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You are here: Home > Projects & Downloads > BVE Developer Guidelines
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Rail Sim Routes UK - BVE Developer Guidelines
Last revised: 10th May 2003
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For Responsible BVE Development |
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For responsible BVE Development
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Advice on how to develop new BVE add-ons using the work of other people, while showing respect to existing developers and the effort they've put into their original work
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A joint statement from some key members of the Western BVE developer community
The supporters of the BVE Developer Guidelines, including some of the most well known, valuable and longest serving contributors to the Western BVE community, share similar values and sentiments regarding how we would like people to treat both ourselves and our work. We understand the real meaning of Freeware, and we may retain the rights to our work if we so choose, while still enjoying good co-operation and sharing of ideas. We may give away some of our work freely for others to use if we so wish, but unless we've stated this clearly then we want to be asked before our work is re-used. Here's a summary of what these guidelines mean:
- If we state that we want you to ask for our permission before re-using our work in public, we ask you to respect this wish
- We want to be credited properly and clearly if our work is re-used
- We believe all developers and their work should be treated with respect
- We believe a BVE developer's generosity should not be abused by going against their wishes
- We may release certain work which is clearly marked as "open source", "freely modifiable", or under another licence to this effect, and only such work may be re-used or modified without permission being required
- If we release objects under the terms of the RouteBuilder Object Library Licence, these may be re-destributed without permission but with the original author's credit intact, and if additionally marked as "open source", may also be modified freely so long as the original author's credit is retained alongisde additional credits
- Work for which permission is required before it is re-used should not be released as "open source", "freely modifiable" or under the terms of the RouteBuilder Object Library Licence by a third party, without the consent of the original author
We have all created high quality add-ons for BVE and chosen to share them with the community for free, and we don't ask for anything in return other than your acceptance of the above principles. Please don't abuse this generosity by stealing work over which we retain rights, or by failing to respect our reasonable wishes regarding how our work is re-used - failing to follow the spirit of these principles is unfair and threatens continued innovation and development.
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Introduction - why do the guidelines exist?
Are you new to the world of BVE development? Have you developed something for BVE, and want to know how to go about releasing it without offending anyone in the process? Many Western BVE developers take great pride in their work, and take such issues as copyright and credit seriously, so this page should help you prevent any problems arising from your use of other people's work. By following these guidelines, you can ensure that you don't offend any other developers should you wish to make use of their work, and that the release of your BVE add-on will go more smoothly and without incident.
These guidelines are not laws, they in no way discourage people from sharing their work with others, and it's the spirit of these guidelines which are important - if a developer wishes to be consulted before their work is re-used then this should be respected, developers should be credited properly, and their wishes should be respected. These guidelines promote the good manners and respect that ought to be shown to the developers who spend many months and a great deal of effort building original BVE add-ons for your benefit, and who get little in return for it, and for those who retain rights over their work, stealing of such work without consultation or credit amounts to a slap in the face.
There are several leading developers who support these guidelines, and who believe the following points are important. Not all developers wish for permission to be sought before their work is re-used, however there are many developers who do want to be consulted first, and for whom credit and good manners are very important, therefore whether you agree with these guidelines or not is quite irrelevant - if you want use the work of an author who wishes to be consulted before their work is re-used, or wants to retain credit for their original work, and hence agrees with these guidelines (as indicated by the use of the Developer Guidelines banner:
), then you need to follow the spirit of these guidelines, otherwise you are likely to go against the author's wishes and you may offend them.
Supporters of the BVE Developer Guidelines believe in the following principles:
- The developer has the right to protect their work from abuse if they so choose - freeware does not mean "free for all" or "public domain".
- Developers dislike people claiming other people's work as their own, through ignorance, lazyness or other reasons.
- To re-use someone elses copyrighted work, you should ask the developer first if that is what they request, and then credit them appropriately - these steps demonstate good manners.
- Many files used in BVE are sourced from copyrighted materials developed outside the BVE community - those of us who use such material (such as loco engine sounds for example) are effectively "licenced" to use this material under certain conditions - you can't just take it and use it yourself - you and possibly the developer who has proper permission to use the files could be in trouble.
- Only if a peice of work has been released as "open source", "freely modifiable", or under another licence to this effect, can you re-use it without asking the author's permission.
- Creating a BVE add-on for your own personal and private use while using whatever files you find can be fun, and all developers will have no problem with this so long as it remains for private use only; but if you decide to release your add-on in public and it includes other people's work, then you must check to see whether you need to seek permission to use material first, and then remember to credit authors for their work prior to release.
- When creating BVE add-ons you shouldn't just rely on what other people have done, it is better to attempt building original material yourself - it's far more rewarding, and leads to greater variety and more interesting BVE add-ons, which the endless recycling of the same old material is unlikely to acheive.
