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Question about Ouya open-source licensing implications

strangegamesstrangegames Posts: 7Member
in General Discussion
I'm an XBLIG developer looking to move to the Ouya platform but was concerned about the open-source licensing issue.  From what I read, the development kit is released under an open source license and I assume this just applies to any changes to the development source. 

If you release a game for the Ouya, do you retain full ownership of your code?  I'm sure this is the case but I couldn't find anything out there talking about any of the open source issues with the Ouya.

Comments

  • goodhustlegoodhustle Posts: 144Member
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apache_License

    The ODK is licensed under Apache 2.0. You have some requirements as to posting notice that you use it (most games have that long legal section in credits where you'd put it).
    Beast Boxing Turbo - OUYA Launch Title!
  • strangegamesstrangegames Posts: 7Member
    Thanks goodhustle.  So the open source requirement only applies to the development kit and doesn't apply to any source code you write yourself?
  • KonajuGamesKonajuGames Posts: 560Member
    There is no open source requirement for either the ODK or your code.  You don't even have to use the Apache 2.0 license for your own code.

    See this FAQ entry for what it means to you.
  • strangegamesstrangegames Posts: 7Member
    I remember years ago we had this come up on a Linux project where we were compiling with gcc and you had to link to the standard C libraries and not compile them into your code.  If I remember correctly, one way meant you were including open source code into your project and thus had to release your code while the other way didn't.  I just wanted to make sure there wasn't something similar here.  I'm completely new to android development and have no idea how it's setup.

    I looked at the FAQ but I don't really know what that's supposed to mean.  Is that just a license that Ouya chose to use or does Ouya use apache software? Also, I'm not even sure what software in the ODK is being licensed.  Is it the source for the libraries/headers or the source for the IDE?  Just really confused right now as I've been developing on a MS platform for a long time and haven't had to worry with this.
  • arcticdogarcticdog Posts: 235Member
    You do not need to release the source code for your game.  

    Apache license actually doesn't require you to release your code either.  The Linux kernal of which the Android OS is based is GPL.  But software you produce to run on OUYA is well insulated from that license.
  • KonajuGamesKonajuGames Posts: 560Member
    The part of the ODK you are including is the JAR file.  There is no IDE or headers included in the ODK.  OUYA chose to use the Android license because of the freedom it gives.

    There is no need to worry about this.  There is nothing that will come back to bite you.  Worry about making a game.
  • strangegamesstrangegames Posts: 7Member
    Thanks articdog for the specifics on that.

    KonajuGames, yes there is a need to worry about this as I do this for a living and I have to make certain I understand the legal issues involved.

    Thanks everyone for the comments.
  • goodhustlegoodhustle Posts: 144Member
    @strangegames When you go to make a final release, just be sure to copy the NOTICE.txt text blurb from one of the ODK samples and put it in your credits. 
    Beast Boxing Turbo - OUYA Launch Title!
  • strangegamesstrangegames Posts: 7Member
    Ok thanks, I don't guess there's any sort of checklist of things like that you need to do. I would hate to have missed that.
  • DreamwriterDreamwriter Posts: 768Member
    edited February 2013

    I doubt you'd need to do that, unless maybe you used some of the source code from those examples in your game.

    Edit: I guess the Notice.txt and the Apache license are in the root of the ODK, not just in the samples, so ignore me, it's probably required then that you put that text in your game.  Which means the game has to have a credits or legal screen somewhere in it.

    Post edited by Dreamwriter on
  • goodhustlegoodhustle Posts: 144Member
    Most games have a long scrolling credits reel that includes legal notices from frameworks, font licenses, SDK licenses, and so forth for precisely this purpose. Most people just skip credits screens so it's the kind of thing that's easy to miss. :)
    Beast Boxing Turbo - OUYA Launch Title!
  • KonajuGamesKonajuGames Posts: 560Member
    strangegames said:
    KonajuGames, yes there is a need to worry about this as I do this for a living and I have to make certain I understand the legal issues involved.

    There are many of us who do this for a living (including myself), so we acknowledge the need to understand it.
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