Ask HN: MIT License, but you can't sue me later | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: MIT License, but you can't sue me later

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Basically I'm working on a small game, and I really want to open source the code.

It's basically a framework/prototype that others can build upon.

I was thinking MIT, but I want to avoid the following.

MIT Base Game Exists.

Developer A creates a derivative. Developer B creates a derivative.

Developer B thinks A's game is a bit too similar and decides to sue.

How can I license my project without this possibility.

I think Apache says you can't sue the original authors without losing your own rights to lose the code.

Another option is GPL, but I don't want to stop commercial usage or force other developers into contributing back.

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The Apache license doesn't say you can't sue the original authors or you lose the right to the code, its all about patent licensing:

  If You institute patent litigation against any entity (including a cross-claim or counterclaim in a lawsuit) alleging that the Work or a Contribution incorporated within the Work constitutes direct or contributory patent infringement, then any patent licenses granted to You under this License for that Work shall terminate as of the date such litigation is filed.

I don't think this is something that can be solved with code licensing and it's also too rare for you to worry about.

You have to rely on the court of social opinion for this one.

But note that sueing over video game similarity is pretty rare. The case law has generally been friendly to similar games. There's some exceptions, but not many.

> Developer B thinks A's game is a bit too similar and decides to sue.

Unless you are one of A or B I don't see why you care. As well, I doubt you can preclude this possibility via a code license.

> Another option is GPL, but I don't want to stop commercial usage

The GPL (despite what commercial entities incorrectly proclaim) does not stop commercial usage. It simply stops (if enforced) those commercial entities from hiding their additions from the world resulting in creation of a proprietary variant.

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