So, there’s this pretty popular water texture (in the picture I added) from the toolbox. I wanted to ask if it’s copyright free or if my game could be taken down when using it. I don’t have much experience with how copyright stuff works with toolbox items yet, when I researched it, some people say all the stuff there is copyright free and the uploader would be punished if not, others say your game could be taken down. So, does anyone know if this texture is copyright free?
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I don’t think so.
I am also pretty sure you cannot copyright simple patterns like this.
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So my game isn’t at any risk if I use it to replicate the water?
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No, not at all.
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But you can though…
You can’t copyright simple patterns, sure, but I’m compelled to believe this image doesn’t fall under that category. If it was a black-and-white checkered pattern then that would fall under public domain since anyone can make a checkered pattern. But the odds of someone reproducing this same image are very low, so by default it’s safe to assume it’s the intellectual property of whoever made it.
@ScratchStunt7, I reverse image searched the provided image but got 0 results. What that means is I cannot honestly tell you that the image is copyright free—equally, I cannot tell you that the image is copyrighted. If it were on a site, we could check its license, if provided, thus telling us the terms of usage.
Now you’re probably thinking “Okay, since you didn’t find it on any site, that means there’s no copyright on it so I can use it”
Well, actually, when someone creates something, such as a passage, image or song, it’s their intellectual property. Even if they don’t copyright it, it’s still illegal to use their work without their permission, so they have a decent legal case. On top of that, they can always choose to get their IP copyrighted later on.
I have a piece of good news for you though:
The uploader of the image carries most of the responsibility here.
Maybe the reason the image seems to only exist on the Roblox platform is because the uploader created the image then posted it directly to Roblox. In that case, it was his choice to upload it to the Marketplace and everyone who uses it is in the right. Even if he actually stole the image from someone else, it was still his choice to upload it. The original creator can file a DMCA against him and Roblox will remove the image from the platform.
And since people who upload content to Roblox agree to abide by copyright laws, you can claim greater innocence than if that wasn’t the case. After all, how can you expect to be punished for using an asset that was posted to the marketplace, where all assets are required to abide by copyright law and Roblox policy?
So what should you do?
If you want to be real safe, either make your own water texture or search public domain sites to get an image with a CC0 license
If I were you, I’d probably go ahead and use it. On my new projects I make all the image assets, but I still borrow assets from the Marketplace for meshes and audios. I borrow an asset if I like it. If it gets taken down, I can replace it.
Well, that’s my waffling completed. There are many people far more equipped to answer your question but I just thought to contribute something
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Alright, I’m probably going to use it for now and might replace it if the project gets any further. I also searched it on googgle and couldn’t find anything. Thanks for the information!
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