Need License advice

[Ralph00]

Hi, I have used an image taken from a Celestia screenshot in an image I made. The thing is I'd like to make that image a poster to sell. What I used was a screenshot of only a planet and it's altered, can't really tell that it came from Celestia. I read through the license and can't find anywhere that you can't do this, the closest was this:

"The "Program", below,
refers to any such program or work, and a "work based on the Program"
means either the Program or any derivative work under copyright law:
that is to say, a work containing the Program or a portion of it,
either verbatim or with modifications and/or translated into another
language."

Then this:
"Activities other than copying, distribution and modification are not
covered by this License; they are outside its scope. "

So I guess my situation isn't covered in the license. Thanks for any advice on this.

[Bob Hegwood]

Don't know about the exact legal ramifications of the open-source license
for Celestia, but I think that you'll find that almost everyone who has
contributed to Celestia (Be it in the form of an add-on, texture, SSC file, etc)
has clearly stated that their work is NOT for use in any for profit
activities.

Yoy may wish to explore some of the web sites regarding Celestia, and you'll
see what I mean. Even if your work is of a derivative nature, you'd need the
permission of the planet's texture maker at least.

Does this help?

Thanks, Bob

[Christophe]

Don't know about the exact legal ramifications of the open-source license
for Celestia, but I think that you'll find that almost everyone who has
contributed to Celestia (Be it in the form of an add-on, texture, SSC file, etc)
has clearly stated that their work is NOT for use in any for profit
activities.

I don't think so. Some textures might have that kind of restriction on them but I believe most of them don't (NASA and JPL images for example).

You need to have a look at the 'Other contributors' section of the Readme file to trace the copyright owner of the texture you want to use.

The GPL under which Celestia is licenced obvioulsy doesn't put any restriction on what you can do with images produced by the software.

[Bob Hegwood]

You need to have a look at the 'Other contributors' section of the Readme file to trace the copyright owner of the texture you want to use.

The GPL under which Celestia is licenced obvioulsy doesn't put any restriction on what you can do with images produced by the software.

Okay, then I have another question for you...

If someone does not want their work used for profit operations, but
they've already agreed that anyone else can do whatever they like
with an add-on, how does that get accomplished?

Are you saying that if we contribute something to the Celestia package, that
our work is bound to the overall Celestia GPL license simply because it's
now part of Celestia?

Thanks very much, Bob

[Christophe]

Okay, then I have another question for you...

If someone does not want their work used for profit operations, but
they've already agreed that anyone else can do whatever they like
with an add-on, how does that get accomplished?

Are you saying that if we contribute something to the Celestia package, that
our work is bound to the overall Celestia GPL license simply because it's
now part of Celestia?

Well, it could be argued that add-ons, textures and scripts are derivative works of Celestia and thus must be released under the GPL or a GPL-compatible licence - BUT Chris has explicitely added an exception clause to the licence stating that add-ons, textures and scripts are not derivative works and can be released under non GPL-compatible licences.

So, you can choose whichever licence you like but you have to specify it explicitly in your package, otherwise the default licence is the GPL.

[chris]

Hi, I have used an image taken from a Celestia screenshot in an image I made. The thing is I'd like to make that image a poster to sell. What I used was a screenshot of only a planet and it's altered, can't really tell that it came from Celestia. I read through the license and can't find anywhere that you can't do this, the closest was this:

A lot of people have written me with similar questions. I don't think that there's anything in the GNU Public License that prohibits you from using images generated by Celestia in any way you like. As the primary author of Celestia, I don't personally have any objection to you using a Celestia screenshot in a poster that you're selling. Most of Celestia's planet and moon maps are derived from NASA and JPL images, but I don't think that this should be a problem either.

--Chris

[Ralph00]

Thank you chris. Yes that is exactly what I was thinking. From looking at the readme and subsequent page, the planet, or rather moon in question is apparently fine to use. Thanks for your response on this.

Also thanks for this really amazing program. It is really fun to play around with. My mom's a science teacher for 7th 8th grade. I helped her with her classroom a bit, hooked up her computer to the TV and now the microscope to both We both love space stuff and when I found Celestia, well I knew it would be awesome to have that in the classroom. I don't know if she's using it yet but the idea is that the kids could have fun exploring space, also it could be on the bigger TV in the corner of the room to display it. It could just be put up there as a screen saver and they could notice how much the planets had moved or how the sunlight moved across the earth throughout their class and the schoolday. The incredible part is that is is REAL and REAL TIME, that makes it perfect for this. Sufficeth to say she is probably one of the coolest science teachers around

Keep up the good work!