership and permission of content towards servers should be mutual between owner and creators. I apologize If I've offended you, mystery man. Lastly, it's meaningful.

[MattKan]

The server who the content is made for owns the content. However it's simply common courtesy to ask the developers before you release the content for everybody to use. It's not a law though.

If a developer makes content for a server and then decides that they don't want to work there anymore, however, then the developer doesn't have a right to demand that it all be removed so he or she can use it elsewhere.

[salesman]

I think we should keep track of the number of times someone tries to "revive" a project. After the third failure, the content should be released freely for anyone to use.

[Crono]

should be for the specific server it was intended for imoooo

[Geno]

when you upload to a server the content becomes graalonlines content. if they dont like that another server steals graphics from another server then they can choose to remove it. there is only a handfull of active servers and some content is shared between some servers.

i dont see the problem, for servers under development it really does not matter because they will never become hosted and if they do they die within a week.

there are no ethics involved. if you want to keep your custom graphics then start your own game. uploading them to a server that you rent, not own, leaves them up for grabs.

[TSAdmin]

These options are rather limited, so I'm not voting for one. What it should be (in MY opinion) is:
You create it and upload it to a server, the server has exclusive rights to it. That includes everyone who is staff on the server. Kind of like the "Creative commons" law, but restricted only to fellow staff. Ultimately, due to it being hosted on a server owned by GraalOnline, the content would instantly be property of GraalOnline, but not exclusively unless all creators of the combined content resign their positions (assuming they had a pass-down system in place). Example of what comes of it is Era. All original content creators of the past are gone so all intellectual and actual content related to Era now belongs to GraalOnline. Anything made today is considered a contribution to the GraalOnline owned property, and creators merely have a right to alter said content, but not claim it as their own once uploaded. Removal of unused content being at the discretion of the manager at the time, but in my opinion should be with PWA permission or at least "archived" rather than actually removed.

[cbk1994]

It doesn't have to be so complicated. If you put your code or graphics or levels on a server, it's the server's to use. If you want it to be used on other servers as well, then post them in the code gallery or appropriate section of the forums first.

If a server falls, there's nothing wrong with using their content. It's better there be a popular server on Graal using content from a dead project than just a dead project.

[Draenin]

I voted for the last one because I think there should be some kind of public depository for public-use resources besides what we have on the forums. However, I do not agree with the entire statement presented in the poll.



Everyone has a copyright on the content they publish, purely because they are the creators of the original work. But they also pass on copyrights to Linux Cyberjoueurs when they publish the work, which technically means it could be used on any server if CJ administration needs to do so.

However, Graal has some policies in place which protect users from having their works used in multiple places without permission, and that usually comes through enforcement by globals. However, content still gets stolen frequently, because it's difficult to start a server from scratch, especially with the limited amount of resources the basic Graal.exe client comes with.

The best solution would be to provide some place similar to the website's screenshot galleries where users could start to build up a database of resources for public use. Or else start including stuff like sprite and animation packs for use by the community that are downloadable through the client.

[SlikRick]

I voted for it becomes the property of the server, not the property of the developer. This is because if there was no central "ownership" of the content, besides Cyberjoureurs, then all servers would be the same because the content is free to be used all over Graal. All of the "modern" servers would look almost identical to Era, all RPG servers would look like Zodiac and Graal Kingdoms, etc.

[DustyPorViva]

I feel that UC servers should return the work to the developers. But it's a subjective thing. Servers like Delteria have been worked on for a long time, it wouldn't be fair for the staff to suddenly reclaim their work. However some unknown server that's been worked on for less than a year that has gotten no where? Sure, let the devs reclaim their work. It's not fair for some server that existed for 3 months and accomplished nothing, to deprive the developers of their hard work while the owner who sometimes does absolutely nothing runs off with it and then uses it for their own reasons a few months later. Especially since most of these UC servers are forgettable, and the developer may want to use their work to pursue things other than Graal(maybe making their own game).

[Fulg0reSama]

Originally Posted by DustyPorViva

I feel that UC servers should return the work to the developers.

Actually I thought that was already the case, for servers that haven't made it to the public in any form, could actually do that.

[papajchris]

Originally Posted by DustyPorViva

I feel that UC servers should return the work to the developers. But it's a subjective thing. Servers like Delteria have been worked on for a long time, it wouldn't be fair for the staff to suddenly reclaim their work. However some unknown server that's been worked on for less than a year that has gotten no where? Sure, let the devs reclaim their work. It's not fair for some server that existed for 3 months and accomplished nothing, to deprive the developers of their hard work while the owner who sometimes does absolutely nothing runs off with it and then uses it for their own reasons a few months later. Especially since most of these UC servers are forgettable, and the developer may want to use their work to pursue things other than Graal(maybe making their own game).

But on the opposite side of the spectrum, you might have someone working for you, who gets mad and deletes all of "their" work. Or down the road demands you no longer use their work. That wouldn't be right either. If I hire someone to my server, they shouldn't be allowed to just quit and take their work with them. Furthermore, many servers are beginning to pay some of their workers. What if you paid me to make you a tileset, and after being paid, I say I want to use it on another server.

For a while on Zodiac, it was only me and Jerret logging on, until we eventually got a break. But at that point in time, we were going nowhere, and we had been going nowhere for a long time.

If people don't want certain people having the rights to their work, they shouldn't make it for them. It'd be like giving money to a charity and asking for it back at a later date.

[fowlplay4]

Unless a server is actively using it I believe it should be the creator of the graphic who should be the one who decides who can use it. If the creator of a graphic can't be contacted then it's the server's choice.

I've seen a couple cases where a GAT decided to leave and get his graphics used else where only to have someone else make a complaint to get it removed because it was technically uploaded to their server first and only "planned" to use it.

[Demisis_P2P]

Originally Posted by fowlplay4

Unless a server is actively using it I believe it should be the creator of the graphic who should be the one who decides who can use it. If the creator of a graphic can't be contacted then it's the server's choice.

I've seen a couple cases where a GAT decided to leave and get his graphics used else where only to have someone else make a complaint to get it removed because it was technically uploaded to their server first and only "planned" to use it.

^this basically sums up how I feel on the issue as well.