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iopleke / MMPLv2

Minecraft Mod Public License v2
http://jakimfett.github.io/MMPLv2/
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License does not protect mod name #31

Open jakimfett opened 9 years ago

jakimfett commented 9 years ago

Need to add language that provides protection of a mod's name.

Care needs to be taken that this doesn't get too broad...eg, Minechem is pretty unique, but a name like "Crafting Mod" might be to generic...should probably look at trademark law to see if this is even necessary.

LokiChaos commented 9 years ago

While it varies depending on the jurisdiction, generally for protection a trademark must be registered. Protection of names/titles is not under the scope of copyright law and at best you could require that derivative forms be distributed under a different name to avoid confusion as a requirement for permission to distribute derivatives. There is no way to enforce a claim to just a name in isolation without registering the trademark. Eg: Another party is completely free to name a mod they made the same as your mod, and the license on your mod is irrelevant nor can be used to prevent them from doing so (unless they actually use code or other copyrightable assets in their mod).

coolsquid commented 9 years ago

at best you could require that derivative forms be distributed under a different name to avoid confusion as a requirement for permission to distribute derivatives

I'm quite sure that's what he meant.

LokiChaos commented 9 years ago

I would look at the Apache 1.1 license for wording and the limits on what you could likely impose: https://directory.fsf.org/wiki/License:Apache1.1 Specifically sections 4 and 5.

Reasonable limits on the enforceability for generic/descriptive names would obviously apply.

maxashen commented 8 years ago

Specifically §12.2 may not be enforceable under copyright law:

The Author retains the right to the Mod name.

Basically the present text is asking telling the User that the Author has rights to the Mod name, which implies an agreement between the Author and third parties (usually trademark as LokiChaos stated).

Instead it could be moved into §7 (Right to derive) and §9 (Right to distribute addons).

jakimfett commented 8 years ago

Probably the way it'll end up being handled is via an "implied rights" section, where things covered in other law (eg, trademark law) are briefly mentioned as a short list of "including but not limited to..." protections for a mod author.