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What does "Freeware" really mean?
BVE and it's add-ons are freeware. However, some people may not fully grasp what the concept of Freeware really means, or they may confuse "Freeware" with "Public Domain", which is entirely different - this misunderstanding can lead to problems. Also, Freeware is not the same as "Free Software", such as that released under the GNU General Public Licence. Freeware means releasing one's work free of charge to the general public while the author retains rights over how their work is distributed, modified and re-used. Therefore just because work is released as freeware, this does not entitle you to do as you please with it, the original developer retains intellectual property rights over their work, and you are legally obliged to repsect this and any conditions on use that the original developer feels the need to impose.
Only when a developer states clearly that you may re-use and modify work without conditions, or states that their work is "Open Source" can you freely modify that work and release it. If such a statement to this effect is not present, then don't assume that you have any right to re-use or modify that work without the consent of the original author - under UK law for example, copyright is automatically applied to work whether a statement to this effect is present or not. |
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My BVE add-on contains my own work which I wish to make freely modifiable,
but which also contains work from authors who retain rights over their work, what should I do?
If you find yourself in this situation, then using your "Readme", the best way forward would be to state your willingness for your own files to be freely modifiable without your permission being required, but to ensure that you include a list of "exceptions", such as a list of files belonging to authors who don't wish to have their work distributed in an uncontrolled way, and this should be made as clear as possible to help avoid mistakes being made. You may also wish to use one of the banners below to indicate that your work contains both open source and copyrighted material.
If this is too much trouble, then it would be best for you to create all of your own material, or to use other "freely modifiable" work, rather than taking the work of a developer who desires permission to be sought before their work is re-used. |
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RouteBuilder and the BVE Developer Guidelines
The developers of RouteBuilder (available here: http://routebuilder.bve-routes.com/) and the supporters of the BVE Developer Guidelines all agree that if a route author states that their permission is required before work is re-used, then this should be respected, however we also agree that making some objects freely available for all to use without seeking permission is a healthy thing for the community. We also agree that ultimately, it is up to each developer to choose how they wish to release their work, and everyone should respect these decisions.
If an author wishes for their work to be freely re-used with the RouteBuilder Base Object Library, then these objects will be internally marked as subject to the RouteBuilder Object Library Licence (which is included with each copy of the RouteBuilder program), in which case you don't need permission to use such an object, however any conditions set out in the RouteBuilder Object Library Licence must still be adhered to. If an object is marked as Open Source, then you are free to re-use and modify the object, and add your own credit stating your modifications, although the orignal author credit should also be retained.
If you wish to use another person's object which is not part of the RouteBuilder Base Object Library, then you must find out what conditions of use the orignal author of that object has placed upon their work, and if they state that permission is required before that work is re-used, then you must respect the wish of the original author. Only assume that you may freely re-use someone's work if the author has stated that you are allowed to do so. You shouldn't submit an object to the RouteBuilder Object Library unless you have permission from the original author, and they agree to have the object released under the RouteBuilder Object Library Licence. |
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What if I don't agree with the guidelines?
It is entirely up to you whether you apply these guidelines to your own work, and whether you support the ideas and principles which make up the guidelines - if it's entirely your own work, then it's your choice as to how it can be used by other people!
However, if you decide to go against the wishes of an author who retains rights over their work and modify or re-release their work without that author's consent, then you should be aware of the consequences of taking such a step - it will cause arguments between you and the original author, it places uneccessary strain on the BVE community and threatens it's continued development, and it discourages many developers from wanting to continue developing for BVE. You have to ask yourself if it's worthwhile - after all, if real damage is done, it is the offender that will be held accountable. |
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Summary
Failing to respect the wishes of a BVE developer, will show a complete lack of consideration for the developer, and this does not help to encourage future development of innovative high quality BVE add-ons, on the contrary it may put people off developing if they feel their wishes regarding their work will not be respected, or they'll receive no support if they are unfairly treated, and some of the most innovative, productive and longest serving western BVE developers have been put off developing because of this already, which is hardly a good thing for the western BVE community is it?
Finally, BVE Developers who retain rights over their work will often be willing to allow other people to use their files, and those developers will be often be happy to share their work so long as any of those developer's conditions on re-use are respected (but you have to accept there may be reasons why a developer might not wish or be able to share their work - that is their choice and their choice alone - after all, they created the work in the first place).
To summarise, whether a developer chooses to retain rights over their work, or chooses to release it as open source, this decision should be respected. BVE developers don't get anything in return for the considerable amount of work they do, so respecting their wishes is the least you can do in order to thank them for their time and effort, which it should be remembered, is often expended on your behalf - there's not really any valid excuse for not trying. Whether a developer retains rights over their work or gives it away without restriction, both are valuable contributions to the BVE community - please don't abuse that generosity.
