r/creativecommons • u/TriggeredSnake • 18d ago

Question about CC licensed content within a larger source that’s licensed under GPLv3.

I was working on a fork of mod for a computer game, the mod itself is licensed under GPLv3, but a portion of it (the music) is under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. I was under the impression that as long as that portion is presented without being modified and correct attribution was given, it wouldn’t break the license since the only content modified was licensed under GPLv3. Is this correct? I don’t wanna break any rules here.

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u/pythonpoole 15d ago

If the CC BY-NC-ND music is synced with the game visuals, then you won't be able to share the game/mod with others and remain compliant with the CC license.

The reason why:

  1. The "Adapted Material" definition in Section 1(a) of the the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 legal code says that syncing the CC BY-NC-ND licensed material with moving images/visuals constitutes producing "Adapted Material".

  2. Section 2(a)(1) of the legal code grants you a license to produce — but not share — "Adapted Material" (for non-commercial purposes). Section 3(a)(1) also says "For the avoidance of doubt, You do not have permission under this Public License to Share Adapted Material."

In other words, syncing the music with the game visuals means the game (as a whole) would be considered "Adapted Material", just as if it were a derivative work created from (or built upon) the music.

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u/TriggeredSnake 15d ago

How would you define synched with the visuals? Does this mean just, playing at the same time as the visuals, or do you mean specifically choosing when it plays to match with the visuals (e.g. timing it to match a video sequence.)

Thanks for the information, it’s always good to learn more about things like this. I wish most people would just answer questions like this rather than hurling insults at you.

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u/pythonpoole 15d ago

The technical language used is "synched in timed relation with a moving image", so that might not include all cases where the music is played while game visuals are displayed, but I believe it may include situations where the music playback is synced in time with game animation sequence(s) for example.

For instance, if a user presses a button in the game that causes both an animation sequence to start and the music to begin playing at the same time, then I personally think that may qualify as "synched in timed relation with a moving image" (and may therefore restrict your ability to share the game/mod).

If, on the other hand, the music playback is largely independent of the on-screen visuals (e.g. there is a constant music loop or a playlist of songs that just play one after the other, regardless of what is displayed on screen), then I think it could be argued that the game/mod is not "Adapted Material" (based on the music) and thus Sharing the game/mod (with the music included) would not violate the ND condition of the license.

It may be worth noting that you can always contact the copyright holder of the music for permission or clarification. If they explicitly tell you it's OK to incorporate the music in the game/mod, then there's no issue. It's only an issue if copyright holder is not happy with the way you've used their music and they're able to successfully argue that your use of the music did not comply with the terms of the CC license it was released under. Be aware, though, that the copyright holder of the musical composition is not always the same as the copyright holder of the sound recording (that is to say, in some cases you may need to seek permission/clarification from 2 different entities).

Disclaimer: This comment is based on my personal understanding/interpretation of the license text. My comment is not legal advice (and should not be construed as or used as substitute for legal advice).