So recently a very popular game (Impostor) got beef with a ugc creator for using his ugc item and i was wondering if you need permission to use someones ugc item in a game, thanks!
I don’t believe so, as long as they uploaded it and it’s public - it’s fair to use. That said, if they ask you to credit them you should. There’s no clear rule about this though.
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well, it depends. it could probably work good in #development-discussion, but with HOW it’s being asked, it would probably suit better being in #help-and-feedback:game-design-support, or #help-and-feedback:art-design-support.
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Always reach out to the UGC creator first. I don’t know if it’s technically against the rules, but that’s the right thing to do. Most UGC creators would be perfectly happy to let you use them in your game (with credit), and I don’t think anyone would be upset that you took the time to reach out to them.
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You ought to search first and read the category guidelines before posting threads.
https://devforum.roblox.com/search?q=ugc%20permission
tl;dr Yes you do. Be it a UGC accessory, shirts, pants or anything that someone else created that isn’t on the toolbox as a free item and rather you need to pay to access the item, you need their permission to use it. Selling =/= giving you a license to use it for other purposes.
Recategorising off of Community Resources.
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Small question, does that mean every single GFX, game, asset, free model, and mesh that used shirts, pants, UGC accessories, or something of similarity mean they’re all under threat of being taken down?
What happens to all of those GFXs that use shirts and pants accessories for the characters?
Or meshes of characters with shirts and pants assets textures? Or free models with characters using those shirts/pants?
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If the original designer of those clothing items pursues action, it is completely within their right to do so. Shirts and pants have never been public assets that you can just take and use in your games, they are held to the same regard as a UGC hat. The copyright belongs to the designer.
UGC accessories are still fairly new, but matters around permissive use of items have been able to be caught early on because of this. It’s clear to everyone - or at least most - that you need permission to use a UGC accessory beyond just wearing it for your avatar. This isn’t clear for shirts and pants, though the same circumstances are applicable.
I can’t speak on the matter of graphic designs using someone else’s content getting taken down because that’s 1) not my business and 2) not something I can speak objectively about. That being said, just do acknowledge the fact that shirts and pants don’t belong to you if you didn’t design it, so you really shouldn’t be using it in any of your content either without asking first.
Also applies to free models, meshes, anything created. It’s the same as buying a non-commercial license to an item (or not even buying one, just illegally downloading the asset) and then putting it on a commercial or other item that causes loss of revenue for the original creator. Ya shouldn’t.
I don’t imagine you really need to be that worried about this being retroactively done, but I would advise you be careful from now on and in the future about that matter - especially if someone’s income is solely based on clothing designs as we see an influx of clothing designers come to the platform.
Just for reference: shirts and pants are UGC too. It’s not just accessories.
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What’s the clarification on these items in the event of procedural inclusion, if there is any at all?
ex: including a users statue for a leaderboard display, using a user’s thumbnail in global dialogues, etc.
I’d imagine this would fall under a safe harbor, though given Roblox’s strict enforcements I can’t be too sure.
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You aren’t actually using the item in the thumbnail case, you’re fetching a user’s thumbnail that’s generated by Roblox. Roblox has an unlimited license to your content and can sublicense it as necessary. You can think of fetching a user’s thumbnail as the items being sublicensed to you solely for the purpose of displaying avatar thumbnails in your games. To this extent it’s okay.
Beyond that, I honestly have no clue. Forgot my obligatory IANAL and that I could have no idea what I’m talking about. Procedural inclusion is a good question, to which I don’t have a good answer for. User thumbnails are good, all other use cases I’m not too sure about. Someone else may be more qualified to answer that.
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Depends on the creator, I saw one or two publicly say that they allow people to use their UGC items in-game.