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Feedback and queries
If you have any queries regarding the above guidelines, feel free to contact me via e-mail:
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Tips for ensuring you don't upset developers when you want to re-use their work
BVE developers who retain rights over work allow their files to be downloaded and used by the end-user free-of-charge, but place some restrictions on just what can and can't be done with their work in order to protect it from abuse.
If you are building a route, a train, or any other add-on utility for BVE, and you wish to use the work of a developer who retains rights over their work, then following these examples will ensure you release your work in the proper way, without causing any copyright issues or upsetting original authors. Any stealling of work is always found out and criticised, so it really is in your own interests to follow these steps before using copyrighted material.
The following list explains a variety of issues which have emerged in relation to the re-use of copyrighted work, as well as a selection of tips and steps you should be aware of. On the whole they are just plain common sense, and they are not a set of laws which must be obeyed at all costs, some are just examples of common courtesy, others may be required depending on the original author's conditions of use - at the end of the day following the spirit of the following points is the important thing:
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Good Ideas |
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Read any "Readme" documentation accompanying work you download, to find out if the author requests that you seek permission before modifying or redistributing any of the material contained within the download, and do so before releasing such material in public. |
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Consider consulting an author before announcing your intent to re-use, amend or enhance their work publicly - you may be more likely to receive the author's blessing and support, and perhaps assistance, if you show them this courtesy. |
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Write a "Readme" document and include it with your work prior to release. This is the "official" place to credit any person whose work you have used or modified. A credit should normally include the author's name, the item(s) in question (filename or general description) and the author's website URL if they have one. Bear in mind that not everyone will read the "readme" documentation - so it might be wise to credit other authors by name and URL, perhaps on your download page, when you have used their work in your own add-ons. This way, the credits are easily visible, and this approach is especially suitable when for example, another author's work features prominantly in your screenshots - for many developers there's nothing worse than seeing other people being praised for work which you have in fact done yourself! |
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If you wish to make it clear that you won't tolerate your work being stolen, then clearly state this along with a copyright notice. Also ensure any work you have used from another author is protected by the copyright statements and conditions of use they applied to their work - simply ask the developer in question if in any doubt. You might also want to consider using one of the banners below to indicate whether your work is copyrighted and whether your permission is required before material is re-used. |
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If you wish to make your work freely modifiable, and it contains no copyrighted material, then you should state this clearly. You might also want to consider using one of the banners below to indicate that you wish for your work to be open source. |
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If you wish to make your work freely modifiable, but you have included another author's copyrighted work, then even if you want your own contributuons to your download to be "open source" or freely modifiable - these types of work must be clearly and accurately distinguished to avoid any incorrect assumptions being made on the part of the end-user. You might also want to consider using one of the banners below to indicate that your add-on contains both open source and copyrighted material. |
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Make every effort to contact an author if you want to use their work and their permission is required, preferably by e-mail - if you receive no reply, then try again in case your mail never reached it's destination, and failing that perhaps post a private message to the developer on one of the popular Western BVE forums, or ask for the help of another developer who could aid in contacting the original author. If after exhausting these options, you still can't contact the author, then ensure that all credits are properly written and included in your add-on. If you can demonstrate that you made every effort to ask permission, should the original author notice their work used without giving you the go-ahead, they probably won't mind so long as you tried your best to contact them before hand. This advice may not apply to material originally sourced outside the BVE community however! |
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Consider offering to show your add-on to any developer who's work you have heavily relied on prior to releasing it (but agree with the developer that the sending of an attachment is acceptable first), or explain to them what files you've used and what changes you have made. This is also an excellent way of ensuring the original developer is happy with how you have used their work, and will encourage more friendly co-operation between developers. |
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If you agree with the aims of the BVE Developer Guidelines, feel free to include a copy of this page along with your route when it's released to the public (you may save this web page to disk), or alternatively include a link to http://www.railsimroutes.co.uk/developerguidelines/ within your Readme or on your webpage as explained below, so the people who download your add-ons (and in turn potential future BVE developers) have an increased awareness of these guidelines. |
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Bad Ideas |
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Don't try to claim credit for anything which you have not done yourself. The original author will always find out, and it's also very unfair and gives the original developer no motivation to contribute further to BVE. |
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Don't assume that when using another person's work, that just crediting them is always sufficient (unless an author states this is all they require) - please also check to see whether the author of that work wants you to ask for their permission and/or approval prior to using their work and publicising it. |
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Don't modify or re-release other people's files (including 3D objects, textures, route files, sounds, bitmaps, train configuration files, etc), without checking to see whether permission to do so from the original author is required first.
