If, like me, you want to support open-source game engines like Redot, but you worry about displaying proper licensing information for any project you do which includes third-party software, then this project is for you. Software licenses can be a real pain in the neck sometimes, and it would be a lot better if it was easier to remain compliant with them.
The Redot Engine uses a lot of third-party modules and components which all use slightly different software licenses and affect what licensing information you need to include with any games or other projects you make. If you build Redot from source, this licensing information may change, as different platforms and different configurations of the engine use different modules, and that means your attribution notices need to adapt as well.
This addon adds a simple node for Redot Engine projects which parses and displays licensing information for your project in a convenient and human-readable format which your users can access in-game.
The Redot Engine actually has functions built-in which can give you the copyright and licensing information for the version of the Redot Engine you use to build your project. The Redot Engine pulls this information from a file in its source code repository, COPYRIGHT.txt, which the compiler reads and then bakes into the game engine. This file is written in a standard format which is parsed by the compiler to create the information you can pull from the engine.
The problem with obtaining licensing information in this way is that the data it gives you still needs to be displayed in a clear and human-readable format. As it stands, what the engine is giving you is arrays of dictionaries which also contain arrays.
What the License Dialog for Redot does is read in the licensing information from the engine and use it to create a popup dialog which displays a list of buttons that the user can press to view attribution notices and the full text of any license for any third-party modules which the Redot Engine might be using.
As an extra feature, the popup dialog will also read copyright information for your project and display that in a separate list from the copyright information for the Redot Engine, so that your software licenses can be easily displayed and unambiguously separated from the licenses which the Redot Engine is subject to. In order to do this, you must create a COPYRIGHT.txt file yourself.
A sample COPYRIGHT.txt file which displays the copyright information for the License Dialog for Redot has been included in the source repository which you can use as a reference, and a sample project has been included which you can use to see the popup in action.
Before you do anything else, please read the Disclaimer below to make sure you fully understand what this addon does and does not do.
To use this addon in your project, copy the addons folder to your
project. These are the only files you really need – everything else is
just there for the sample project.
These files will give you a node named LicenseDialog which can be used as a
regular popup dialog that will display the licensing information for your
project.
For more details and further setup instructions, please read the Getting Started file in the docs folder.
License Dialog for Redot does not check for compatibility between licenses and does not guarantee that you will be fully complaint with the licenses for any software you may be using in your project. YOU ARE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ENSURING THAT YOU ARE COMPLIANT WITH THIRD-PARTY SOFTWARE LICENSES!
License Dialog for Redot does not include attribution notices or license texts automatically; it only pulls this information from the Redot Engine and from information which you yourself supply. Please read the documentation carefully so you know what you are doing.
Use of the License Dialog for Redot in your project may not in itself be sufficient in order to remain compliant with certain software licenses--some licenses will require more than an attribution notice and/or inclusion of the full text of a license with the software. For example, software using copyleft licenses such as the GNU General Public Licenses may require you to distribute your source code if you incorporate portions of their source code. Be sure to read the licenses for any third-party materials carefully before using them in your project.
The author of this software is not affiliated with the Redot Engine project and does not represent the Redot Engine project in any capacity; License Dialog for Redot is not endorsed by the Redot Engine project.
THE AUTHOR AND CONTRIBUTORS OF THIS SOFTWARE ARE NOT LAWYERS AND ARE NOT PROVIDING LEGAL ADVICE! THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE IN ANY PROJECT IS NOT ENDORSED BY THE AUTHOR OR CONTRIBUTORS OF THIS SOFTWARE AND ITS EFFECTIVENESS OR FUNCTIONALITY IS NOT GUARANTEED.
THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.