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Don't assume that by repainting a 3D object, that this object becomes your own work - it doesn't. Only when you have coded the 3D object, and drawn your own textures from scratch, can you really claim the work is entirely your own. Neither can you claim an object is your own, when you take portions of 3D code from other people's objects to create your own objects - you do need to check whether permission must be sought first and credit to the original author should be retained if that is what the original author wants. |
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Don't remove the "copyright/author headers" from within BVE 3D object files if you find them present. These headers are inserted by original authors and they serve the purpose of ensuring that their involvement in the production of the object remains known. If you remove them, then you are likely to offend the original author, and please don't assume that by removing the header, that the original author won't recognise their work - virtually all objects are hand coded at present, and authors will know them inside out! If you use the B3D-CSV Object Conversion utility, then this program can strip these headers from older B3D format files - you should really re-insert them after conversion, or perhaps contact the original author for assistance. |
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Don't host anyone elses material or downloads on your own website unless you have the permission of the original author(s) to do so, or the author states that their work may be freely distributed. Webhosts usually have a policy of not allowing their customers/users to host copyrighted material on their servers without the original author's permission, so you may be breaking the terms of your webhost's (or Internet Service Provider's) "Acceptable Use Policy" if you store other people's work on your site without the consent of the original author. |
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Don't direct link to files on another person's website or server from your own website. Unauthorised "leeching" is not tolerated as a rule, as your actions may incur higher charges for the webmaster due to increased bandwidth usage, caused by your actions. You should also be aware that "leeching" or "hotlinking" can sometimes be detected within server logfiles, so it's likely that you'll get found out by the webmaster of the site you are direct linking to, after which steps may be taken to prevent you from leeching their bandwidth. |
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Don't assume that no-one will notice if you've used someone else work when you had no right to. If you have used anything without permission where it's required or gone against the wishes of any other people whose work you have used, maliciously or otherwise, then the original author will find out, and the original author may make their feelings known to you, and possibly to a wider audience, depending on what you do or don't do in order to correct the situation. You may gain a poor reputation within the BVE community which will spoil your future chances at releasing add-ons without suspicion and scrutiny. |
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If you just follow the spirit of the above guidelines, and make an effort to take notice of some of the tips outlined above, you can earn the respect of the many talented western BVE developers who take pride in their work, who give their time and work away for free, and who don't like that generosity being abused. After all, developers will be more happy to help you, if you can find it within yourself to respect their wishes. |
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Identifying the licence you have applied to a piece of work
Whatever "licence" you wish to apply to your work, whether it contains copyrighted freeware material, open source material, or a mixture of the two, why not make this really clear on your download page using one of the following images and accompanying text descriptions which can be adapted to suit your own circumstances? There are currently three banners, but if you have another "licence" under which you would like to release your work, let me know and more banners can be added.
Note: To use one of these banners, simply right-click your preferred design, and select "Save picture as" to save a copy on your hard disk. The accompanying text can be copied and pasted into your HTML editor, and then edited if there are any points specific to your add-on you wish to make clear. If you choose, you can link to: http://www.railsimroutes.co.uk/developerguidelines/, so visitors will know why the banner is used.
An example of how these banners could be applied can found on my Cross-City South Download Page.
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The files within this BVE add-on are copyrighted, and permision is required before re-using or redistributing any files within the download(s). See any additional documentation for details. |
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All files within this BVE add-on are copyright-free, or open source, and you may use this material in your own add-ons without permission. See any additional documentation for futher details. |
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This BVE add-on contains both copyrighted and open source material. Permission may be required before re-using or redistributing copyrighted material, and open source material may be used without permission. See any additional documentation for details on which files fall under each category. |
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Showing your support for the principles of credit and respect for developers
If you have developed your own add-ons for BVE, and after reading through this page you agree with the above points, and feel you'd like these guidelines to apply to your own work as well, why not show people who download your add-ons that you support the aims of the BVE Developer Guidelines?
Note: To use one of these banners, simply right-click your preferred design, and select "Save picture as" to save a copy on your hard disk. To see an example of how the images can be displayed, please see the Rail Sim Routes UK Homepage.
For responsible BVE Development
For responsible BVE Development
For responsible BVE Development |
Link to: http://www.railsimroutes.co.uk/developerguidelines/
The image description "tool tip" (defined by the 'alt' tag), could be as follows: BVE Developer Guidelines - Click for more details |
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Who agrees with these principles?
BVE Developers who support the principles outlined on this page
The above guidelines don't just reflect my own opinions - they are shared one way or another by other developers in the western BVE developer community, who would like their wishes to be respected in relation to how their work is used:
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Content last updated: 25th January 2009 |
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